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Green Apples - A Souvenir from Tehachapi

Posted on August 20, 2011 at 4:05 PM Comments comments (0)




Tehachapi is the land of four seasons. It is a good place to grow apples, lilacs, peonies, berries, grapes, etc.   Ha's Apple Farm is near us.  Some of you may be familiar with their apples from visiting the farmers markets in Los Angeles.  I met Mr. and Mrs. Ha for the first time at the Pasadena Farmers Market. I went up to introduce myself as their new neighbor in Tehachapi.  Some of the locals in Tehachapi think we are Mr. and Mrs. Ha. Not too many Asians live there. I don't mind being mistaken as one of the Has. They produce beautiful apples and pears.

The former owners of our ranch didn't get around to pruning our apple trees last year.  We have about six.  There is a lot of fruit on the trees but I don't expect them to get very big.  The deer have been coming into our property to check on the apples nearly everyday.  So they must think they are good. One branch of the tree broke off this morning. Sakai brought it back to Pasadena.  It had more than fifty small apples on it.  No wonder. They are still too tart, but maybe I can make applesauce or tart tatin with it.  It's going to be a lot of work to peel them but I can't wait to taste our first apples.

Tarte Tatin

Posted on November 25, 2010 at 4:40 PM Comments comments (0)





I come from a family of apple pie makers.  I wrote about my mother's legendary apple pie for the LA Times some years ago (here is the link).  For some reason, I didn't inherit the pie genes.  My pies are okay but I have yet to taste one that blew my mind. I need more practice.  On the other hand, I have taught myself to make a pretty good tart tatin.  I got introduced to this dessert in France.  You can always find it in a bistro and it is a popular dessert for home cooks. I have made it so many times. It helps to have one dessert recipe that you can brag about.

Everyone loves the caramalized flavor of the apples in this dish. The apples are borderline burnt.  I have seen severely burnt tart tatins in French bistros.  I like them on the verge of burnt but not black because it tastes like charcoal and looks like a mistake. It probably is.  In fact, legend goes that this tart was invented from a mistake but the restaurant (they are a few that claim they were the first to invent this dish) served it anyway, people loved it and it became history.  I find caramelized apples have better flavor than apples in pies. I dislike apples that are coated with excessive amounts of cornstarch and spice, which is often the case with apple pies. Tart Tatin, on the other hand, is made with apples cooked in butter and sugar. That's all.

 





The crust of a tart tatin can vary.  I make a cookie dough. There is always more than enough cookie dough so I make cookies with the leftovers. That's my favorite part.  This year, I made  a small tart tatin, using my 6 1/2 iinch cast iron pan.  I was still able to pack seven apples.  This will feed about four people. When making dough, I do every thing by hand.  Two knives and a rolling pin are my only tools. I  cut the butter into the flour. The dough rests in the fridge for at least an hour to overnight.  It also freezes well, so I can make it in advance.  




The apples take about 25 minutes to caramelize. Stay near the pan while you are cooking the apples. You may have to adjust the temperature.  I flip each apple once to cook the other side. This is the trickest part because if you have mushy apples, they won't flip. They fall apart.  That's why you want to use firm apples like pipin.  Granny smith is good but not always reliable when it comes to the mushy test.  Golden delicious is the other firm  apple but I like the flavor of pipin better.




I leave small chunks of butter in the dough and try not to mix too much. This way gets me closer to my mother's flaky pie crust . You don't see the finished crust in the picture below because I turned the pan upside down while it was still warm. Sorry. But that's what you have to do. This way, the tart doesn't stick to the pan.  Don't forget to run a knife around the pan so the apples don't stick to the side.  The tart tatin came out very nice.

 


Recipe:
Serves 3-4

6-7 apples, pipin or golden delicious
6 tbls butter
1/2 cup sugar

Cookie crust:
3/4 cup flour
2-3 tbls powder sugar 
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbls butter
1 egg yolk

Heavy cream (optional)

https://secure.lodgemfg.com/storefront/product1_new.asp?menu=logic&idProduct=3923" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">1 6 1/2" cast iron skillet  

To make the cookie dough.  Sift together flour, powder sugar, and salt into a bowl.  Use a knife or pastry cutter to work butter into the flour until it resembles a coarse meal.  Stir in egg yolk.  Assemble the flour mixture into a round ball. Then flatten it into a disc.  Wrap disk in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes to overnight.

To make the apples, peel, core and quarter apples.  Melt butter in a 61/2- inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and the sugar and mix evenly and let the butter melt completely.  Remove from heat.

Tightly pack apple wedges around inside edges of skillet.  Make concentric circles, the larger circle surrounding the smaller circle.  The inner circle will be made up of three or four wedges.  Set aside 3-4 apple wedges for later use.

Return the skillet to the heat and cook the apples over medium heat until butter and suagr carmelize to a rich brown, about 15 minutes.  The apples will shrink as they cook. Use the leftover apple wedges and fill in the gaps. 
Carefully turn the apples once to cook the other side.  Use a fork to turn the apples.  Try to keep the concentric shape. Cook for 5 minutes longer. Remove from heat.  You can do up to this step earlier in the day.

When you are ready to bake that tart tatin, pre-heat the oven to  375 F.  Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into 6 1/2" inch circle, about a 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out the circle so that it fits the top of the 6 inch skillet. 

BESs

BESs

Bake in oven until the pastry is golden, 25-30 minutes.  Allow tart to cool for 10 minutes, then loosen edges with a knife.  Place a plate on top of skillet and invert quickly.  Serve warm with whipped cream or plain.

Homemade Apple Pie - Holiday Baking

Posted on November 28, 2009 at 11:31 PM Comments comments (0)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Chef


A calm moment


One thing I can say about baking pies is that I have taken it for granted all my life.  My mother was an excellent baker.  Her pie crusts were consistently flakey and her apples perfectly sweet.  She didn't follow a recipe but measured with her eyes. When she made plans to bake pies, she did most of the work in the middle of the night. A half a dozen pies would be cooling on the pie racks at dawn, filling the house with their sweet aroma.  Then there is my sister Fuyuko Kondo who is a French trained pastry chef. Quite an accomplished one if you don't mind my bragging. She was one of the first female chefs to be invited on the Iron Chef show in Japan to challenge the French Master Chef Sakai (no relation to me). Even though I spend an awful lot of time in Tokyo, I have never taken a pie baking lesson from her. I just eat her pies, tarts, cakes, cookies... everything she bakes.  Her pastries are all so good. I always put on a couple pounds when I go back to Tokyo. I do have some specialities of my own though- tart tatin, butter cookies and creme caramel.  I usually bake a tart tartin for Thanksgiving but this year we were invited to our friends for the festive dinner so I didn't think tart tatin would work as a Thanksgiving dessert.  



I found a Rum Raisan Apple Pie recipe on line from Gourmet, so I made it as part of a refreshment course in baking apple pies. The recipe uses three varieties of baking apples of your choice and rum soaked raisans.  I was multi-tasking on the day I was making the pie crust, which is a no-no. I forgot to put salt in the dough.  Fuyuko tried to help me fix it but it was too late.  I had to start all over again. Of the two pies I finally baked, the one I sprinkled granulated sugar on the crust surface, as the recipe instructed, turned out like the surface of the moon. That pie didn't make it to Russ and Kathy's house.  The other pie was based with egg yolk and milk.  It was baking beautifully but after I stuck it in the oven, I realized that I had forgotten to top the apples with butter.  So half way into the baking, I put the butter through the ventilation slits, which made the slits grow larger. The pie in the picture below is the very pie but seen from a good angle.  From the other angle, it looks like a howling face.  But I didn't let it bother me. I took the little flower cookies from the reject pie and covered the big slits.  People said my pie was yummy, and even enjoyed it for breakfast the next day. I have friends with high tolerance levels. The reject by the way, is being consumed by me.  I am halfway through it.  As for the apple pie recipe, I would cut back a little on the sugar and flour in the apples, and perhaps pre- cook the apples before putting them into the pie crust, as my mother did. The pie crust, I need a lot more practice. I will try again at Christmas time. 


Recipe:   Gourmet - Rum Raisan Apple Pie (here is the link for the recipe).



Fresh out of the oven.

Basque Gateau with Apricot jam

Posted on July 26, 2009 at 11:27 AM Comments comments (0)




Just out of the of the oven




 

 

Something smells good. My sister Fuyuko is always testing recipes. I am the happy guinea pig. In general, I find French pastries too sweet for my palate but this Basque Gaeteau is not. You can have it for breakfast with coffee. Basque Gateau is made with an almond meal cookie base so it has a nice crumbly texture. It is filled with a custard creme but today Fuyuko filled it with Apricot jam and I thought it worked very well. Slowly but surely the cake disappears.

 

RECIPE

Serves 4

For the pastry

2.5 egg yolks (50 grams)

65 g powdered sugar

65 g granulated sugar

125 g softened butter

125 g unbleached all purpose flour

65 g almond meal

5 cm vanilla bean, split and scrape seeds

1 teaspoon rum

Apricot Jam - enough to fill the cavity, about 2/3 cup (see Apricot Jam with Vanilla)

 

Making the pastry

Combine all the ingredients for the pastry without overworking it.

Cover and let rest in a cool place for 4 hours.

 

Assembly

Butter a 16 cm round cake pan.

Roll out half the pastry to a thickness of approximately 3 mm.

Line the bottom and sides of the cake pan with the pastry.

Spread the apricot jam evenly in the pastry case.

Cover with the remaining pastry. Brush with egg yolk.

Bake in a 180° C oven for about 20 minutes. Then lower heat to 150 ° C for 10 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

 

Scones with Orange zest

Posted on June 5, 2009 at 4:17 AM Comments comments (0)


Once in a while, it's nice to make scones or waffles at home.  My sister who is a pastry chef in Tokyo often makes waffles or scones for her son, Hayato, in the morning.  You think she would have enough things to do on a school day.  But she likes to put a smile onher son's face, so she does, plus she irons his clothes (I never did that for my son when he was little), makes him a bento box for lunch and gets ready to open her shop.  


This morning, I was in the mood for making scones for my  friend Marisa who spent the night at our house.  Putting the scone recipe together was not that much work.  I even started the washing machine. With the scones baking in the oven,  my kitchen began to smell like a bakery. While waiting for the scones to bake, Marisa showed me how to work  my new digital camera. My new camera came with three booklets worth of stuff to learn.  I am willing to tackle almost any complex recipe but when it comes to reading any kind of hardware instruction manual, I fail.  In contrast, Marissa is very patient. She put her reading glasses on, read the instructions and showed me how to make the camera work better.  I learned some new tricks. Her advise was " Don't use the Auto setting. Digital cameras have a mind of their own."  So true.  Ineed to play with the camera.  Learn the manual way.  It will take time but I will have better control of the camera.  By the way, the scones turned out great.  Marissa took some home.  There is still more for later.



SCONES WITH ORANGE ZEST

  • 2 Cups flour
  • 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt 
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup half and half 
  • 2 tsp grated orange rind 

 

  1. Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  Use a fork or knife to cut the butter into the flour until it becomes like a corse meal.
  2. Beat eggs with half and half.  Add orange rind and flour mixture.  Stir until just blended.  
  3. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough and make 3/4 inch thick circle.  Cut into 3 -inch circles. 
  4. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until the scones are brown.   
  5. Split the scones and serve while piping hot with butter, jam and clotted cream (if you can find it). 
  6. Makes about ten scones.