Today's National Apple Pie Day

Jeez, that's stupid. Who gives a ______? Oh, yeah. Apple growers.

Anyway, it's warm and the farmers markets are in full effect. Skip out and kiss an apple pie . . . donut, I mean. Dunkin Donut is giving away $50 large to folks who figure out what variety of apple they use in their sugar bombs today.

Is this what National Apple Pie Day is all about?
Really?

Photo courtesy of Skiptomylou.org

I'd wager not. And to prove it here's a link to a hot, steamy rustic apple pie recipe I found on Skip to My Lou. Okay maybe its really an Apple Crostata, but if you make it I am sooooo coming over to your house!

The recipe is adapted from Ina Garten - you know, the contessa. It's all five-starry over at the Food Network site. Cindy at Skip to My Lou eased it up a bit with purchased pie crust, but I wouldn't throw it out the kitchen for cutting corners. It just means you will be able to make it quicker so I can come over to taste it right after work. WhaddaPal!

For ingredients we're looking at:

• about 6 cups thinly sliced apples
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup granulated  sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the topping:

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup granulated or superfine sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Heat the oven to 450 degrees F (it's a bit chilly today anyway).
Peel,core, and slice the apples. Toss the slices with the first mixture. Cover the dough with the apples leaving a 2 inch border.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts holding together. Sprinkle evenly on the apples. Gently fold the border over the apples to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle.
Bake the crostata for 20 to 30 minutes, until the crust is golden and the apples are tender. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

See? That was easy. Thanks Cindy! She's got a few more pics on the site to help you through. I swear I would make it myself but my kitchen doesn't have a sink right now. Or cabinet doors. Or a counter. Or running water.

What time is dessert?

Magnum - Ice Cream Treat or Condom?

Is anyone else troubled that there's a new ice cream bar that's named after a condom? 
Magnum. 


That's not even subliminal! 



I'm not even going to get into the different flavors, the model they have licking the pops on the new commercial, the "film" by Karl Lagerfeld, or even the tag line "Discover the many pleasures" and "Rachel Bilson discovers that pleasure is hers for the taking . . ."


Okay, maybe I might go into the flavors. It's easy to be seduced (now, is that the right word?) by promises of deep, dark chocolate. The flavors are :
Dark
White
Almond
Double Caramel
Double Chocolate and
Classic. 


Even though we know this is Unilever, they keep mentioning Belgium chocolate and have those artsy-fartsy "films" promoting the bars. 


So what do you think? Have you tried one yet (I mean the ice cream bar)? Will this summer find you with sweet cream dripping from your lips by virtue of Magnum a la Rachel Bilson? After all, it is a big bar. I'm just glad they had the good taste (?) not to shape it obviously. 


Drop a line and tell me what you think.


http://www.magnumicecream.com/default.aspx

Mmmm . . . Pasture to Plate at Glasbern Inn - Now That's a Happy Birthday

Our Gatehouse suite

The last time I stayed at Glasbern it was over six years ago and I remembered the accomodations over the meals. Now this great country retreat has a world class chef helming the multiple kitchens so it's a great time to return (uh, and it's my birthday).

The event this April 21st is their five course Pasture-to-Plate Wine Dinner
hosted by Executive Chef Jason Hook and Wine Expert Terry Balent
featuring course-by-course wine pairings. I'll stop drooling now. Maybe. Here's the menu tonight (asterisked items are from the Glasbern farm):

Pork Belly* - baby octopus, heirloom tomato salad + ramps*, chorizo emulsion - paired with 1999 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon


Parmesan Foam - english peas + tendrils*, mint, sweet yellow curry - paired with a young Beaujolais

Day Boat Halibut - marcona almond crust, lychee nut, black cumin-truffle jus - paired with 1999 Dominus Napanook, Red Bordeaux Blend, Napa Valley

Leg of Lamb* - white asparagus, maitakes + swiss chard*, farm egg bearnaise* - paired with 1986 Bordeaux, Chateau Mouton Rothschild

Chocolate Cake - peanut butter ice cream - paired with 1976 Schloss Eltz Beerenauslese, Eltviller Sonnenberg Riesling

I really can not wait. It's a good thing the restaurant is only a few steps up the hill from our suite. I'm on my way now. I'll report back with pics.

Glasbern
A Lehigh Valley Country Inn
2141 Pack House Road,
Fogelsville, PA 18051
innkeeper@glasbern.com
610-285-4723


 









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Food and Love . . .

Love and food - can they ever be really separated?

Today I'm thinking of the magnificent love of food and each other shared by Paul and Julia Child. If not for him, would we have ever been graced with the talents of the former Ms. McWilliams? One will never know. However we do know that they shared a sensual zest unlike many others and reveled in it until the end.

While a bit hokey for these days, I share with you below a sonnet written by Paul for Julia on her 49th birthday. I've got to admit - comparisons between rounded bottoms and scrambled eggs are crazy funny, but I think we all know what fueled this piece.

Birthday 1961

O Julia, Julia, cook and nifty wench,

Whose unsurpassed quenelles and hot souffles,

Whose English, Norse and German, and whose French,

Are all beyond my piteous powers to praise --

Whose sweetly rounded bottom and whose legs,

Whose gracious face, whose nature temperate,

Are only equalled by her scrambled eggs:

Accept from me, your ever-loving mate,

This acclamation shaped in fourteen lines

Whose inner truth belies its outer sight;

For never were there foods, nor were there wines

Whose flavor equals yours for sheer delight.

O luscious dish! O gustatory pleasure!

You satisfy my taste buds beyond measure. 

PAUL CHILD

Winging It: Flav's Fried Chicken - You Know You Want Some!

Posted this the other day on Digital Chicken: Flav's Fried Chicken - You Know You Want Some! While I'm not a 'Flava of Love' fan, I still bounce to '911 is a joke' and truly miss Public Enemy. The clock lassoed Flav was an interesting juxtaposition to the serious Chuck D. Fast forward twenty years (yikes!) and the timeless one is hawking 99 cent wings and more in Clinton, Iowa. Only in America. Who would have thought that the rapper's version of a rodeo clown would have a culinary degree or food service experience?

I know - truth is stranger than fiction. Read more about FFC here: Digital Chicken: Flav's Fried Chicken - You Know You Want Some!

Why Come?

It's called a 'Pork Butt' when it's actually the hog's shoulder?

Victoria Reynolds Slice of Grace-Pork Butt, 2008 11 x 8.75 Inches  Oil on panel

Some even try to blame it all on Massachusetts by calling it 'Boston Butt'. What exactly are they saying? Someone does know his shoulder from his butt?  Well, some intrepid butcher decided that the bottom of the shoulder should be referred to as the 'butt' and the lower part as 'picnic' (what the ?). 

But I'm Not a Butt!

It is a low cost, highly marbled cut of meat used frequently for pulled pork and kabobs. Oh yeah, don't forget there's a bone in this butt.

So what would you rather it be called? Shoulder roast? Shoulder steak? Shoulder butt roast? Dinner?
Go figure . . . the leg is the ham - no 'leg of hog' or 'piglet leg'.

Do you have a seemingly inexplicable "Why Come?" food name or label? Leave a comment or contact me with your latest foodie conundrum.

What Was I Thinking????

I couldn't escape from work in time to grab a quick bite at the National Harbour. We left too late for dinner before last week's Cirque de Soleil OVO performance and had to eat in the big tent. Six dollar hot dogs and popcorn, ugh.

I opted for a glass of wine and one of two sandwiches offered: chicken wrap or mozzarella panini. I chose the weak panini. Husband and daughter got the hot dogs and said they weren't the best (mentioned something about the Ikea hot dogs tasting better). Circus food - whaddya expect?

One great feature was the refillable metal water bottles that benefited the One Drop foundation (making a difference in the cause of water). A wonderful way to get a drink and be doubly socially responsible.

Great performance, but boy was I hungry!