Heritage-apple Pie

Apple pie is a Thanksgiving staple and I suspect there are as many recipes as there are apples in the world; this version by Grace Parisi appeared in Food and Wine magazine in November 2008. It’s good, and it uses a mix of traditional American orchard grown apples, hence the name. The notes on pastry crust techniques are gleaned from Shirley O. Corriher’s Cookwise.

8 servings
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (see notes), plus more for dusting
½ tsp salt
2 sticks plus 1 T. unsalted butter, cube
½ cup ice-water
2 large Granny Smith apples
2 large Pink Lady apples
2 large Golden Delicious apples
2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon

In a food processor, pulse 2 ½ cups of the flour with the salt. Add 2 sticks of cubed butter and pulse until mix forms small pea-sized lumps. Drizzle on the ice-water and pulse until evenly moistened crumbs form; don’t over mix (see notes). Turn out onto a cold surface and gently form mix into a ball; divide the dough in half, flatten into disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Set a baking sheet on the bottom rack (this will catch any juice that drips from the pie during cooking).

Peel, core and slice the apples (or cut them into 1-inch chunks if you prefer). In a bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice, sugar, ¼ cup flour and the cinnamon.

On a floured surface, roll a disk of the pastry dough to a 13-inch round; fit it into a deep 10-inch glass pie plate (see notes) and brush the overhang with water. Spoon the apple mix into the crust and top with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cubed butter. Roll out the second disk of dough to a 12-inch round and center it over the filling. Press the edges of the dough together and trim the overhang to 1-inch all round, fold the overlay under itself and crimp. Cut a few slits in the top crust to let steam escape.

Bake the pie in the center of the oven for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes, until the crust is golden. If the crust begins to brown too much cover it with a pie-crust protector or strips of aluminum foil. Let the pie cool for at least 4 hours before serving.

Notes:
If you can’t find Pink Lady apples, any locally-grown variety can be substituted.

I’ve never been a great fan of the food-processor method of making pie dough –it is quicker but it is also easy to over mix the dough, producing a tough crust. Blending the butter in to the flour with your fingertips is not only viscerally satisfying but the heat of your hands helps soften the fat (butter in this case) to better coat the gluten-forming proteins in the flour thus restricting the formation of gluten - a key to producing a tender crust. Using a pastry cutter or two knives (I was never any good at THAT) is also an option.

For a really tender crust look for a low-protein flour, or combine two parts bleached all-purpose flour with and one part cake flour. Try substituting sour cream for the water (gluten-forming proteins cannot join without water).

Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen found that glass pie plate produce more even baking and a browner crust than ceramic or metal. (They also recommend baking pies on the bottom rack of the oven for a better result; the baking time would be less of course as the bottom of an oven can be as much as 50 degrees hotter than the middle.)

“Green” Skillets- not so green.

I get through a lot of skillets, especially non-stick ones. Wear and tear and scrubbing and washing take their toll. The September/October issue of Cook’s Illustrated carried an interesting article by Meredith Butcher describing tests the magazine had conducted on so-called “green” skillets now on the market. Unfortunately the results were not very good as you will see below.

So what’s wrong with regular non-stick - aka Teflon-coated? These pans and skillets use two controversial chemicals: PFOA and PFTE. While some “green” skillets have eliminated both from their coatings, some still us PTFE. What are they? PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, is a processing agent widely used in manufacturing. It has been detected in water, food, wildlife and human blood samples. The EPA cites it for causing birth defects in laboratory animals and has urged companies to stop using it altogether by 2015. PFTE is polytetrafluoroethylene, a moisture repellent. Although inert, if it reaches temperatures above 660 degrees (say if you left an empty pan on the heat for a while) PFTE breaks down and releases toxic fumes that can kill birds (!) and cause flu like symptoms in people.

Cookware makers have launched a variety of nonstick pans claiming to be “green” and promising better performance: two of the new coatings (ceramic and silicone) have none of the chemicals described earlier, but a third, such as the Scanpan Professional, eliminates only PFOA. Performance and durability tests conducted by both Cook’s Illustrated and the Cookware Manufacturers Association showed that the “new” coatings did not stand up as well as traditional nonstick. Back to the drawing board people. Of course the original “green” skillet is still a favorite: the good old cast-iron skillet- chemical-free, inexpensive and lasts a lifetime with some care. It does need seasoning and is heavy however. I guess being green requires some commitment even in the kitchen.

If you have tried any of these new skillets, why not share your experience and opinion on them here?

Black Forest Baked Eggs

By request from Alice W, who enjoyed these during a stay at the inn during the summer and cannot wiat for the cookbook reprint to arrive before trying them at home. Go Alice!

6 servings

¾ lb. mushrooms (see notes), chopped
¼ c. shallots or Vidalia onion, chopped (optional)
2 T. unsalted butter

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 T. sour cream

1 T. finely chopped fresh tarragon or 1 tsp. dried

12 slices Black Forest ham (see notes)
12 large eggs
Parmesan cheese, finely shredded

Parsley, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 400-425 degrees. Cook the chopped mushrooms (and shallots if using) in the butter, with salt and pepper, in a large skillet over moderately high heat. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking, but cook until the mixture is quite dry and the mushrooms have given up their liquid. In a medium bowl, mix the mushrooms with the tarragon and sour cream.

Spray regular size muffin cups with cooking oil and fit one slice of ham into each cup to form a “nest” for the filling (ends will stick up and hang over the edges of the cups). Spoon a little of the mushroom mix into each cup and then crack an egg into each cup on top of the filling. Bake in the middle of the oven until the whites are cooked but the yolks are still soft, about 15 minutes (see notes). Carefully transfer two cooked ham and egg “cups” onto each serving plate (they will be very hot!). Garnish with parmesan and chopped parsley. Accompany with toast points o r toast “fingers” for dipping.

Notes: You can use any single variety of mushrooms, but I like to use a medley of shiitakes, baby Portobello’s and white button mushrooms. I like Boar’s Head Black Forest ham for this recipe. The difficult part is training the deli counter staff to cut the ham to the right thickness; you want it thin enough to be flexible, but with no holes or tears (or the egg white runs through and cooks under the ham instead of in it). Don’t be shy about asking to inspect a sample slice and memorize the setting on the slicer for next time. Also ask to see the ham before it is cut - the cooked ham is round or oval in shape and you don’t want pieces from the ends, they will be too small to fit in the muffin cups.

The tricky part of this recipe is in baking th eggs until the are set without burning the edges of the ham slices; it helps to cover the pan with a loose tent of foil, which reflects heat onto the top surface of the eggs and protects the ham at the same time. Finally, keep checking the eggs near the end of the cooking time; shake the muffin tray gently to see if the whites are set but the yolk is not hard- that’s the perfect time to plate the dish.

Stonebow Inn recipes published

Two events of note for the inn recently (well at least as far as food is concerned): the initial entry here in August about omelet technique was spotted by a staffer at BnBFinder.com and submitted (with photos we took of the step-by-step process) to RecipeLion.com, a large compilation food blog and recipe database. And we had our recipe for a frittata included in a new cookbook compilation by Pamela Lanier that is now available (through us if you like). It’s called Cinnamon Mornings & Savory Nights and we are featured on page 100 with a recipe for goat cheese, spinach and pancetta frittata using goat cheese from our near-neighbor Firefly Farms.

Cocoa Anyone?

Does anyone have a favorite cocoa or hot chocolate brand? I am looking for a new individual-portion cocoa or hot chocolate to put out for our guests to use. We used Cocoa Amore’s double-chocolate sachets for a couple of years and it is very good, but very thick and difficult to mix completely in a cup – it tends to leave sludge in the bottom. I’ve been trying Swiss Miss now that they offer milk chocolate and dark and mocha-cappuccino (didn’t like that one much) and also Nestle, but the packets are a bit utilitarian and not attractive in the baskets in the guest rooms. Anyone sampled Ghirardelli?

Stonebow Inn Cookbook, 2nd Edition

We are eagerly awaiting delivery of the second edition of the Stonebow Inn Cookbook, 150 of my favorite recipes (not just breakfast by the way). We will have them in good time to ship for Christmas, so if you don’t yet have a copy or would like to give one as a gift to a friend or loved one, just drop us an email and we will take care of it for you. Cathy is taking advance orders now, $20 a copy, free shipping for Christmas included. All copies are signed by yours truly (now I don’t want to see these on EBay in the New Year folks).

While I am blatantly advertising Stonebow Inn memorabilia I should mention that we have several goodies on offer that make great stocking-stuffers for the holidays- or how about bundling them together in a gift box for the cook in your life?

Stonebow Inn Granola: 1 lb bags are $6.00 each.
Stonebow Inn hand-made coffee mugs by Spruce Forest Artisan Village potter Lynn Lais are $20.00 each.
NEW: Stonebow Inn cook’s aprons are $20.00; sturdy white cotton full-length aprons with extra-long ties and our name embroidered tastefully on the bib.
We’ll even throw in a cute little teddy bear wearing his Stonebow Inn T-shirt - Awww.
As always email us at info@stonebowinn.com – but don’t put your credit card info in the email, we will call you for that.

By request: Hash Brown Egg Bake

Here’s a recent breakfast favorite that is not in the cookbook (although similar egg bakes are).

Hash Brown Egg Bake
1 28oz bag frozen shredded hash browns
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
3-4 drained artichoke hearts
1/3 cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes
1 ½ cups shredded Gruyere cheese
1 ¼ cups of milk (whole or 2%)
½ cup half-and-half
9 large eggs
½ cup ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ large yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced into rings (no seeds)

Stage one: preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 9” x 13” baking dish with cooking spray. Press the hash browns onto the bottom and sides of the dish to form a crust; drizzle with the melted butter. Bake for 20 minutes to dry out the hash brown crust. Let it cool (you can do this the night before and store the dish, covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge).

Stage two: preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover the hash browns in the dish with a layer of grated cheese. Top with the sliced mushrooms, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, half-and-half, mustard and ricotta cheese until combined. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables in the baking dish. Top with the yellow bell pepper rings.

Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 50 minutes; remove the foil and continue to bake until the center is set, about another 10-15 minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes before serving, sprinkled with chopped parsley. Good for brunch too.

Notes: The veggies in this baked dish can be varied to suit what you have or what you like; I sometimes leave out the mushrooms and substitute leeks and red bell pepper for instance. The foil helps reflect the heat and shortens the cooking time a little, but I find I need to remove it to finally “set” the top and center. Some people love the crust along the edges, if you don’t, slice it off before serving. As well as preparing the crust the night before, I do all my slicing and dicing then too and store the ingredients in the fridge; then it is just a case of assembling the dish and stirring the eggs and milk etc. next morning (when I am still brain-dead)!

I'm ba-aa-ack!

Well here we go again. Clearly my timing was poor in starting this blog as we were about to begin our busiest quarter of the year! I am always surprised by how long it takes to do everything (an inveterate list-maker, mine are always longer than the day in question).

A few weeks ago Cathy and I were able to sneak away from the inn to see a movie (rare event). Naturally we saw Julie & Julia and I was astonished and impressed, not so much that Julie completed the marathon cooking task as that she was then able to sit down every night and write about it in her blog! I am usually so beat by 9 PM that I can’t even read a chapter of a book before slipping into the arms of Morpheus.

Anyway, apologies to those who were hoping for a daily dose of Stonebow Inn recipes this past two months; I promise to do better through the winter months, cook’s honor.