Apples and Picking and Pies, Oh My!

Tags

Apple Picking, Apples, Au Pied de Cochon Apple Pie, desserts, Pies, Sweets

What a glorious day for apple-picking!

Our yearly jaunt just happens to be a stone’s throw away from the cottage. The Saint-Benoit Monastery in the Eastern Townships has apple orchards featuring a variety of apples like Lobo, Spartan, Cortland, the renowned McIntosh, Paula Red and my personal fave, the Honeycrisp.

Surrounded by beautiful Lake Memphremagog on one side and an enchanting vista of the countryside on the other, we made our way through the orchard, savouring each variety as we went along, the warmth of the sunshine beating down upon us.

  Don’t know what you would do with 25 pounds of freshly picked apples, but the old adage “An apple a day…” would leave us with not so freshly picked apples. Apple pie is a sure sign of Autumn and a great way to use up them apples. I happened to be reading an article on the acclaimed Martin Picard and his apple menu at Au Pied de Cochon in the Montreal Gazette and came across this Apple Pie recipe. An Au Pied de Cochon apple pie? Oh yeah!

Don’t be daunted by the two different crusts.  The bottom crust is an all-butter one, producing a very tender crust.  The top one has an egg, making it flaky and very sturdy.  Well worth the extra 10 minutes, trust me!

The cinnamon-sugar mixture comes up a little short for the second pie. Just sprinkle a little extra sugar and cinnamon over the apples.

The recipe calls for Lobo apples.  Because our apples were pretty much all mixed up, I used a combination of Macs, Honeycrisps, Spartans and Cortlands.  My apples must have been bigger than what was used in the recipe…I had about 6 cups per pie compared to the recipe’s 3!  But they did look fabulous!!

The pies came out beautifully!  The crust was just perfect.  The apples tasted simply natural, tender yet still holding up, with a little bit of a bite to them.  Delish!

Oh my!

Pretty Cool

Tags

desserts, kids, Sweets

I came across these refreshing treats for kids on Martha Stewart.  With the gloriously sunny days we’ve been having, why not surprise the little kiddies with them.  They’re pretty and they’re cool!

Bountiful Basil

Tags

basil, dinner, pasta, sauces, Vegetarian

If you grow your own basil like I do, now is the perfect time to preserve this fragrant herb for the winter months.  The Birri Brothers at the Jean-Talon Market sell it by the basket, even by the bushel.  They are my go to guys for everything veggie.  Emma asked to make pesto the other day – she loves it!

Pesto originated in Genoa, an Italian port city in the region of Liguria on the Mediterranean Sea.  Aromatic basil, garlic, Parmigiano Reggiano, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil and salt.  That’s it!  You could store it in the fridge for at least 3 weeks, or store in the freezer in small containers so you can savour that summer freshness throughout those dark and cold winters.  I also freeze some in ice-cube trays and then in freezer bags.  I throw a couple of cubes in my minestrone soup, or even steam up some veggies and then mix in a pesto cube or two. I don’t just use it with pasta.  I love to slather it on my pizza dough and then just add some cherry tomatoes and fresh mozarella.  A taste of summer in every bite!  It’s great on roast chicken, sliced tomatoes, or drizzle more olive oil into it and use it as a dipping sauce for vegetables. Or melted over some fish. The possibilities are endless.

Traditionally, pesto is made in a mortar and pestle.  “Pounding fragrant things — particularly garlic, basil, parsley — is a tremendous antidote to depression.”   (Patience Gray, British cookery and travel author.)                 If you feel the need to let out some of your frustrations, by all means pound away.  If not, use a food processor.  That’s what Emma and I did.  We simply made it by taste-testing as we went along.  Do the same and if you want it more garlicky, then add more garlic.  Or more pine nuts for a nuttier taste.

A bunch a basil leaves, we used about 4 cups
Garlic, 3 cloves
Pine Nuts, 1/2 cup
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a little more than 1/2 cup, close to 3/4 cup
Parmigiano Reggiano, grated, at least 1/2 cup
Salt, to taste

We washed and dried the basil leaves and put them in the food processor. We gave it a blitz and then added the garlic and pine nuts.  We blitzed some more and added olive oil with the food processor running.  Lastly, we added the Parmigiano and salt.  Then we tasted, added more Parmigiano and salt and tasted again.  Perfect! We had it with pasta and Parmigiano shavings.

Awesome Blossoms

Tags

appetizers, Vegetarian

One of the things I look forward to during the summer months are zucchini flowers.  We have a garden in the country and grow our own zucchini.  I must admit, I grow zucchini specifically for the delicate, earthy-tasting flower.  It is a pure delicacy!    My dad used to dip them in a batter and fry them up every summer, creating a  crisp,golden and slightly salted fritter which brought out the natural sweetness of the zucchini flower.  An aunt of mine in Italy used to stuff them with a béchamel and then dip them in a batter and deep fry.  There are many ways to enjoy this summer treat.  My way is to do both.  I fry up half of my bounty in their simple yet delectable state and the other half I stuff with cheese.  And not just any cheese.  Gorgonzola Cheese!  A delicious Italian blue cheese.  I use the Gorgonzola Dolce for its creaminess and milder taste.  Emma and I prefer the plain ones, tasting the natural flavour of the blossom.  Charlotte absolutely loves the blue cheese ones, along with Peter.  You can use any cheese you like though.  Mozzarella, Gruyere.    You can also add anchovies and herbs, as they do in Rome.  The zucchini blossoms are either male, which are attached to the stem only, or female, which are attached to the baby zucchini.  When I find female flowers with the baby zucchini attached, I keep it as such and fry the whole thing up.  Yum!  I prefer to remove the stamens (male) and pistils (female) which are found inside the flower.  Take a look inside and by their shape alone, you will know which is which!  But make sure to take a peek inside first… a few summers ago I plunged my fingers right into one of my blossoms and was greeted by a little bee who was just as startled as I was and stung me!

Following is my own recipe fro the batter, which I sort of created this past summer.  My usual method for the batter was flour, eggs and water.  My brother, who serves up these little summer jewels at his restaurant La Vieille Banque, was visiting in the country and suggested I whip up the egg whites and then fold them in gently at the end.  The batter came out lighter and crispier than mine.  Great!  But the next time I fried these little babies up, I happened to be sipping on a beer.  When came the time to add water to my batter, I thought I’d just pour some beer right out of my bottle and see what that would give me.  A little daring, considering I had a house full of guests… but the Brits dip their fish in a beer batter, so why couldn’t an Italian dip her zucchini blossoms in one as well?  That decision turned out to make my batter the best one yet!  Puffed up, crispy little morsels!  Give it a try… and if you don’t grow your own zucchini, you can find them at the Jean-Talon Market and I saw some just the other day at the Atwater Market.  I do believe these delectable little blossoms are becoming the in-treat for the summer!

Batter

1 cup of flour
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 cup or so of beer (or water)
2 egg whites, beaten until light and fluffy
Salt & Pepper
Gorgonzola Dolce, if you’re stuffing
Vegetable oil for frying

Mix the flour, egg yolks and liquid of choice. Add salt and pepper.
Gently fold in the egg whites.

If you’re not stuffing, then you’re ready to dip them into the batter and fry.
If you are stuffing them, gently remove the stamens or pistils from the flowers and add some cheese into the flower, a 1-inch to 2-inch piece depending on the size of the flower. The flowers might tear a little or you might have to tear a small slit down some of them. That’s o.k., the open slits can be stuck back together by the creaminess of the cheese. Heat the oil in a fry pan, a couple of inches or so, on medium-high to high. Fry the flowers until golden in colour, turning over once. Drain on paper towels and enjoy!

Life truly is delicious!

Nothing says summer like Gelato!

Tags

desserts, gelato, ice cream

Finally, after much procrastination, I have started my blog!  And what better way to start than with gelato.  Not just any gelato.  My home-made gelato.  I know.  Anyone who’s been to Italy and had gelato there is probably thinking, “No way.”  But let me tell you, the Pistachio Gelato I made is by far the best I’ve had in the city.  No artificially enhanced green colour either.  In my quest to make gelato as authentic as possible, I did a little reading on the differences between gelato and ice cream.  They are quite substantial with the first and most important being the taste between the two.  While ice cream is richer and creamier than gelato, the latter is more powerful in flavor.  Ice cream is served at a much colder temperature and has a higher butterfat content (ice cream’s main ingredient is cream vs. milk for gelato).  Gelato is churned more slowly than ice cream and freezes during this process , therefore allowing for less air being whipped into it and preventing ice crystals from forming.  I was surprised to learn that because of this slow churning process, gelato contains 25 to 30 % air whereas ice cream is made up of 50% air!  No wonder gelato is much more intense in flavor.

I used the pistachio gelato recipe from the book Making Artisan Gelato, by Torrance Kopfer and I thought it was pretty darned good!

You can find the recipe here

and go from this…

 to this!

Not the best pics, but I promise you, it is the best pistachio gelato outside of Italy!