Cider: the quintessential autumn sipper

It might be something about the crunchy rust-colored leaves littering the yard, the nostalgic scent of wood smoke drifting in the crisp autumn air, something about the memories of childhood hay rides and picking apples in my aunt’s North Carolina orchard, but during the first weeks of fall I cannot think of something more scrumptious to sip than a dry, hand-crafted, hard apple cider.

There are many American artisans producing stellar versions, similar to the ones France has been making for ages. The best ciders have tiny Champagne-like bubbles, and are not cloyingly sweet, but taste of pure heirloom apples, of honey. Hard cider pairs wonderfully with fall’s favorite nibbles; dry cheeses and deep, toasty nuts. A wise host might even pair cider with an autumn pork roast or a platter of grilled bratwurst. Happy Fall, y’all.

How is cider produced? Apples are to cider what grapes are to wine. You’ve got your wildly sweet, and sour and tart and bitter and all the rest, not unlike wine grapes. You press the apples for their juice, occasionally blending said varietals along the way, then you add some yeast, and the juice is laid to rest for fermentation. Depending on the cider house, fermentation time can vary from weeks to many months, with longer maturation adding complexity to the finished product.

Why are there bubbles in cider? Not all hard ciders contain bubbles, but the ones that do have probably seen a gentle reintroduction of CO2 or have undergone a process called dosage, the addition of sugar and yeast to facilitate a second fermentation, which creates bubbles; the same process by which Champagne is made.

There are many types of cider. Cider is produced all over the world, from Argentina to France and Spain, but the United States is just now seeing its own little renaissance with its own typically American flavor. American ciders vary wildly in style from serious dry versions and ice-wine styles to sparkling and still iterations with dozens of apple varieties from east to west coast. French ciders tend to be light, subtle, and lower in alcohol content than English ciders, which are often bold, dry, and higher in alcohol.

Tasting notes: American ciders

Foggy Ridge Serious Cider
Full of yellow apple notes with a super acidic finish, this Virginia-made cider is for those who have previously shunned the category. This expression of Foggy Ridge is made with four different apple varietals including Ashmead Kernel and Rocksbury Red. It’s dry, with small bubbles like a low-dosage Champagne, which means it would pair well with oysters, sushi, and a nice, crisp fall salad.

West County Cider, Baldwin
From a rare-apple varietal in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, this cider is exactly what should be paired with Thanksgiving dinner for its fresh-pressed apple quality and baked pie-dough aromas. It’ll carry through brightly from canapés to pumpkin pie and a snooze by the fire.

Original Sin Cherry Tree
With a big mouthful of pinot noir-like suppleness and bright acidity, heirloom varietals give Cherry Tree the tartness of Ranier cherries and green apples. It would go nicely alongside a crispy duck, a warm autumn salad with dried fruit and squash, and a hot date.

Farnum Hill Extra Dry
This New Hampshire cider house produces an entire family of apple-y goodness each year, ranging from semi-dry to farmhouse style. The Extra Dry being the easy going, flannel-clad sibling who pairs best with seafood, like a poached halibut or maybe baked salmon.

Ace Pumpkin Hard Cider
This Sebastopol-crafted cider boasts subtle aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg which are surprisingly delish, making it a no brainer for autumn entertaining.
More apple goodness – pie!

Apples are back in the markets and, lucky us, there are so many beautiful varieties. I eat an apple a day this time of year and am obsessed with finding the perfect balance of sweet-tart and juicy-firm. Most apples that you’ll grab in the produce aisle are going to be tasty for munching, but will it produce a perfect pie? The answer is mostly, no. When baking, it is worth searching for the following varieties, mixing several is even better, and – do what grandma did – work some leaf lard into the crust, and prepare for pie perfection.

Northern Spy.
Your grandmother may well have insisted on Northern Spy for her pies. She was right. This early 1800s star is one of the few apples that can stand alone in pies. Bright and lively, firm yet tender-skinned, it’s experiencing a well-deserved resurgence as a new generation of bakers discovers that no other apple can match its bag of tricks.

Pink Lady.
Not all modern apples fall flat in pies. The Pink Lady is super-crisp when eaten fresh and nearly as crisp in pies, where its rosy hue and sweet-tart balance work wonders. No peeling, please.

Gravenstein.
Love it or leave it. Some people think this local treasure is too soft for pie, but others believe its unmistakable berry-apple fragrance is the very harbinger of fall. Pick them early for pie.

McIntosh.
Too often we make pies with nothing but overly hard apples — I’m looking at you, Granny Smith! The McIntosh’s supple flesh melts into a soft, almost mashed, consistency that when paired with a crisp crust is utter deliciousness.
The Best Apple Pie

(Recipe courtesy of Food52)

Makes one 9” double-crust pie
2 chilled pie dough disks
3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for decorating, if desired
1/4 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
2 cups Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
2 cups Macintosh apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
3 wedges of fresh lemon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cream or milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together the dry ingredients. Place Granny Smith apple slices in bowl, squeeze a wedge of lemon juice over and toss. In another bowl, place Golden Delicious apples, lemon juice and toss. And in a third bowl, place Macintosh, lemon juice and toss. Evenly distribute sugar mixture over apples in three separate bowls. Mix.

Roll out one round of dough on a lightly floured surface into a circle about 11 inches across. Place crust into a 9-inch pie pan with 1-inch high sides. Roll another round of dough into a circle about 10 inches across. With a knife or scissors, cut excess dough from bottom layer, keeping about a ½ inch overhang.

Starting with the Granny Smith slices, place them in one layer into the bottom crust. Next, layer the Golden Delicious slices over. And lastly, layer the Macintosh slices over. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Tuck overhang of top crust under the bottom crust edge. Flute edges with fingers, or however you like. Vent top.

Sprinkle sugar over the whole pie, if desired. Place pie on a parchment-lined sheet pan.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until juices bubble through vents. Check the pie after 20 minutes, and if you see the edges burning, take two long strips of aluminum foil and wrap edges of pie loosely.

Let the pie cool on a rack for about a half an hour before cutting into it.

Article and Photos Sourced from:  http://suneats.sonomaportal.com/2014/10/30/cider-the-quintessential-autumn-sipper/ 

Secret Recipe: Namu Gaji's Korean Fried Chicken

Dennis Lee may be the new Colonel Sanders. The Namu Gaji chef’s Korean Fried Chicken (KFC), available on the restaurant’s brunch menu, is twice fried and then slathered with a sweet and tangy glaze that looks almost nuclear, thanks to a helping of gochujang, a kicky Korean condiment made from red chiles, rice, fermented soybeans, and salt. We eagerly await more deliciousness from Lee, namely Namu Noodles, due to open in Dogpatch come summer. In the meantime, we’ll settle for sticky fingers.

Korean Fried Chicken
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
3 quarts water
1/3 cup salt
1/3 cup soy sauce
Whole chicken, split into 8 pieces (2 of each: wing with breast, breast, thigh, and drumstick)
1 cup plus 2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons potato starch
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
5 cups cold sparkling water
5 quarts frying oil (rice bran,
canola, or peanut oil) or pork lard
Special equipment:
candy thermometer
KFC glaze (see below)
1. Combine water, salt, and soy sauce in large pot. Place chicken in this brine, and soak for 3 to 4 hours in refrigerator.
2. Remove from solution and pat dry.
3. Lightly coat chicken in 1 cup of flour.
4. Whisk the 2 cups of flour, potato starch, sea salt, and black pepper together in large bowl.
5. Add sparkling water and mix until smooth.
6. Coat chicken in batter.
7. Heat frying oil to 320 degrees in 8- to 10-quart heavy-bottomed pot. Submerge chicken in oil for 8 minutes, maintaining temperature between 300 and 320 degrees.*
8. Remove chicken and allow to rest on a drying rack for 6 minutes.
9. Heat oil to 375 degrees.
10. Submerge chicken again and maintain temperature between 350 and 375 degrees.* Batter will appear golden brown and very crispy when done.
11. Coat chicken in warm KFC glaze. Plate the chicken.
12. Serve with daikon pickles, spicy slaw, and dashi gravy for dipping. See recipes online at 7x7.com/KFC.
*Chef’s note: The temperature of the oil will drop when you place all of the chicken in. Increase or decrease heat to maintain proper temperature for the duration of cooking.
KFC Glaze

1/2 cup gochujang

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup sugar

8 ounces unsaltedbutter

1 tablespoon potato starch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

1. Combine all ingredients except potato starch slurry in small (4-quart) pot.

2. Bring to a simmer and add potato starch slurry, whisking vigorously.

3. Turn the heat down to very low to keep warm.

4. Take the mixture off the heat, and whisk for a minute just before glazing the chicken.

 

Daikon Pickles

Serves 4 to 6

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons salt

2 cups white vinegar

2 to 3 pounds medium-size Japanese daikon, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1. Combine water, sugar, salt, and vinegar, and whisk until uniform.

2. Add radish and let sit, covered, for 24 hours. Then refrigerate until ready to eat.

3. These will easily keep for 6 to 8 weeks in the refrigerator.

 

Spicy Slaw

Serves 4 to 6

1/2 green cabbage

1 cup mayo

2 tablespoons sriracha ,Tabasco, or your favorite hot sauce (more if you like it hotter)

1. Thinly slice the cabbage.

2. Mix together with mayo and hot sauce until evenly coated.

Chef’s note: I think this slaw is best served right away, when you can taste the raw cabbage, but it’s also good the next day, served after being refrigerated.

 

Dashi Gravy

Serves 4 to 6

1 cup heaping bonito flakes

1 piece kelp, 4 by 4 inches

4 quarts chicken stock

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup mirin

6 ounces unsaltedbutter

6 ounces flour

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated

Black pepper to taste (approximately 1 teaspoon)

1. Place bonito and kelp in chicken stock in medium (6-quart) pot. Bring to a simmer and remove from heat.

2. Strain the liquid, discarding solids, and return to pot.

3. Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, and mirin to the stock.

4. In a separate 10-inch sauté pan, melt butter on low.

5. Work the flour in until there are no lumps and the flour is fully incorporated (the mix will become a relatively solid mass).

6. Heat stock to a simmer, and add the butter-and-flour combination in small pieces, whisking them in.

7. Add cheese and black pepper.

8. Whisk for 4 minutes as the mixture bubbles and thickens.

9. Serve hot.

 

Recipe and Photo Sourced by:  http://www.7x7.com/KFC

Hard-boiled: Making the most of leftover Easter eggs

Planning to hide brightly colored hard-boiled eggs around the house for Easter Sunday? Make sure to remember where you hid them. Otherwise, come June they’ll emit not-so-gentle reminders.
The practice of decorating eggs predates the Christian holiday of Easter. Engraved ostrich eggs estimated to be 60,000 years old have been discovered in Africa, and it was common practice to include decorated ostrich eggs in the graves of wealthy Egyptians and Sumerians some 5,000 year ago.
Easter eggs, also known as Paschal eggs, date back to Christianity’s earliest years. In the beginning, they were stained red to reflect  the crucifixion. For many Christians, the  potential of eggs to produce life symbolizes Christ rising from the dead.
Although the annual egg-dying ritual is a messy process, the nutritional value of hard-boiled eggs far outweighs those of the jelly beans, chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chicks found in Easter baskets.
The carbohydrate-free egg is an excellent source of protein and calcium, as well as vitamins A, B-12 and D. The yolks may be a little long on cholesterol and the primary source of the 78 calories found in each large chicken egg, but the benefits outweigh the liabilities when eggs are consumed in moderation.
But following the traditional Sunday morning egg hunt, when two or three dozen colorful ovoids are stacked in cheap wicker baskets on your kitchen counter, moderate consumption does not come to mind. The fun is over. Now what to do with all those Easter eggs?
Here are some recipes that will help you deplete the supply.

Chilled asparagus with vinaigrette and eggs mimosa

Credit Thomas Keller, owner and chef extraordinaire of Napa Valley’s The French Laundry, for creating the dish on which this recipe is based. Few chefs can make a dish so elegant out of ingredients so ordinary.
VINAIGRETTE INGREDIENTS
¼ cup Dijon mustard
½ cup red wine vinegar
1½ cups canola oil
DIRECTIONS
Combine mustard and vinegar in a blender and bend for about 15 seconds. Slowly drizzle 1/2 cup of the oil into the blender while it is still running. (You’re looking for a creamy texture.) Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and whisk in the remaining oil.
INGREDIENTS
2 lbs. of fresh asparagus
1 tbsp. and 2 tsps. extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little more for drizzling
4 hard-boiled eggs
2 large radishes
3 tbsp. of the vinaigrette you just made
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. minced chives
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
Remove the tough ends of the asparagus spears and discard. Further trim the ends until the spears are of equal lengths and this time save the trimmings. Bring a large pot of salt water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. Divide spears into four piles and, with tips facing the same direction, use kitchen twine to tie the piles into bundles.
Blanch the bundles in the boiling water for 4 to 6 minutes, then drop into the ice water bath. Take the tender, trimmed asparagus ends and drop them into the boiling water and blanch 4 to 7 minutes, or until tender enough to purée.
Once the asparagus bundles are cold, transfer them to a paper towel and remove the twine. Cover asparagus and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes — but you can finish this part of the recipe up to a day before serving.
Once the asparagus trimmings are tender, put them in a strainer and plunge them into the ice bath, careful to preserve 1/2 cup of the boiling liquid. Once cool, add the trimmings to a blender with enough of the boiling liquid to cover the blades. Pulse to break up the asparagus fibers, then blend into a puree. Once the mixture is smooth, blend in 1 tbsp. of the olive oil and season with salt to taste. (You can add more cooking liquid if necessary.) Cover and refrigerate for up to a day before serving.
To prepare the dish, remove the yolks from the hard-boiled eggs, push through the large holes in a grater, then finely chop into egg-yolk confetti. Clean radishes and discard tops. Finely slice the radishes, then slice the slices into fine sticks.
Arrange asparagus into 4 stacks on a cutting board or work surface, then season with a pinch of salt. Spoon 2 tbsps. of the asparagus puree each into the center of four serving plates, then top with the spears. Spoon 2 tsps. of the vinaigrette over each mound of spears, then sprinkle about 2 tsps. of the egg yolks over each serving. Season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
Toss the radish sticks with the chives, 2 tsps. of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Divide the radish mixture among the servings on top of the egg yolk mixture and drizzle lightly with additional oil. Serve chilled.

Written by Michael Muckian, Contributing writer  
Article & photo Sourced From:  http://www.wisconsingazette.com/dining/hard-boiled-making-the-most-of-leftover-easter-eggs.html