Across the Kitchen Table:

Tailgating:
Tricks, Tips, and Winning Recipes

All About Apple Pie

Making the Most of
the Harvest Season

Food writer Ken Haedrich has put a lot of thought into tailgating. With a partner, he has come up with a unique product called "Let’s Tailgate!" It’s a 12-panel, accordion-folded, laminated booklet filled with tips, reminders, and recipes to make your next tailgate party an easy winner. All of the food can be prepared ahead, packed into the car, and brought out at mealtime with a minimum of fuss. Basil Potato Salad, Mediterranean Burgers, Curried Peach Chicken Wings, Pineapple Salsa, Hot Spiced Cranberry Cider, and other recipes will get a warm reception from old and new-found friends in the parking lot outside the football stadium. You can stick the sturdy little booklet in your glove compartment to review last-minute food preparation.

"Let’s Tailgate" costs $5.95 plus shipping and can be ordered at www.duraguides.com. Telephone 800-216-9679 for more information; or write to Duraguides, P. O. Box 2126, Annapolis, MD 21404. (The Pineapple Salsa recipe alone is worth the price of purchase!)

For more tailgating food and ideas, I typed in "tailgate" to search on www.digitalhearth.com, and found myself at a mother lode of recipes. It makes sense that three football-crazy places (Texas, North Carolina, and Green Bay, Wisconsin) would know enough to connect sports and food. These were my favorite Tailgate sites:
*The Tarheel Kitchen, www.agr.state.nc.us/markets/gginc/thkitchn/tailgate.htm
*The Longhorn Tailgater, http://jontra.com/tailgate/thebook.htm
*Green Bay Packer Fans (you gotta love ‘em), www.packer.com/tailgate
*Alan’s Kitchen, all kinds of picnic and tailgating recipes, www.alanskitchen.com
*True Southern Family Recipes, www.aheb.com/cookbook/tailgating.html
*Food safety tips at Clemson University’s site, http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC3602.htm

Tailgate Recipes

Sausage and Grits Frittata

3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons quick grits
1 pound sausage, sliced thin
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large eggs
6 scallions, sliced thin
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar
cayenne pepper to taste
Boil water, add grits and salt to taste, and cook until grits are thick. Spoon grits onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a 1/2" thick rectangle. Chill for 15 minutes and cut into 1/2" dice. In a skillet, cook sausage and bell pepper in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, scallions, cheese, cayenne, and salt to taste. Stir in sausage mixture and the diced grits, gently. In the skillet, heat remaining oil, pour in egg mixture, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes without stirring, until center is set. Let cool for 5 minutes and cut into wedges. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Best in the West Barbecue Bean Bake

Brown beef, bacon, and onion. Drain excess fat. Combine meat and onion with remaining ingredients except the beans and stir well. Add the beans and combine thoroughly. Bake covered for 1 hour at 350°F.

Apricot-Glazed Pork Chops

In a small pan, combine the jam and vinegar. Over low heat, cook until the jam melts. Stir the mixture constantly. Add the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and cayenne. Remove from heat and cool, then pour into a jar and refrigerate until ready to use.

Trim pork chops and brush lightly with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, place in a ziplock plastic bag, and refrigerate until ready to cook. Preheat grill or light charcoal to make a medium-hot fire. Cook chops for 3 minutes on each side. Brush glaze on one side, turn chops, and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Brush glaze on other side, turn, and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Cut into center of chop to test doneness (meat will have a light pink blush near the bone). Use remaining glaze to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Spicy Cheese Bites

In a large bowl, combine the cheese and butter. Add flour, salt, and cayenne. Blend cereal in well. Using a teaspoon, drop dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving about 1/2" between cookies. Slightly flatten by pressing a pecan half onto each cookie. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes at 325°F, until cookies just start to brown. Do not overbake. Cool, and store in an airtight container. Cookies will keep for weeks. Makes 48.

Applesauce Cake

Grease and flour a 9" by 13" pan. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter with peanut butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. In four stages, add part of flour mixture and part of applesauce to butter mixture, alternately, until all flour and applesauce is in the mixing bowl. Mix until smooth. Pour into cake pan and bake for about 45 minutes at 350°F, until cake tests done. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Better Than
Sex Cake

All About Apple Pie

No matter what conditions
Dyspeptic come to fease,
The best of all physicians
Is apple pie and cheese.

1. The Pastry
Here’s a handy port in a storm: if making pie crust from scratch seems too daunting, or you just don’t have the time, try Pillsbury’s refrigerated pie crusts, which are made with lard and aren’t half bad. Each package holds two circles of dough folded in quarters and ready to roll out to the size of your pie pan. They are not as flaky as good homemade pastry, but are tastier than some of the pre-formed frozen pie crusts. (And you can crimp the edges yourself, so it won’t look as though a robot made the pie.)

Old-school bakers always use lard for pie crust because it makes the flakiest, most tender crust. If you can find good-quality pure lard, it is still the optimal choice. The vegetable-shortening people have their own cheering section, touting the easy-to-handle dough made with Crisco and its equivalents. The butter people make a strong case, too, and when it comes to flavor, it’s hard to beat butter. You may want to use part butter, part Crisco, or some other combination. You can even make pie crust with olive or vegetable oil, but the texture is mealy rather than flaky. The Canadian milling company Robin Hood Flour has a recipe for canola oil pastry on its Web site, www.robinhood.ca.

In the final analysis, having a "light hand" for pastry is probably more important than the exact recipe you follow. I’d venture to say that the food processor, that handy kitchen machine, is responsible for a great many pie crust failures because it is so easy to over-process the ingredients. If the dough comes together into a neat ball, you’ve done too much. Pastry dough should just barely hold together. A wire pastry blender or two round-bladed knives are the only tools you need to combine shortening and flour. Add only enough ice water to bring the pieces together.

The most basic pie pastry consists of fat, flour, a dash of salt, and cold water. For a single crust pie, a stick of butter or 1/2 cup solid shortening, about 1-1/3 cups flour, a dash of salt, and 3 tablespoons of ice water added a spoonful at a time is a standard recipe.

As a variation, here are two easy-to-handle pastry recipes.

Flaky Pie Crust (single crust)
This is adapted from Lisa Yockelson’s excellent book, Fruit Desserts. It is OK to replace part of the butter with solid shortening. The recipe makes a single-crust pie shell; simply double it for two pies or a double-crust pie.

1-1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold butter, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 cold extra-large egg yolk
2 tablespoons ice water (use more only if needed)

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Using a wire pastry blender or two round-bladed knives, cut the fat into the flour until the fat is in small pieces. Using your fingers, rub and crumble the fat and flour until the mixture is like coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle with the sugar. Blend the egg yolk and ice water and pour the mixture over the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a fork, quickly combine the ingredients to make a firm but workable dough. Add more water only a drop or two at a time. On a sheet of wax paper, shape the dough into a rough disk, wrap, and refrigerate for about 20 minutes before rolling out.

Vinegar Crust (double crust)
I got this recipe for a double-crust pie many years ago from Corinne Morse of Amesbury, Massachusetts. The vinegar helps tenderize the crust.

2-1/2 cups pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup lard or vegetable shortening
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
Mix flour and salt, cut in shortening with two knives or a pastry blender. Mix vinegar and milk and add slowly to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork. Use only enough liquid so dough can be handled easily. Divide dough in half. Roll out to fit a 9" pie pan.

2. The Apples
The earliest apples of the harvest are firm and juicy, and are great for eating out of hand. But they don’t necessarily make the best pies. If you use early apples, add 2 tablespoons flour or cornstarch to the sliced apples to help thicken the juices, and bake the pie slightly longer.

Which varieties are best for pie? An apple that breaks down well in applesauce, like the Cortland or McIntosh, is not necessarily the best for pies, unless you like your pie on the mushy side. Here is a short list of my favorite pie apples, varieties that balance sweet and tart flavors and hold their shape in a pie.

• Macoun (spicier than a McIntosh; a taste to treasure)
• Wolf River (large apple; good keeper; superior for cooking)
• Cox’s Orange Pippin (said to be the richest-tasting apple there is; hard to find)
• Suncrisp (new cross of Cox’s Orange Pippin and Golden Delicious; excellent keeper; holds shape well)
• Jonathan and Jonagold (the latter is a cross of Jonathan and Golden Delicious; both have intense flavor and hold shape well)
• Newtown Pippin (Thomas Jefferson’s favorite; excellent keeper; bright, full flavor; holds shape well)
• Pink Lady (crisp and sweet; fruity perfume; holds shape well)

3. The Apple Pie Recipes

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Filling:
2 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 to 5 cups peeled apple slices

Topping:
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Crust: Combine ingredients and press mixture onto the sides and bottom of a 9" pie pan. Chill.

Filling: Combine all ingredients except apples and stir well. Add apples and toss to coat. Pour into chilled crust. Bake pie for 15 minutes at 400°F; reduce heat to 350°F and continue baking for 30 minutes longer.

Topping: Combine ingredients until crumbly. After pie has baked as described above, raise oven to 400°F, sprinkle topping over pie, and bake for 10 minutes longer. Serve warm or cold.

Upside-Down Apple Pecan Pie

Glaze:
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon corn syrup or maple syrup
1/2 cup pecan halves

Crust:
pastry for a double-crust pie

Filling:
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5 cups peeled, sliced apples

For glaze, combine brown sugar, butter, and syrup in a 9" pie plate to coat bottom of pan. Arrange pecans on top. Place bottom crust on top of pecans and press gently to smooth.
Combine all filling ingredients and toss well. Turn into pastry-lined pan. Cover with top crust. Seal, crimp, and flute edges. Cut slits in top of pie for steam to escape.

Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 325°F and bake about 30 minutes longer, until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Remove from oven. After 5 minutes, loosen edge of pie and carefully invert it onto a serving plate so that pecans are on top. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Brown Sugar Apple Pie

Pastry for a 9" double-crust pie

Filling:
5 to 6 large baking apples, such as Rome or Northern Spy, peeled and cut into 1/4" slices
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Roll out bottom crust and place in pie pan. Trim edges. Toss the apple slices with the lemon juice in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon, ginger, allspice, brown sugar, and cornstarch, and stir together. Sprinkle spice mixture over apples and toss gently with your fingers. Brush the bottom crust with the melted butter. Layer the apples evenly onto the crust, sprinkling the raisins and walnuts between the layers. Roll out top crust and lay it over the apples. Seal the crusts together and crimp with the tines of a fork. Cut slits or make decorative vents in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape. Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 375°F and bake for another 25 to 35 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Apple Custard Cream Pie

one 9" pie shell, unbaked, fluted high

1 tablespoon flour
8 medium apples, quartered
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1 tablespoon butter

Custard Topping:
1 small egg
1/2 cup light cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Dust bottom of pie shell with flour. Arrange apples in pie shell; sprinkle with 1 cup sugar combined with spices. Dot with butter. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 425°F for about 1/2 hour, until apples are cooked through.

Meanwhile, combine ingredients for custard topping and beat well. Pour evenly over apples in pie shell. Lower oven temperature to 325°F and bake for 30 minutes longer. Makes 1 pie.

Making the Most of the Harvest Season

By the time the autumnal equinox rolls around on the 22nd of September, the shortened hours of daylight have already begun to slow garden production. It’s time for gardeners and cooks to go into high gear, making sure that as much of the garden as possible is tucked into the freezer or the pantry, and that the garden itself is prepared for the winter.

• Most berries have long since ripened, but if you are lucky enough to have a fall crop of strawberries, raspberries, currants, or other late ripeners, you can simply freeze whole berries in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then pour them into freezer bags for storage. They will be somewhat mushy when they thaw, but are perfect for pies and fruit sauces. You can also make jam and jelly from frozen berries. Large whole strawberries do somewhat better in the freezer if you sprinkle them with sugar to stop oxidation, but the smaller berries are fine without sugar.

• If a light frost threatens, bring in the basil and other tender herbs. Parsley, chives, and lavender will withstand a light frost, but basil will turn black and give up. Cut basil plants off at the soil line. If you have time to make pesto that very day, strip off the leaves and go for it. If you don’t, plunge the stems into a bucket of water and store for a day or two in your cellar. Small-leaved herbs can be hung in bunches to dry, dried in a dehydrator, or chopped in a small amount of water or olive oil in the food processor and frozen in ice cube trays (delicious additions to soup next winter!).

• Pick green or partially ripe tomatoes and store them at cool room temperature in a single layer. Keep them out of direct sunlight, and never refrigerate. It’s tempting to line them up on a sunny windowsill, but they will turn mushy.

• Pick summer squash, zucchini, and other tender vegetables before frost (or immediately after, if the veggies aren’t damaged). Store as much as you can in your refrigerator (this is when having a second refrigerator in the cellar comes in handy) and give the rest to your neighbors or a local soup kitchen.

• Frost will kill the vines of pumpkin and winter squash, but won’t hurt the vegetables. Detach them from the vines and let them season outside for a few days so the shells harden. Indoors, they like a temperature range of 50°F to 65°F. You can put them under the bed in a cool bedroom!

• We usually wait until after a frost to harvest carrots — the cold seems to make them taste sweeter. Cut off the tops, wash the carrots with the garden hose, let them dry off for a while, and pack into plastic bags for long-term refrigeration. The old way is to bury them in sand, but in our experience they keep better (crisp and juicy) in the refrigerator.

In the garden, keep weeding so that weeds can’t go to seed. Remove all garden debris so any diseases won’t winter over. If you can, plant a fall cover crop (winter rye is a favorite in New England) that you can turn under next spring. If you are lucky enough to have farm animals, or know someone who does, spread composted manure and shavings on the garden after harvest. This also can be dug or tilled in next spring. For more tips on garden care, go to the USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program’s Web site, www.sare.org. Links on this site will take you to many other useful sites, including State Extension Service centers. The Web site for Kitchen Garden magazine, www.taunton.com/kg, is another favorite source of ideas and tips.

If you don’t have your own vegetable garden, stop at a farmstand and get yourself large bags of onions, potatoes, and other root crops that will keep well in a cool, dry cellar. (Don’t refrigerate potatoes or onions, and don’t store potatoes and apples together; the apples give off ethylene gas that spoils the potatoes.) It’s a good way to save money, support local agriculture, and eat well all fall.

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