Secret Ingredient for Fall Baking: Boiled Cider

Apple Pie Contest at !BANG! BANG Pie Shop in Logan Square, Chicago 

Just about three years ago I won a pie contest.

Yep. I did. Seriously. I still don't know what made me go to the trouble of entering, especially since I had never made a pie from scratch (i.e. homemade pie dough) before.  The contest was held outside on what turned out to be quite a cold October day.  I made Paul, my dear friend Amanda and then-9-month-old Emmett hang out outside for HOURS while deliberations were underway. Third, I won. The whole thing. I still can’t believe it. As nerdy as it sounds, and is, it was exhilarating! More so because of the shock.  When they announced my name just after the first runner up it was as if everything was moving in slow motion and Chariots of Fire was playing in the background. I WISH I was kidding, but it’s true. It was amazing.

The big moment. Proud winner of a $50 gift certificate and bragging rights. 

Nerdy in more than just my exhilaration at winning, I’m also a nerd in the kitchen, and competitive at that. So if I’m going to enter a contest, I want to win. As unlikely as it was that I could, I definitely tried my best.  The contest was for the best apple pie so the only limitation was that it had to be apple. I researched apple pie recipes at length as well as how to make the best pie dough. I made my pie dough the weekend before – so I wouldn’t feel rushed on the day of the contest – and even invested in the peeler, corer, slicer that still gets a lot of use during apple season. 

I can't believe Emmett was ever this small.

My research led me to an interesting ingredient, one that I had never heard of before. Boiled Cider.  By the time I discovered it, it was too late for me to order it online and I didn’t know where to buy it in person. I decided to make it myself. As it turns out, boiled cider is hardly something you have to “make” at all.  It’s just as the name would lead you to believe – Boiled. Cider. And the directions are as follows: put a gallon (or more) of apple cider in a large pot and boil it until it becomes the consistency of maple syrup.

That’s it.

It does take a few hours but very little of it is active time. You just have to watch it as you get to the very end and it is becoming syrupy so you can take it off the stove before it becomes too thick. Once it’s ready, add a tablespoon to your pie filling to give it that extra “Apple-y” flavor.  You can use it in pancakes, cakes, and all kinds of savory dishes as well. I like to put a little in a salad dressing that I make with Dijon mustard and cider vinegar, or in pan sauce for chicken thighs or pork chops. Ever since I first made it three years ago, I’ve kept some in my refrigerator - where it stays good for months and months.

One gallon of cider in a large pot. 

Here's what it looks like about 3 hours later. Glossy with the consistency of syrup.

Boiled cider. Oh yeah, did I mention it goes great on top of ice cream? Or in place of pancake syrup? 

And now you know the secret to my “award winning” apple pie. Because there should be no secrets in delicious. 

“Mama’s Food”: Phyllo Crust Fish Pie

This morning I overheard Paul and Emmett talking. Paul asked Emmett what he liked to eat and Emmett said “Mama’s food.” I played it cool and pretended not to notice but I felt a wave of happiness and pride wash over me.  I love that “Mama’s food” is an actual category of food to him.  It’s a bonus that he thinks it’s good.  That  it’s what he likes. Most of the parents I know, myself included, feel pressure to be feeding our children the “right” things and so often it seems like an uphill battle in a world full of convenience foods and toddler palates - not to mention busy work and activities schedules.  

When they are very young, it’s easier to control what they eat but that becomes more and more difficult once they are out in the world.  Even at age three, they notice what their friends are eating, what snacks everyone brings to school. They want to go to McDonald’s.  And I’m not going to lie. It’s hard to feed a family. Real food. Night after night. It takes planning, dedication and as much organization as even this Type-A-Lawyer-Mama can muster. And  believe me, perfection is not the standard I’m holding myself to here. I don’t beat myself up over putting a frozen pizza in the oven when I get home late from work, ordering Thai food or calling it “everyone just eat whatever you can find in the fridge night”. I’m not nuts about things like whether everything is organic or how many servings of fruits and vegetables they are getting each day.  I just want food to be a source of sustenance, pleasure and joy for them - eating it, cooking it and sharing it with the people they love. I’m satisfied with feeding them enough home-cooked meals that “Mama’s food” is a category.

Cooking at home requires the ability to adapt recipes so that they can be made with ingredients you already have or are easy to find, on sale, etc. This fish pie is something that I created in order to use some smoked trout that was hanging out in my fridge.  After reading a handful of recipes for fish pie (there's one in Irish Country Cooking, the book I recently got from the Paddy's and blogged about here) and cullen sink (Scottish fish chowder) I felt prepared to embark on my own take. Instead of using a pie crust or puff pastry for the lid, I decided to use the phyllo dough I had in the freezer. Fewer trips to the store, more cooking in the kitchen.

Here goes…

Phyllo Crust Fish Pie

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, Irish if you have it

2 leeks, washed and thinly sliced

2 large yellow potatoes, cubed

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

⅓ cup white wine

2 cups whole milk

8 oz smoked trout

About 6 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1/2 roll chilled phyllo

In a large, heavy-bottomed pan or dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Add leeks, potatoes and garlic, and turn the heat down so that the vegetables and garlic release some moisture but do not brown.  Cook about five minutes until leeks begin to turn translucent. Remove leeks, potatoes and garlic and set aside.

Turn the heat back up to medium-high and add white wine, scraping the bottom of the pan.  Allow most of wine to evaporate and stir in milk, smoked trout, peppercorns and bay leaf.  Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer gently for 7 minutes. Remove fish. Once cool enough to handle break trout into large flakes discarding bones and skin.

Strain the milk through a fine sieve and return the liquid to the pan.  Add the potato-leek mixture, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are just cooked through. Strain the milk again, this time leaving the milk in a separate pan or bowl, and set the potato-leek mixture aside with the trout.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in the pan.   Add the flour and cook gently for 1 minute.

Gradually whisk in the milk and bring it back to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the smoked trout, leeks, potato and parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Pour into a pie or casserole dish and chill for 1 hour or longer, overnight is fine.
 

Preheat oven to 375F.

Unroll defrosted roll of phyllo. Run a clean kitchen towel under water and wring it out.  Use the towel to cover phyllo that is not being used so that it doesn’t dry out.

Take your fish chowder out of the fridge.  

Melt the remaining butter (you can also use olive oil or even spray oil).  

Brush one sheet of phyllo lightly with melted butter or oil and place over the chowder.

Do the same with the next piece, rotating it so that it overlaps the first piece.  I just sort of throw them on there.  Keep brushing then layering your phyllo like this to cover the top of your dish.  

Repeat this process with about 10 sheets or half of the roll.

Cut an opening for steam to escape.

Bake for about 40  minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden and chowder is bubbling underneath. Start checking your pie around the 20 minute mark and cover loosely with foil if the phyllo is getting too brown (mine didn’t need to be covered and I had it in there for the full 40 minutes).

While Emmett's my big fish lover, Isla is into robust, savory foods like blue cheese, extra sharp cheddar, spicy sausage etc.  She loved this one - I think it was the smoked trout.    

Cook the Book: Coast by Rachel Allen

Do you have any friends so perfect you would hate them if you didn’t love them so much? We do. Every year we get a Holiday card or two from those perfect friends who have gorgeous, well-mannered children and live in beautifully curated homes. When the cards arrive I show them to my husband who can’t help but agree with my assessment that: “This card looks like an ad for Tiny Prints! Wouldn’t you hate them if you didn't know them?” This is sort of how I feel about culinary goddess Rachel Allen - minus the part about knowing her personally.  She’s the beautiful and talented cook who graduated from Ballymaloe Cookery School at the age of 18 and went on to work there, marry the very handsome Isaac Allen, son of Ballymaloe’s famous Darina Allen, raise three children, write cookbooks, star in TV shows and basically lead the life dreams are made of. Somehow, despite all of her beauty and talent, she seems to be totally down to earth and, just like those perfect friends of ours, way too lovely to hate.

It’s very, very tough to hate a woman who provides you with a delicious meal like this one that can be made on a weeknight (oh, and my birthday cake).  So instead I am one of her biggest fans. I watch her on TV and buy her cookbooks. Her latest one, Coast, is probably my favorite yet. The book is set up as a culinary road trip that takes you along Ireland’s Atlantic coast from Cork all the way up to Donegal. The book makes you wish you were able to join Rachel on her journey and sample all of the local produce and artisanal products available along the way.  Each time I open it, I vow to make the same trip up the coast with my family.  I will, once the kids are old enough to remember and enjoy it. In the meantime I feed them.

Pork Schnitzel with Sage Butter

adapted slightly from Coast by Rachel Allen

1 ½lb fillet of pork, cut at an angle into ½ inch-thick slices

½ cup all-purpose flour

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 ¼ cup fine white breadcrumbs (fresh or frozen)

Grated zest of ½ lemon

2 eggs, beaten

Butter and extra virgin olive oil, for frying

For the sage butter:

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

1 stick butter, softened

1 tbsp chopped sage

1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients for the sage butter in a bowl. Put on a sheet of greaseproof paper, roll into a log and chill.

Place the pork fillet slices between two sheets of plastic wrap and, using a rolling pin, gently beat until flattened to about one quarter of an inch thick .

Mix the flour with a pinch of salt and a twist of pepper in a bowl big enough to toss the pork in; in another bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with 1⁄4 teaspoon of salt, a few twists of pepper and the lemon zest; and, in a third bowl, whisk the eggs together.

Dip each piece of pork into the flour, then into the egg and then in the crumbs. Make sure they are well coated.

Heat one tablespoon each of butter and olive oil in a frying pan and fry the schnitzels in batches, adding more butter and oil when needed. Keep the cooked schnitzels, uncovered, in a warm oven while you cook the rest. Serve with slices of sage butter melting on top, and a salad or seasonal greens.

Get out the meat mallet and some aggression.

Breading station - flour, egg, breadcrumbs.

Add salad, rice and lemon. That's it. Perfect.