Apple gingersnap cookies: Welcome to the #SundaySupper Autumn Apple Party

Fall. My favorite time of year. Rustling leaves. Rich colors. Sunlight that breaks in at an angle. Time to turn slowly inward, to the home, to the hearth, to reading books and poetry.

And of course fall serves up some of my favorite foods: rich stews, soups, roasts, made from and with squashes, pumpkins, root vegetables, brussels sprouts, and of course apples.

Summer apples start to appear in farmers markets in mid-summer, but they don't really start to show in large quantities in the markets with their great variety until mid to late August and then there's a flood of them and apple cider for weeks. So many different varieties, names, colors, textures. So much fun to try different varieties and find new favorites.

Apples are not native to the Americas--they originated around the area of Iran--but they have taken hold well here both agriculturally and culturally. One interesting fact about apples is that they are not true breeding. In other words, you could plant the seeds of an apple you love, and not one of the trees that came from that apple would produce apples like it. Most of the apples produced would, in fact, probably be inedible.

Sadly the vast variety of apples that used to exist is declining, in part because there are very few commercially grown varieties of apples. I hate to see the many varieties of apples and their wonderful names disappearing. So I say, get thee to a farmers market and try some new varieties of apples. Or find a farm where you can spend a day picking apples. Then come home and read Robert Frost's poem, "After Apple Picking" and enjoy the satisfaction of a day in the orchard.

This week's Sunday Supper is all about apples. I wanted to try making a cookie that I imagined a few months ago at the height of summer when I absolutely did not wish to bake: Apple gingersnap cookies. Apple and ginger are fantastic flavors together, and this cookie is no exception.

The cookie dough is easy to make, but you need to plan ahead. The dough should chill for at least 12 hours to let the flavors meld. I used boiled apple cider syrup in this recipe, which I discovered last fall, but you can use maple syrup, molasses, or even honey if you prefer, although doing so will change the flavor and the texture of the cookie a bit. For this cookie, I give the ingredients in milliliters and grams because I started with a gingersnap cookie from my favorite Swedish cookbook, Bonniers Stora Kokbok, and modified the recipe from there. Just about every measuring cup will give you the option of using milliliters, just be aware of the difference.

Ingredients    

• 100 ml water
• 400 ml sugar
• 300 grams unsalted butter
• 100 ml apple cider syrup
• 1 Tbsp ground cloves
• 1 Tbsp ground dried ginger
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 250 ml coarsely grated apple (from about 1 peeled, cored apple)
• 1,200 ml flour (plus more for flouring the board)
• 2 tsps baking soda

Directions

1. Mix half of the flour (600 ml) with the baking soda and set aside.
2. Heat water, sugar, butter, apple cider syrup, and spices in a pan on medium heat on the stove until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Then add the grated apples.
3. In a large bowl, combine the butter-sugar-spice-apple mixture with the flour-baking soda mixture. Then mix in the rest of the flour in bunches. (It's helpful to use a sturdy silicone spatula for this job.) If the dough starts to get too heavy to stir, feel free to get your hands in there and knead like you would a bread dough. (Your hands will smell amazing afterward, by the way.)
4. When the flour has been completely incorporated into the dough, sprinkle some flour on top, cover the bowl with plastic, and refrigerate the dough for 12 hours. 
5. On the day you plan to bake the cookies, pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees (F). Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper (or use silicone mats if you have them). 
6. Liberally flour a baking board and roll out slightly less than a quarter of the dough very thinly. Using cookie cutters, cut out shapes and fill one baking sheet.
7. Working on one baking sheet at a time, bake the cookies for 7 minutes. (Feel free to try to vary the time a few minutes up or down to get the consistency you want.)
8. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack and re-use the baking sheet for another batch. You will probably end making about 100 cookies, depending on the size of the cookie cutters you are using.

Sunday Supper wouldn't be complete without all the wonderful contributions from the rest of the group. This week's batch of apple goodness is particularly wonderful. Check all these out! 

Soups, Salads, Starters, and Breads

Cinnamon Apple Chips- Shockingly Delicious

Apple Celery Salad- In the Kitchen with Audrey and Maurene

Mini Apple Pumpkin Pancakes – The Daily Dish Recipes

Overnight Apple Cinnamon French Toast- In the Kitchen with KP

Curried Apple and Leek Soup-Soni’s Food for Thought

Endive Spears Topped With Apple, Blue Cheese and Hazelnut Salad- The Hand That Rocks the Ladle

Homemade Apple Jam – My Trials in the Kitchen

Caramel Apple Butter Cheesecake Dip- Chocolate Moosey

Caramel Apple Bread – famfriendsfood

Apple Pie Bread Baker Street

Apple, Bacon & Brie Popovers- I Run for Wine

Apple and Almond Brie Puff Pastry- Family Foodie

Apple, Leek and Gruyere Tarts- There and Back Again

Main Meals

Slow Cooker Honey Apple Pork Loin- The Meltaways

Apple-Glazed Meatballs- The Messy Baker

Apples & Buttons (Ham, Apples and Dumplings)- Cindy’s Recipes and Writings

Skillet Pork with Sweet Spiced Apples- Mama Mommy Mom

Chicken Apple Meatloaf with Tarragon Tomato Sauce – Diabetic Foodie

Baked Tilapia Apple Crisp- Daddy Knows Less

Pork Tenderloin with Calvados Cream Sauce Sustainable Dad

#SundaySupper Pulled Pork Sandwich With Pickled Red Onions Kwistin’s Favorites

Sides

Harvest Rice- Webicurean

Wild Rice with Apples, Dried Cranberries, and Walnuts – Ruffles and Truffles

Apple Topped Sweet Potato Mash- Momma’s Meals

Warm Spice Pecan Raisin Apple Chutney- Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

Desserts

Double Apple Pot Pie- What Smells So Good?

Apple Walnut Coffee Cake- The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

Apple Streusel Cobbler- Big Bear’s Wife

Apple & Moroccan Cinnamon Gooey Sticky Buns- Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends

Spiced Caramel Apple Pie-Chelsea’s Culinary Indulgence

Apple Pear Kuchen for #SundaySupper (Apfel Birnen Kuchen)- Galactosemia in PDX

Apple Strudel - Magnolia Days

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp with Caramel Sauce-Noshing with the Nolands

Apple Cheesecake- Vintage Kitchen

Caramel Apple Crumble Bars- Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks

Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting- From Fast Food to Fresh Food

Cinnamon Apple Dessert Chimichangas- Juanita’s Cocina

Nutella Apple Quesadilla- Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts

Apple Crisp Ice Cream- Cravings of a Lunatic

Bavarian Apple Torte- The Lovely Pantry

Streusel Apple Crumb Pie + Pie Freezer Kits- Meal Planning Magic

French Apple Cobbler with Cinnamon-Maple Whipped Cream Weekend Gourmet

Chunky Apple-Apricot Bread Pudding- Comfy Cuisine

Apple Butter Spice Cake – Home Cooking Memories

Apple Pie and Custard- Happy Baking Days

#GlutenFree Deep Dish Carmel Apple Pie- Cooking Underwriter

Apple Brownies That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Country Apple Dumplings- Mom’s Test Kitchen

Apple-Gingersnap Cookies- Tora’s Real Food

Apple and Cranberry Turnovers- Flour on my Face

Applesauce Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze- Hip Foodie Mom

Caramel Frosted Apple Cookies- No One Likes Crumbley Cookies

Apple and Pecans Cake- Basic N Delicious

Apple Pull Apart Monkey Bread- Gotta Get Baked

Beverages

Spiced Apple Ale Small Wallet Big Appetite

Apple Chia Tea- Pippi’s in the Kitchen Again

Please be sure you join us on Twitter throughout the day during #SundaySupper. We’ll be meeting up at 7:00 pm (Eastern) for our weekly #SundaySupper live chat where we’ll talk about our favorite apple recipes! All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, or you can follow us through TweetChat! We’d also love to feature your apple recipes on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board and share them with all of our followers!

Local food is elitist? Part II

So I knew I had more to say in response to Mark Bittman's article, "Local Food: No Elitist Plot," which I blogged about a few days ago, but it took a Saturday afternoon at the playground to work through some ideas and thoughts regarding the absurdity of calling local food elitist.

(Here's a total side note: A friend of mine asked today if "eating local" included squirrel. I'd say yes, probably; not much meat on 'em though. Maybe a stew? But I digress....)

So this idea that eating local is trendy or elitist stirred up such an angry ant's nest in my mind. But why? Why did it make me so mad?

Let me step back a little. Throughout our existence as human beings (and probably before that), most food was local. Furthermore, seasons, geography, and weather restricted the availability of ingredients. However, these limitations unleashed human creativity (if for no other reason than to stave off the boredom of eating the same dish for the sixth week in a row because that's all that's left after a long winter or dry season). All across the globe, cooks got imaginative, developing techniques to bring out new flavors in foods, tweaking textures and forms, trying new things they found in their environment--continually innovating, refining, experimenting to make the most of what they had.

Local cuisines and flavor profiles arose around the world based in large part on what foodstuffs were available. And with the Columbian Exchange new ingredients spread throughout the world--peppers bringing their heat to the far east and wheat and apples coming to the new world, redefining what local food was, yet maintaining an essential uniqueness, localness, and authenticity.

Here's the contrast: Industrial food--whether you are talking about fast food restaurants, meals in a box, frozen dinners, snacks, sodas, franchise restaurants of any stripe--promotes sameness. National and international brands of industrial foods value consistency almost above all. As a consumer, the idea is that the soda you find in Waukegan, Illinois, will taste the same as the one you find in Oahu, Hawaii.

So, is consistency bad? Well, no. I am an editor, for pete's sake, I crave consistency. But not in food. In food, it gets boring and generic.

More than boring though, consistency trains the public palate; consistency trains people to expect specific kinds of flavors and textures--most of which are nothing like the tastes and textures of home-cooked food made from seasonal ingredients. It takes away people's freedom to develop their own palates, to make their own judgments about how they think a food tastes. If the standard in taste is a fatty, salty snack with a vaguely chicken-y or cheesy flavor or a sugary, squishy-soft thing with a vaguely chocolate-y flavor, how are beets and turnips and quinoa supposed to hold their own? In other words, if a person were raised with a concept of bread as a ghastly white supersoft substance with a slightly chalky taste, how long would it take for him or her to cease to regard a loaf of home-baked, whole-wheat bread as kind of foreign?

And so millions of industrially trained palates continue to crave the same tastes and textures, with a slight tweak from time to time to keep things "interesting," themselves end up being the product of industrial food.

And it bothers me, because it comes back to this idea that people are incapable of taking care of themselves, of making things for themselves, of making decisions for themselves. We are continually sold the idea that this company can make that easier for you, can take away your concerns about this or that. We are continually trained to lack faith in ourselves. It comes back to this idea that people are just too dumb to take care of themselves. (Michael Ruhlman rails against the idea that Americans are too stupid to cook in this blog post.)

But, hey, maybe it's true. News used to be mostly facts, leaving the work of forming an opinion up to the news consumer. Now people are served prefab opinions. People used to (grow and) cook their own food. Now it's served up in boxes, cans, and freezer bags--all prefab because people can't do it for themselves. Most people used to make their own clothes and furniture--now most people are too scared to even try.

But I don't really believe people are incapable of doing and thinking for themselves. Well, to be completely honest, I don't want to believe they are incapable. I want to believe that ordinary people are capable of making their own meals; adapting to local conditions, flavors, and ingredients; developing their own palates and judgments based on real, natural, whole foods. If that belief is elitist, then I'm an elitist. Then local food is elitist.

But you know it's not. Believing people can do, make, and think for themselves is the antithesis of elitism; what it is is faith in everyperson.

Apple-cider braised pork with mustard

Any of you who follow my blog regularly probably know this already, but I love pork. Especially the pork the Haskins family raises locally. Fall is the perfect time of year for pork (although I won't argue with grilled spare ribs on a hot summer evening; heck I won't argue with pork anytime really--just gimme).

Fall fruits and vegetables like apples, pears, squash, and cabbages go beautifully with pork: a little sweet-sour sets off rich fattiness so well (or maybe that's fatty richness?).

Anyway, I was wrestling (as usual) with what to make for dinner tonight earlier today, and I remembered I had a nice piece of pork shoulder (also known as pork butt) left from a recent CSA-share pickup. The idea of a little pork with some apple cider syrup and mustard in a low-slow braise started simmering. One thought led to another, and I threw together a quick braising liquid and let the pork cook over low heat all day long, which was especially nice as the rain came in with colder air. Is fall finally really here? It doesn't seem to want to make up its mind.

Although it takes hours to make, this dish is one of the easiest things you can imagine. Just combine the ingredients in a Dutch oven, set it on the stove, and leave it alone. All day. If you are so inclined, you could flip the meat over at some point, maybe pour some of the liquid over the top of it a few times. You know, just to stir things up a bit. Or maybe to grab a quick taste of the braising liquid, make sure you added enough salt. That kind of thing.   

Here's the recipe:

• 1 4-5 lb piece of pork shoulder
• 4 Tbsp apple cider syrup (if you don't have this, replace the syrup and the water with 1 cup of fresh apple cider)
• 1 cup water
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 4-5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard 
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• salt
• pepper
• smoked paprika (optional, but it's good)

1. Place pork shoulder in the Dutch oven, season (very liberally) with salt, pepper, and paprika
2. Place onion slices and garlic cloves around the pork
3. Mix apple cider syrup, water, mustard, soy sauce, and apple cider vinegar in a bowl and put it in the Dutch oven with the meat, onions, and garlic cloves
4. Bring the liquid up to a boil on high heat, then cover the Dutch oven and lower the temperature to the lowest setting on your stove
5. Let it cook over slow heat for 4-5 hours; check on it from time to time (mostly to waft lovely smells into your kitchen). When the meat starts sliding off the bone, it's done.

I served the braised pork (which came out tender and rich) with some red cabbage sauteed with apples and apple cider vinegar. The contrast of salty and fatty with the sharpness of the vinegar was lovely. I think I might use some of the leftover meat to make quesadillas tomorrow.... Or, maybe I could heat up some leftover meat and braising liquid and serve it over some homemade mashed potatoes. Mmm. Now that sounds good. Heck, you could drizzle the braising liquid over some toast and call it a day.  

    

Scraping the bottom of the barrel

As I've mentioned before, I am pretty much done with winter food. I can't wait for spring. Visions of glowing strawberries and roasted asparagus with a touch of lemon and some goat cheese tempt my palate. But I must be patient. There's no local food right now. And I've got leftover root vegetables and squashes hanging around in my veggie basket and frozen fruits (mostly peach slices) from last summer at the back of the freezer. It's time to clean all of that out and make way for the fresh food that's soon to come.

Today's task was to get rid of the three celebration squash that I bought oh so many months ago from the good people at Glascock's Produce, back when I thought I should store away as much produce as I could and was feeling adventurous about trying unfamiliar squash varieties. (I love winter squash, but a long winter makes root vegetables and squashes boring, although I have no doubt I will be excited about them again come fall.) The celebration squash were pretty beasties back when I bought them: variegated orange and yellow, smooth skin. Now out of the basket, they seemed a little dusty and felt as though they had lost a lot of weight. (I guess the moisture was pulled out of them.) So I cut them open to see how they looked, and they seemed fine. No black spots, no sliminess, no bad odors. Probably OK to eat. There wasn't a lot of meat on them anymore, but I decided they would make  good cups for a stuffed squash dish. So I cleaned the seeds out of the six halves, sliced a small bit off the bottom so they wouldn't roll around in the pan, and placed them in a baking dish I had rubbed with some olive oil. Finally, I drizzled a little maple syrup into the cups because maple syrup works magic on squash.

Then, I had to decide what I could stuff them with. I happened to have some ground chicken. Maybe I could make a chicken-apple sausage to stuff the squash? No, no, no, these squashes didn't have enough meat to make a meal. We need some carbohydrates. So I looked in the veggie basket and found a decent-looking sweet potato, a bruised apple, and some slightly wrinkly red-skinned potatoes. Got it: Hash!

Now, before I go on, let me say that I am not a fan of bad food, or, to be honest, even particularly tolerant of it. I've known people to dump the contents of their crispers into a pot with some water or a couple of cans of commercial broth and call it soup. This is appalling to me. And, as a lover of soups, it's offensive. Would you also call the contents of your garbage disposal soup? Well, I suppose that's one thing you could call it. What I wanted to do was to transform ingredients that were past their prime into something yummy.

So I'd decided to make a hash. I finely diced a yellow-skinned onion about the size of my fist (this turned out to be a good dish for practicing your knife skills) and added it to about two tablespoons of hot olive oil bathing in my wonderful iron skillet. (Anyone who has ever gotten a good season on an iron skillet must love their skillets the way that I do. Or perhaps not. OK, I'll be over here.)

I slow-cooked the onions until they caramelized into golden-brown bits that crusted the pan, which gave me time to dice the sweet potato, two potatoes, and the apple into about a quarter-inch dice. When I was done, the ground chicken went into the pan until it was slightly browned and mostly cooked through. Next the diced potatoes and apple went into the pan, just long enough to brown a little. I added about a tablespoon of salt, a tablespoon of dried sage, and a generous pinch of white pepper. Then I threw in a handful of chopped almonds to get a little crunch.

The next steps were to fill the squash cups with the hash, top them with some fresh bread crumbs and a dab of butter, and pop them into a 375-degree oven for an hour. Because I had lots of hash left in the skillet, I popped it into the oven with the squash cups for about 20 minutes to finish cooking the potatoes and have some leftovers ready for tomorrow's lunch. (Just heat it up and fry an egg sunny side up to put on top. Yum. I love a good runny yolk on hash.)

I need to work on my food-styling skills.

This was my experiment. The verdict? The flavor was great. The sweetness of the apple and the sweet potato mellowed with the onions, the squash, and the chicken into a warm and savory mixture. However, the crumbs were a bit burnt, the squash a bit stringy, and the chicken a bit on the dry side. These flaws were not enough to kill the dish, but flaws they were. And yet, it tasted great, and I had managed to use several old vegetables and fruits that have been languishing for a while. A few more meals like this, and all the vegetables and fruits from last season will be gone, and there will be plenty of space for the fresh fruits and vegetables we will soon see in the markets. (And I don't have to feel guilty about wasting good food.)

If you want to try this "recipe," the steps are described above. Here are the general quantities used:

• 1 lb of ground chicken (ground beef or pork with a slightly higher fat content would be a bit less dry; however, make it's not too fatty or the stuffing could get greasy)
• 3 celebration squash, halved, seeded (if you use acorn squash instead, you may want to pre-bake it for at least 40 minutes before stuffing it because it's such a meaty, slow-cooking squash)
• 1 large onion, diced finely
• 1 sweet potato, diced (about a quarter inch)
• 2 medium potatoes, diced (about a quarter inch)
• 1 apple, cored, peeled, and diced (about a quarter inch)
• about half a cup of chopped nuts (I used almonds because that's what I had, but most nuts would taste good here)
• about half a cup of fresh breadcrumbs
• some dabs of butter 
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sage
• a generous pinch of white pepper