I took my love for fresh produce and the farmer's market a step further...by going direct to the farm. I've been wanting to go for years, but never quite got my act together. This fall, thanks to the encouragement of my friend Amy, I finally joined the masses (of city folk) and headed out to the country to pick apples. The irony of this is that I have a fruitful apple tree in my back yard, and have only recently tried picking and eating one in the 4 years I've had it. Instead I happily drive an hour and a half to pick and pay for someone else's fruit. (This is the story of my life.)
Luckily, we got there early enough to avoid the crowds. However, by 11am, the large families (read: with lots of screaming children) arrived as if on cue, and ruined the quaint "country" experience. No only do you need to go early enough in the day to avoid the swarms of people, but you need to also go early enough in the season, before the trees get picked bare. I learned this from my seasoned apple picker friends (some of the same girls from tomato day) who had gone last year but couldn't actually pick.
Our first stop was a small apple farm on the far end of Apple Valley. After a quick taste of all the available apple varieties, we armed ourselves with our specially marked bags and began picking. The picking went fast, since each of us only have families of 1 or 2 people and we can only eat so many apples. Back at the cabin, we went to pay for our crop and was lured into trying a Johnny cake and some cider to wash it down. The Johnny cake turned out to be a dry corn muffin. I'm still not convinced that was a real Johnny cake. When ordering the cider, we were asked, fresh pressed? Since we wanted the full apple country experience, we said, "Of course!" Little did we realize that we each were ordering a GALLON(!) of fresh pressed cider that we would have to press ourselves. And to think, we just wanted to try a cup. We only later found out they only sold fresh/self pressed cider by the gallon.
Did I mention that it takes 5 gallons of apples to make just 1 gallon of juice? Yeah, this was way more work than we thought we signed up for.
First, I selected from the crates of apples already picked for us.
Luckily, we got there early enough to avoid the crowds. However, by 11am, the large families (read: with lots of screaming children) arrived as if on cue, and ruined the quaint "country" experience. No only do you need to go early enough in the day to avoid the swarms of people, but you need to also go early enough in the season, before the trees get picked bare. I learned this from my seasoned apple picker friends (some of the same girls from tomato day) who had gone last year but couldn't actually pick.
Our first stop was a small apple farm on the far end of Apple Valley. After a quick taste of all the available apple varieties, we armed ourselves with our specially marked bags and began picking. The picking went fast, since each of us only have families of 1 or 2 people and we can only eat so many apples. Back at the cabin, we went to pay for our crop and was lured into trying a Johnny cake and some cider to wash it down. The Johnny cake turned out to be a dry corn muffin. I'm still not convinced that was a real Johnny cake. When ordering the cider, we were asked, fresh pressed? Since we wanted the full apple country experience, we said, "Of course!" Little did we realize that we each were ordering a GALLON(!) of fresh pressed cider that we would have to press ourselves. And to think, we just wanted to try a cup. We only later found out they only sold fresh/self pressed cider by the gallon.
Did I mention that it takes 5 gallons of apples to make just 1 gallon of juice? Yeah, this was way more work than we thought we signed up for.
First, I selected from the crates of apples already picked for us. 
Naturally, we had to wash all our apples first..
Then came the crushing part. Here, I'm pushing the apples down the feeder tube with a crowbar. Yeah, it's a muscle job!
Lastly, we pressed the crushed apple pulp, which extracted quite a bit of juice.
Three people were needed to operate the apple crusher contraption. One to toss apples into the feed tube, one to further push the apples down into the feed tube (my job, as photographed above), and a third person to hand crank the wheel that would actually press/crush the apples. The amount of juice produced from the first pressing was unimpressive to say the least. I was so surprised to see the bulk of the juice come out of the (second) pressing of the solids. Since we had oveflow, we got to taste a cup of the fresh cider, and it was delicious! Although, I'd probably say that about anything I spent so much time and effort making.
I do have to make one thing clear. Many of you, like me, are probably wondering, "what IS the difference between apple juice and cider?" Essentially, apple cider is what we created, an unfiltered unadulterated nectar from pressed apples, that never gets pasturized. Kind of like extra virgin olive oil. Then juice is when sugar or additives are mixed-in to the above cider and then pasturized, to extend shelf life and consumption safety. This is why cider is common during apple season (fall/early winter) when it is freshly made, and much harder to find any other time of year.
We girls had a lovely day of stocking up on apple butter, eating bbq & apple pie (of course!) for lunch. What were we going to do with all those apples, though? The idea of an apple baking day came up, but how many apple crips, cakes & pies can one eat in a week before they go bad? Me being me, I had the idea of doing an apple tasting dinner. A multicourse meal, including hors d'oeuvres, with apples present in each dish in some form. It probably sounds harder than it actually is, and just requires a little bit of creativity. That really is my idea of a good time.
We each picked a course, and got a week to plan and prepare the dish for dinner. The menu was as follows: (Sorry, I didn't get a picture or recipe of each dish, since I can be rather forgetful, but some things are best left to the imagination, right?)
I do have to make one thing clear. Many of you, like me, are probably wondering, "what IS the difference between apple juice and cider?" Essentially, apple cider is what we created, an unfiltered unadulterated nectar from pressed apples, that never gets pasturized. Kind of like extra virgin olive oil. Then juice is when sugar or additives are mixed-in to the above cider and then pasturized, to extend shelf life and consumption safety. This is why cider is common during apple season (fall/early winter) when it is freshly made, and much harder to find any other time of year.
We girls had a lovely day of stocking up on apple butter, eating bbq & apple pie (of course!) for lunch. What were we going to do with all those apples, though? The idea of an apple baking day came up, but how many apple crips, cakes & pies can one eat in a week before they go bad? Me being me, I had the idea of doing an apple tasting dinner. A multicourse meal, including hors d'oeuvres, with apples present in each dish in some form. It probably sounds harder than it actually is, and just requires a little bit of creativity. That really is my idea of a good time.
We each picked a course, and got a week to plan and prepare the dish for dinner. The menu was as follows: (Sorry, I didn't get a picture or recipe of each dish, since I can be rather forgetful, but some things are best left to the imagination, right?)
Potato Pancakes with Apple Compote (by Josey - recipe below)
Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed with Chicken Apple Salad (made by Jenni)
Apple Salad with Parmesan and Prosciutto (made by Jenni)
~
Pate de Campagne (by me) with Apple and Mixed Green Salad and Apple Cider Vinaigrette (made by Jenni)
~
Butternut Squash Soup with Apples and Curry (made by Margot)
~
Braised Pork Shoulder with Mustard Spaetzle (made by me)
and Sweet Potato & Apple Gratin with Almonds (made by Kirsten)
~
Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream (made by Amy)
Everything turned out delicious, and it was such a lovely evening. I was so proud of everyone for their creativity, time and effort. Now I just need to plan for the next picking season.
Celeriac Potato Pancakes with Apple Onion Compote
Celeriac Potato Pancakes with Apple Onion Compote
This recipe came from Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Cookbook
Makes 2 dozen
¼ of a small celeriac (celery root), grated on the large holes of a box grater to yield 1 cup
1 small yellow onion, grated on the fine holes of a box grater to yield 1/3 cup
1 medium baking potato, grated on the large holes of a box grater to yield 1 ½ cups
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, for frying
1 recipe Apple-Onion Compote (to follow)
In a medium bowl, combine the celeriac, onion, potato, flour, salt and pepper. Heat a medium skillet of moderate heat. Add enough extra virgin olive oil to lightly coat the bottom. Once the pan and oil are hot, use a tablespoon to drop spoonfuls of potato mixture into the pan. Be careful not to crowd the pan. Flatten the tops of the mounds with a spatula. When the bottoms have browned, flip over, and brown the other side. When ready, remove from pan and onto paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with a little salt while still warm. Continue cooking remaining potato mixture in batches until complete. Continue to add oil as the pan dries out.
Serve warm, topped with warm apple onion compote (recipe below).
Apple Onion Compote
Makes ¾ cup
1 small Granny Smith apple, peel on
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ tablespoon canola oil
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup calvados
Dice the apple into ¼” pieces and toss with the lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside
Heat the butter and the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until the onions soften, about 4 minutes. Add the sugar and reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the onions cook, stirring occasionally, until they darken slightly and become soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the apples. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring once. Add the Calvados, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated from the pan, about 30 seconds.
Can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated. To warm combine with 1 tablespoon of water in a small saucepan over low heat.
Makes 2 dozen
¼ of a small celeriac (celery root), grated on the large holes of a box grater to yield 1 cup
1 small yellow onion, grated on the fine holes of a box grater to yield 1/3 cup
1 medium baking potato, grated on the large holes of a box grater to yield 1 ½ cups
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, for frying
1 recipe Apple-Onion Compote (to follow)
In a medium bowl, combine the celeriac, onion, potato, flour, salt and pepper. Heat a medium skillet of moderate heat. Add enough extra virgin olive oil to lightly coat the bottom. Once the pan and oil are hot, use a tablespoon to drop spoonfuls of potato mixture into the pan. Be careful not to crowd the pan. Flatten the tops of the mounds with a spatula. When the bottoms have browned, flip over, and brown the other side. When ready, remove from pan and onto paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with a little salt while still warm. Continue cooking remaining potato mixture in batches until complete. Continue to add oil as the pan dries out.
Serve warm, topped with warm apple onion compote (recipe below).
Apple Onion Compote
Makes ¾ cup
1 small Granny Smith apple, peel on
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ tablespoon canola oil
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup calvados
Dice the apple into ¼” pieces and toss with the lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside
Heat the butter and the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until the onions soften, about 4 minutes. Add the sugar and reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the onions cook, stirring occasionally, until they darken slightly and become soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the apples. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring once. Add the Calvados, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated from the pan, about 30 seconds.
Can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated. To warm combine with 1 tablespoon of water in a small saucepan over low heat.
No comments:
Post a Comment