Recipe CXXXIII - Latticed Apple, Sultana and Cinnamon Pie

As the days of confinement go by, I find myself more and more returning to the food of my mother and grandmother; perhaps this is a kind of subliminal act of reassurance to my family. Or maybe it is because I have a newly-found sense of nostalgia. Either way, this one is a lot more elaborate than my mother's apple pie, mainly because she was a fifties housewife: only the staple ingredients and no embellishments. She would never have found things like cinnamon or dark brown sugar back then, due to rationing. 

Although this ended by the sixties, the general trend remained firmly in the camp of vegetables and potatoes boiled to within an inch of their lives, and meat cooked in the oven with no decadent additions like herbs or garlic. So my mother's apple pie was generally a treat for us all. She peeled the apples and sometimes boiled them too, but I tend to err on the side of adventure when it comes to pie baking.

Ingredients: 

For the pâte brisée (shortcrust) pastry:
300g flour
150g cold butter, diced into cubes
Half a teaspoon of salt
2 large dessertspoonfuls of sugar
A tiny drop of milk (or water, depending on taste)
1 egg
Some extra brown sugar for the topping

For the filling:
3 apples, cored and sliced into C-shaped pieces (leave on the peel for extra flavour)
A handful of sultanas
A good two dessertspoonfuls of dark brown sugar (otherwise just ordinary brown sugar)
A teaspoonful of cinnamon
Some five spice
Some lemon juice
Some white sugar if necessary
Clear honey (optional)

Instructions for the pastry:
Put the flour, salt, and sugar into a bowl. Add the butter and begin to massage it into the flour until it looks like rough breadcrumbs. Add a few drops of milk or water - you don't need much to get a good ball of dough. Put it in the fridge for a minimum of half an hour, then break it into two pieces (size ratio - 70% to 30%). Roll out the larger ball until it fits the entirety of your round baking tray.
Keep the last part for later.

Instructions for the filling:
Put the oven on to 180°C. While your pastry is in the fridge, put the apples into a bowl, squirt your lemon juice over them to keep their freshness. Throw in the cinnamon, brown sugar, five spice and sultanas. Give the whole thing a very good mixing-in so that it becomes consistent throughout.

Then put it into the baking tray and flatten it out. Put some honey on top if you want.

Take the smaller ball of pastry, roll it out, and cut into strips. Put them on top in a criss-cross pattern. It is not important if they are uneven or unequal in size or width, as after some time in the oven, they will find their own shape.

Glaze the top with egg, and put on a final dashing of sugar, then put it in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, and serve immediately with cream, ice cream or custard.

Recipe XCIX - Apple-Vanilla-Mascarpone Dessert

I'm now on my 99th recipe. This has been a fabulous adventure for me to attempt to cook a different meal at least once a fortnight, but on average every eight or nine days. This one is so easy and yet fulfilling to make and a remarkable crowd-pleaser. You need a good hour for this, but it'll be worth it.

Ingredients:

5 apples

2 tablespoons of brown sugar (approx)

4 tablespoons of white sugar (approx)

1 carton of ordinary dessert cream

1 tub of mascarpone

3 eggs

2 vanilla pods

A handful of speculoos biscuits but shortcrust will do

A spoonful of cinnamon

Equipment:

An electric whisk

A blender

Instructions:

Cut up the apples and put them in water and tip some brown sugar over them. Some remove the skins, but I leave them on as I like a nice zesty tang to my apple purée.

Put the biscuits in a blender and give them a whiz until they're pulverised. Put them aside until later.

Take the cream, eggs and mascarpone and fold them into each other. Add the white sugar (to your own tastes) and empty the vanilla pods into it by cutting down the centre from one end to the other and scooping the vanilla out with a teaspoon. Then get the electric whisk and turn it into a creamy substance.

Meanwhile, get half the apples and scoop them out of the water and into a blender. Whiz it up until it turns to pulp. Put them in a bowl to cool.

With the other half, add some cinnamon and blend it to a pulp. So below you see the difference. The one on the right I am saving for my roast pork later, and the one on the left is going further in this story. Put it in the fridge for a while first though.

Spoon very carefully some apple purée into the bottom of a glass and smooth it down to a flat surface either with a spoon, or by gently swirling the glass. Add the mascarpone layer after this, and then the biscuit crumbs.

Use various sizes of glass depending on who they are intended for.

You can do the same thing with other fruits, such as raspberries, pineapple or blackcurrants. The vanilla would be an unnecessary, depending what you choose.

Recipe XC - Spicy Turkey Fillet Hotpot

It's still really cold here, which means more winter recipes. However this was a tremendously rewarding one, because the smell in the house is utterly divine. It is a little bit of an effort in the beginning but the main part is in a casserole dish, and for that you need absolutely nothing except a hot oven.



Equipment:
1 large sealable casserole

Ingredients:
750g-1200g turkey breast/fillet (chicken does just as well, but the pieces will remain whole or simply be halved.

Vegetables, your choice:
3 carrots, chopped
6 small or medium potatoes, cut into slices
1 red pepper, cut into strips
4-6 small onions, roughly chopped
5 cloves of garlic, sliced in two
Savoy cabbage, finely chopped into strips
1 courgette, sliced
Anything else that takes your fancy.

Spices, your choice:
1 small bowl, mix up some of the following to your own specifications:
cardamom, coriander, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, plus some garam massala, or mild Madras.

Maximum 1.5 litres of hot, salted water

Optional:
Some coconut milk, almonds, sultanas, apples and grapes

Instructions:
Turn the oven on to 170°C. Take your turkey breast and slice it into differently-sized pieces and rub a little salt into them. Take your bowl of mixed spices and spread liberally over the pieces, saving about a third for later.



Fry them in butter or oil for five to ten minutes until sealed and place them in the casserole.
Take your onions, garlic, peppers and carrots, and give them a short period in the pan to sweat. Pour over half of the remainder of the spices and add more oil to stop the ingredients scorching. Then put this into the casserole. Add the cabbage and do the same. Mix up the vegetables making sure your meat remains at the bottom and the top is flat enough for the potato level. At this point you can place any fruit (dried or fresh) and nuts.



Finally, place your potatoes on the top to cover it all. Pour over the remainder of your spices, or add a little more to the top, to give it a brownish hue. Fill the casserole with the salted water up to the level of the potatoes but no higher, and cover it. You can add the coconut milk at this point, but it really isn't necessary as the whole thing will remain quite moist with the lid on.



Place it in the oven for between 90 minutes and 2 hours. This will give everything enough time for the flavours to run. When you remove it from the oven, leave it for a few minutes before serving.



It would go well with a nice sweet white wine.

Recipe LXXXIX - Puff Pastry Pies

I took a little break last week to go away for some well-needed recuperation and socialisation, so I have prepared a double-header for you this week. When talking about puff pastry, there are two ways to do it - you can either spend ages and ages rolling the stuff out until it's perfect, or you can just buy a couple of rolls from the supermarket and spend more time on the contents. Guess what I chose...

STEAK PIE
 
Ingredients
min. 450g puff pastry
450g-550g chopped beef or lamb
250ml-350ml beef stock
Carrots, roughly chopped
Mushrooms, whole, halved or quartered
Shallots, whole or halved
Cloves of garlic, sliced
Apples, in chunks
Plain flour
Thyme
Pepper & salt
Butter for frying and for greasing the pie dish
A little water for closing the pastry
1 egg for glazing the top



Instructions
Roll your meat in a bowl containing flour, salt and pepper, then put it in a high-sided pan to fry gently in the butter.



After some time, add the vegetables and continue frying for a while until it is all nice and coated in the oil of the pan. Add the thyme and garlic for a couple of minutes before you pour in the beef stock. Allow it to simmer for a good hour on a medium-low heat.



Take the meat off the cooker and allow it to cool. Grease the inside of a decent-sized pie dish. With a roll of your puff pastry, line the inside of the pie dish. Pour the meat into the middle of the pastry-lined pie dish and splash the outside with some water to help the top close properly. Take another roll and place it over the top to make a "roof". With some of the remaining pastry, make some vague decorative shapes and don't forget to pierce the pastry top a few times to let the heat escape. Glaze it with an egg and a brush.



Put it in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the pastry rises and goes nice and brown.




MINI APPLE PIES

Ingredients:
2 apples
Cinnamon
Brown sugar
Sultanas
1-2 cloves
A small glass of water
The rest of the egg for glazing the pastry
(a spoonful of honey - optional)
(brandy, schnapps or port wine - optional)

Instructions:
Cut up the apples and roll them in cinnamon, then put them in some water. Add some more cinnamon, followed by a clove and some sugar. Heat it up gently until it is near boiling point, then simmer it for a good half an hour, or even more. Taste it to see if it needs anything added - more sugar, or maybe a little alcohol. Let it cool down for a while.



Line some tart moulds with the remaining pastry and blind bake them for a few minutes. I didn't, as I like stodgy pastry. Put the filling into the moulds and arrange the remaining pieces of pastry on top. Glaze it with the remaining egg and sprinkle some white sugar on the top to give it some sweetness.



Bake it in the oven for 13 to 18 minutes, or until the pastry turns golden brown.