Fish Stew With Fennel, Fire Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic
CARAMEL APPLE CRISP
Apple crisp is one of those desserts that will never, ever go out of style. Easier than pie—no pastry dough to make and roll out—it delivers the warm, juicy apple love you yearn for the minute you see piles of the shiny orbs at local farmers’ markets. This crisp deftly manages to capture the flavor of candied apples under a nutty, buttery crumble.
Makes 8 servings
Active time: 40 min
Total time: 3 hr (includes cooling to warm)
INGREDIENTS
For the Topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract (optional)
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
For the Filling:
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
- 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- Pinch of salt
- 4 pounds baking apples such as Golden Delicious, Gala, or Crispin (about 7 large), peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch-thick slices
EQUIPMENT
- 2- to 2 1/2-quart shallow baking dish
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Butter baking dish.
For the Topping:
- Pulse together flour, sugar, butter, salt, and extracts in a food processor until some large clumps form.
- Set aside 1/4 cup for filling and transfer remaining topping to a bowl. Stir in almonds.
For the Filling:
- Cook sugar in a dry 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until sugar is melted into a deep-golden caramel.
- Remove from heat and carefully add apple juice, butter, and salt (caramel will harden and steam vigorously). Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved.
- Put apples in a large bowl and toss with reserved topping mixture and caramel, then spread in baking dish. (Dish will be very full.)
- Scatter clumps of topping over apples, squeezing small handfuls of topping into clumps when necessary.
- Bake until apples are tender and top is golden and crisp, about 1 hour. Cool to warm or room temperature.
COOKS’ NOTES
- Topping can be made 2 days ahead and kept chilled, covered.
- Crisp is best eaten the day it is made, but any leftovers can be chilled, covered. The topping will get soggy, but you can rewarm the crisp in a 350°F oven.
PHOTO: CHRIS GENTILE
Kale & Apple Caesar Salad
(adapted from Marlow & Sons Restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Serves 4
The robust dressing and the sweet apple are a fine match for hearty kale. And unlike
a traditional Caesar that should be eaten as soon as it’s dressed, the texture of the
greens in this version will hold up well for a good while.
* 4 ounces good crusty olive bread (or any crusty loaf from Bread Alone)
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil – (Kontoulis Olive Oil is here this week!)
* — Kosher salt
* 1 small bunch (1/2 pound) lacinato kale (regular kale will do, but make sure you
make your ribbons extra thin – Madura will have plenty this week) and that the kale
sits in the dressing for a little while longer
* 1 small pink lady apple (or a Gala apple from Concklin’s)
* 1 small clove garlic, minced
* 3 small anchovies, minced
* 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
* 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice (regular lemon works, too)
* — Zest from 1/2 Meyer lemon
* — Black pepper
* 1 egg yolk
* 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400°.
Cut the bread into 1/2-inch cubes. Toss in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil
and a pinch of salt. Spread on a baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, about
10 minutes.
Wash the kale, remove the stems and cut crosswise into thin ribbons . Put in a large
bowl. Remove the core from the apple, quarter and cut into thin slices. Add to the
kale.
In a medium bowl whisk together the garlic, anchovy, vinegar, lemon juice, lemon
zest, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Whisk in remainder of the olive
oil followed by the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan cheese.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss. Mix the croutons in the bowl with the
remaining dressing and add to the salad. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan,
toss and serve in a shallow bowl or on a platter.
Ginger Peach Pandowdy
from Loulies’s.com
End-of-summer dessert made super easy. With our local peaches still pouring into market, we want to take advantage to eat them as much as we can until the season is truly over. This pandowdy recipe calls for store-bought pie pastry and for leaving the fruit’s skins on – both of these steps freeing up time you can spend with your friends and family. Note: Also, consider adding a pint of fresh blackberries and reducing the number of peaches to half, since blackberries have a long season that can often extend into late September.
Serves 6-8
8 peaches, pitted (about 4 lbs.), washed and sliced into 10-12 pieces
1/2 c. sugar
1 lg. lemon, juiced
1 Tbls. unsalted butter
1 disk store-bought pie pastry
2 Tbls. cornstarch
2 Tbls. chopped candied ginger
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. fine Kosher or sea salt
Place peach slices, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and gently toss until evenly coated. Set aside for 15-30 minutes to draw out some of the juices.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter a 9-in. deep-dish pie pan.
Roll out pie pastry to make sure that it is the same or even a little bit larger than pie pan. Cut off any excess pastry dough by placing pie pan upside-down over pastry, using it to cut the pastry to size.
In a small bowl, rub cornstarch, candied ginger, ground ginger and salt together.
Strain peach juice into a small saucepan and cook over a medium heat until the quantity is reduced by half.
Add cornstarch mix and reduced juice to peaches (add blackberries now, if using) and stir gently until evenly combined. Pour into prepared pan and top with pastry circle. If the crust’s a little too big for the pan, tuck it inside (like you’re making the bed). Place on a baking sheet (to collect drips) and bake for 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Cool for 1 hour before serving. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Fresh Pea and Radish Salad
Serves 4
3/4 lb of peas in the pod or 1-2 c. fresh peas
1 bunch of radishes
1 shallot, minced
1 tsp. whole-grain Dijon mustard
½ tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Remove peas from pods. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add peas and cook until just tender, about 1-2 minutes. Drain peas and run under cold water.
Slice radishes very thinly. Place in a salad bowl with peas.
In a separate bowl make the dressing. Add shallot, mustard, olive oil, vinegar, a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper and whisk to combine. Pour over salad and toss.
Spring Asparagus Risotto
Serves 2
3 cups vegetable broth
6 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
3/4 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 pound asparagus
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated Parmigiano cheese
Put the vegetable broth in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down low.
Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and mince the garlic. Melt 4 teaspoons of the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the onion, salt, and pepper, and cook for 3-4 minutes, add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the rice and cook for 2-3 minutes, coating the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook until almost all the wine is absorbed, about 2 minutes.
Add ½ cup of the hot vegetable broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the broth has been absorbed –. Continue adding in broth until the risotto is slightly al dente. [Note: you may not need to use all of the broth.]
While the risotto is cooking, prepare the asparagus. Remove the tough ends of the asparagus and discard them. Cut the stalks into 1” pieces Blanche in boiling water for 2 minutes. Transfer the asparagus to a plate.
Combine the lemon zest and parsley in a small bowl and set the mixture aside.
When the risotto is done, remove the pot from the heat and add the remaining 2 teaspoons of butter. Stir well until the butter is melted and evenly distributed. Add the asparagus, and lemon juice and stir to combine.
Divide the risotto evenly among two plates. Top each plate with half of the grated cheese and half of the parsley-lemon mixture.
Serve immediately.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble (6-8 servings)
Topping:
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
6 tbsp sugar
Zest of 1 Lemon (save juice for filling)
1 (4oz) stick melted butter
Filling:
1 quart fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and cut in half
1 ½ cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1 inch pieces
Juice of 1 Lemon
½ cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. Prepare topping: In a larg bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and lemon zest and add the melted butter. Mix until small and large clumps form. Refrigerate until needed.
3. Prepare filling: Toss rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.
4. Cover fruit evenly with topping. Place pie plate on a foil-lined baking sheet, and bake until crumble topping is golden brown in places and fruit is bubbling beneath, about 40 to 50 minutes.
