David Ross

This is the link to a previous topic on the classic Apple Tarte Tatin, http://forums.egullet.org/topic/31162-the-tarte-tatin-topic/?p=1764553 Today I'm crafting a Tarte Tatin using this season's first crop of Golden Delicious. It's a 2-day process but well worth it.

One of Washington's newest apples won't be ready for the commercial market until the 2017 season. Unfortunately, the apple scientists at Washington State University decided to apply the clinical name of "WA38" to the new apple. I'm sure they could have been more creative and maybe someday WA38 will have a name that is enticing to the consumer. There is a lot of information on the efforts of the WSU School of Agriculture's efforts to breed new apples here, http://www.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/breed/WA38

It's totally appropriate for us to discuss everything about the apple from the variety, growing, harvesting and cooking--it certainly enriches our discussion and learning. I don't have an apple tree, but I've always wondered about pesticides and fertilizers for folks who grow non-commercial apples. I would imagine one has to use organic means to ward off bugs and worms?

I know you'll have something delicious for us--and this Cook-Off is one that should live on for years. We intentionally started a bit early with the Apple Cook-Off to build up to the peak of the season. Up here in Washington we're expecting a very good crop owing to our very long, hot summer and warm overnight temperatures.

We should be considering the variety of apple we'll be using in our dishes. One of my cherished fall recipes is a classic French Apple Tarte Tatin, but it took a lot of experimentation to get the right apple. I figured Granny Smith apples would be a good choice since they cook well in a pie blanketed in pastry--tart without turning to mush while the pie is baking. But in the Tarte Tatin, the Granny Smith didn't fare as well. Baking in the caramel left the apples mealy--in other words, a bit mushy. The Fuji, a favorite in my apple compote filling for strudel, only graded a B- in the Tarte Tatin--lost it's shape and not a good ratio of tartness to counter the very sweet caramel. I found success using a humble Golden Delicious. It has the right balance between sweet and tart, yet the caramel doesn't overpower the apple making the finished Tatin too sweet. The Golden Delicious holds its shape, but the key is how you cut it for the Tatin. (More on the Tarte Tatin, including photos, to come). Aside from being the most popular eating apple and a favorite in school cafeterias, I'm sure there is the perfect recipe for the eponymous Red Delicious.

I think for my first dish I'll do an apple charlotte based on a Julia Child recipe. Just need to figure out the sauce, ice cream and garnishes. Then for a savory dish I'm thinking of a roast chicken I do with apples, turnips and a Calvados cream sauce. I'm sure some of mixologists in our community will present a few whimsical apple cocktails.

“Then he would peel apples from Normandy, and cut them into thin, even half-moons, and toss them in a bowl of white wine…beat eggs and cream and nutmeg into a custard, and fill the shallow crust half full. He took the apple slices from the bowl one by one, almost faster than we could see...and laid them in a great, beautiful whorl, from the outside to the center, as perfect as a snail shell. He did it as effortlessly as a spider spins a web.” MFK Fisher, 1908-1992 Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was arguably one of the greatest food writers of the 20th century. A poet and a storyteller, Mary Frances welcomed us into her kitchen through the art of the written word. She tempted us to step into her world of food, painting a picture in our minds of a simple fruit crafted into a fragrant, sweet, apple tart. As Fall approaches, I reflect on MFK’s memories of the apple and it serves as the inspiration for another volume in our popular eG Cook-Off series: Apples. (Click here http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143994-egullet-recipe-cook-off-index/ for the complete eG Cook-Off Index). A mere two hours drive from my home, Wenatchee, Washington, is known as the “Apple Capital of the World.” We’re just now starting to see the early apples in our markets, but the peak season in Washington will run from September into October. Let’s put on our aprons, practice rolling pastry dough and pairing apples with something decadent like truffles and foie gras. It’s time for an Apple Cook-Off. Washington Pink Lady Apple-

This is done the old-fashioned way, by hand with a good sharp pastry cutter. You can't use a food processor, it cuts the crumb way to fine, even a few pulses. You want fairly good size chunks of butter, shortening and flour. Some swear by unsalted butter in pastry. Not in my crust. I prefer the flavor of salted butter. Here you go: 2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup cake flour 2 tbsp. granulated sugar 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup, (1 stick) cold salted butter 1/2 cup Crisco About 2/3 cup ice water Combine the flour, cake flour sugar and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the butter and Crisco until the pieces are the size of large peas. Using a fork, blend in enough ice water to bring the dough together, then form into a ball with your hands. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour. Bring the chilled dough out and let it come to room temperature, then roll out. I use a fair amount of flour on both sides of the pastry when I roll it out. Don't know if it matters, but I use a long French wood rolling pin. Once you form the dough into the pie pan, brush the top with a mix of whole egg and 1 tbsp. water. Sprinkle the top of the pie with demera sugar. For the huckleberry pie I baked it at 375 for 30 minutes and then 400 for about 15 more minutes til the crust was golden. I intentionally don't add a lot of thickener to the huckleberry pie, (just butter and a small amount of flour) because I love the huckleberry juice. I'll add more flour/thickener depending on the fruit in the pie.

The fresh berries were $45 for a gallon bag. I buy them from a Vietnamese family who picks them during the week and then sells at the Wednesday and Saturday markets. They gotten to know me so I feel well taken care of. Due to the very hot, record-setting temperatures this summer, the huckleberries have ripened early and we think the peak season is right now. The lady I buy them from said she's never seen so many dark, juicy berries. I think I'll go back this week for another bag of fresh berries. I'm incredibly lucky because I have a friend who lives on a big cattle ranch in Northwestern Montana. She sent a message yesterday that she's got two gallons for me--for free! That's like a load of foie gras, caviar and Kobe all for free.

I suppose this is a dish that would fit in two Cook-Off's--our Pork Belly Cook-off here, http://forums.egullet.org/topic/147019-eg-cook-off-65-pork-belly/, and our Rhubarb Cook-Off. The fancy title of the dish would be "Confit of Pork Belly, Coconut-Lime Rice, Blood Orange Balsamic Syrup and Rhubarb Compote." I posted the pork belly confit recipe and steps during that cook-off, a classic from Thomas Keller. It's the closest method I've found to evoke the flavors of old-fashioned pork--juicy, fatty and porky. The rice is pretty basic, just add 1/2 coconut milk and 1/2 water before steaming basmati rice in a rice cooker, along with lemongrass and a quartered lime. Before serving I'll add some lime zest, butter and black sesame seeds. The balsamic syrup is the easiest of the garnishes--just reduce blood orange or other balsamic over a medium heat until syrupy. I liked the sweet and sour flavors of the syrup countering the richness of the pork. The green onion was mainly for color, but I needed the onion flavor to counter all the sweet and sour going on with the balsamic syrup and rhubarb compote. And of course, the rhubarb was really what brought this all together. The dish would not have been complete without it. I made the compote when we started this Cook-Off and then froze it. Freezing the compote barely touched the rhubarb flavor and I expect it to be on the Thanksgiving table.

It's ready, but I've been putting it off to figure out what I would mix it with. I've developed a way to create an "Icee" type drink using my ice cream maker, so I'm toying with the idea of making a fruit juice "Icee" to mis with the vodka. Maybe litchee or passion fruit?

Fresh Huckleberry Pie-

That's a great dish--Banh Mi Crostini. Wonderful idea for a party.

I stayed at the Cedarbrook two weeks ago. We had planned dinners due to a group meeting so I didn't dine there, but the menu looks wonderful and creative with lots of Northwest Products.

Wow. l was surprised today to find more fresh rhubarb in the local market. I'm starting into huckleberry season so I didn't buy any of the rhubarb, but that's one long season.

It's going to be a bountiful season, very hot weather the past two weeks and expected to continue for at least another week. First dish, Huckleberry Turnover-

That's a good enough start for me. Thanks.

You have such wonderful things coming from your garden. In fact, that made me think of an idea. How about pickled zuchinni? I'm thinking a sweet pickle type of brine like my Aunt Bertie used for watermelon rind pickles?

You'll have plenty of great smoked trout dishes.

I use coconut rum in the pie filling but not the crust. I garnish the top of the pie with whipped cream also flavored with coconut rum and then some toasted sweetened coconut. My basic pie crust is very easy, but you should make it by hand. I've found that using a food processor to make pie crust cuts the butter and flour too fine resulting in a crust that falls apart when baked. 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup cake flour 1 tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. salt 1/2 cup salted butter 1/2 cup Crisco Ice water Blend the dry ingredients then cut in the butter and Crisco by hand with a pastry cutter. Slowly add ice water, blending into the dough with a fork. Add enough ice water so the dough forms a soft ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Bring the dough to room temperature before you roll it out for your pie crust.

Once a year at the height of cherry season here in Washington, I make Joel Robuchon's "Clafoutis Aux Cerises"--Cherry Clafoutis. This time I added some of the rhubarb that I had frozen a few weeks ago. Freezing and thawing the rhubarb resulted in some pretty wet, limp stalks when thawed so I worried they had lost a lot of flavor, but in the end I was surprised at how much flavor the rhubarb had retained. I used a basic shortbread crust of melted butter, confectioner's sugar and flour. The cherries are baked with sugar and cherry liqueur in a hot oven for about 15 minutes. Robuchon recommends saving the juices from the cherries for another use, but I used it in the clafoutis batter. The batter is simply eggs, sugar, crème fraiche and milk. The clafoutis bakes in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes. Once cooled, I dusted the clafoutis with powdered sugar and lightly touched it with a mini blow torch to gently carmelize the top. It's served at room temperature, but is delicious cold, (as in breakfast this morning). Served with Tillamook Oregon Strawberry Ice Cream. While this is a cherry dish, the flavor of the rhubarb clearly comes through and really accents the cherries. It must be an exceptional year for rhubarb up here--two supermarkets had fresh, thick stalks of rhubarb on Friday.

Tenderloin, Mashed Potato, Red Chile Sauce and Grilled Corn and Poblano Salad- The chile sauce is incredibly easy--about 12 dried chiles of your choice, I used 2 dried chipotles and 10 or so dried ancho chilies. Soaked in simmering water for about 30 minutes to rehydrate. Then rinsed out the seeds and into a blender. I added some charred garlic, charred onion, honey, sugar, liquid smoke, dried Mexican oregano, salt, pepper and enough of the chile water to thin the sauce. After I blend the sauce I then cook it over a low heat to pull out more flavor. The salad was a mix of grilled corn, grilled poblano, grilled red pepper, tomato, fresh oregano, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. It was good, but lacked a punch of flavor so tonight I'll add cilantro and some fresh diced jalapeno.

For me it's always an issue, (obviously a personal choice), of taste first and then secondly, am I willing to spend the money to buy that product. I've eaten just about every grade of Kobe/Wagyu during my regular travels to Las Vegas, a city that offers diners all grades and price levels. Honestly, I just don't care for the taste or texture whether it was prepared and served as an American-style slab of steak or thinly sliced and served in Shabu-Shabu. I like the analogy with wild mushrooms. I live in the land of wild morels harvested by hand out of the forest. This past Spring they were selling for upwards of $35 per pound in the local markets. I gladly pay for this once a year delicacy, but again, based on flavor first.

In all honesty, I personally prefer a properly raised, fed, choice grade, aged, thick-cut pure-bred Hereford steak, (Angus #2), rather than over-priced Kobe or Wagyu. Oh, and cooked properly. I will say that Snake River Farms, (Boise), "Ameican-Style" Kobe burgers are quite good. We can buy them locally in markets in the Pacific Northwest.

I think rhubarb-fig is a fantastic combination!