The Lush Chef

Now that the sun is setting earlier and the weather is getting chillier, sometimes all I want to do on a Friday night is stay in, watch a movie and have a cocktail.  When I saw this cocktail recipe come through my inbox via Gilt Taste, I couldn't wait to make it.  This Sidewalker, made by Damon Boelte from Brooklyn's Prime Meats, has so many elements of fall—apple brandy, maple syrup, beer (good anytime of year).  I wasn't sure how all the ingredients were going to come together, but I'm always willing to experiment.  There's been a resurgence of including vinegar or "shrubs" (a combination of vinegar, fruit and sugar) in cocktails as mixologists hit the history books for inspiration.  The flavor reminded me of a sour beer, and American Trilogy and I slurped this down with sushi while we caught the first couple of hours of Ken Burns' "Prohibition."

The Sidewalker - serves 1

• 1 oz Applejack
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz maple syrup
• 1/4 oz apple cider vinegar
• 1 bottle cold wheat beer (I used Blue Moon Hefeweizen)
• Lemon wedge, to garnish

- Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass with ice and pour the brandy, lemon juice, maple syrup and apple cider vinegar in and shake.
- Strain the mixture into a chilled, tall glass.
- Top with the beer and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Libations used: 3 Tbs dark rum
Libations left over: none
I have a tendency to show up at parties, get-togethers...your house...with baked goods or ingredients for a cocktail.  Well, this past weekend was no exception.  A friend was moving to Germany and we all gathered at Will Rogers Park in the Pacific Palisades for the Veuve Clicquot Polo Match.  We donned our fancy dresses, hats and polo shirts and drank plenty of champagne as we lolled in the sun.  With so much champers flowing, I knew we would need something to soak up all that alcohol, so this Ginger Apple Torte from Food52 would do the trick.  Yes, there's rum in it, but not much and the baking burns off the alcohol content.


















I had spent the previous day wandering through apple orchards in Oak Glen and so I used a combination of Mutsu and Braeburn apples I had selected from Snowline Orchard.  My momma taught me that you should always use multiple kinds of apples when baking to give depth of flavor.  All of the spices and fresh ginger makes this the perfect torte for the fall.  The turbinado sugar and walnut topping meant I didn't have to worry about frosting or glaze melting in the sun and getting on anyone's pretty frock.  After we spent the halftime filling in divots, this torte went as fast as those horses.
Ginger Apple Torte - normally serves 6-8, but I cut into smaller pieces to serve 14-16 people
Ingredients:

• 4 medium apples (I used Mutsu and Braeburn, which are great for eating and baking)
• 4 Tbs turbinado sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus 2 Tbs for cooking the apples
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbs lemon zest
• 1 Tbs fresh grated ginger
• 1 Tbs molasses
• 3 Tbs dark rum (aka pirate rum to the Lush Chef)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• Walnut halves or pieces to garnish

- Preheat oven to 350 and butter a 9" cake or springform pan.
- Core and peel apples and cut into thin slices.
- Melt 2 Tbs butter in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until it is lightly browned.
- Toss in the apple slices and 2 Tbs turbinado sugar and stir so apples are evenly coated.  Sauté until apples are softened and most of the juices have evaporated.  Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and salt.  Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until it's fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs.
- Beat in the lemon zest, ginger, molasses, rum and vanilla extract.
- Stir in the flour mixture a little at a time until the batter is thick and smooth.
- Fold in the milk and yogurt till batter is smooth.
- Put half the batter in your pan.
- Cover with the apple slices and spread the other half of the batter over the slices.
- Smooth the top and garnish with walnut halves and turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Serve plain or with some vanilla ice cream or cinnamon-spiced whip cream.

No, I'm not referring to American director Ken Burns' stunning trilogy on Prohibition, but to a modern cocktail that very well could have hailed from that time.  This simple drink was introduced to me by a good friend who first had it at The Varnish, but it actually originated from the head barman Michael McIlroy at the members-only Milk & Honey in New York.  It's an American twist on an Old Fashioned and makes me think of the fall.  McIlroy recommends using 100 proof, bonded Applejack, but use whatever you have (we're not running a professional bar here, and 80 proof will do ya just fine).  I'm also a huge fan of Bulleit's (pronounced "bullet" not "boo-lay" - it's American, not French) fairly new rye whiskey because it's reasonably priced and great for mixing in cocktails.  Save the expensive stuff for sipping neat or plain on the rocks... 

American Trilogy - serves 1
Ingredients:

• 1 oz rye whiskey
• 1 oz Applejack
• Brown sugar cube
• 1/2 tsp soda water (or just water is fine)
• 4 dashes orange bitters (I like using Fee Brothers) 
• orange twist

- Put sugar cube in the glass, add orange bitters and soda water and muddle all together.
- Add the rye and Applejack.
-  Fill glass with ice and stir.
- Garnish with an orange twist.

Libations used: 2 Tbs brandy
Libations left over: Make yourself a cocktail if you feel so inclined.
I'll be heading out to Oak Glen this weekend to pick a couple crates worth of apples (I'm a Michigan girl at heart), but I couldn't resist making an apple pie a couple weekends ago for a Lush Chef family dinner.  My mom makes the most amazing Dutch Apple Pie, but since this was a dinner filled with libations, I had to find a way to sneak something in.  Apples and brandy just work so well together (hello, Applejack!), so I tossed that in with the apple mixture.  The alcohol content burns off in the baking, but the brandy gives it another small depth of flavor.  You can have your cake brandy and eat it too. 

Dutch Apple Brandy Pie - serves 8
Ingredients for the pie crust:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3-4 Tbs cold water

Ingredients for the pie filling:

• 6-8 cups of apples, peeled and sliced thin (always use 2-3 kinds - I used Granny Smith and McIntosh)
• 1/2-2/3 cups sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbs flour
• 2 Tbs brandy (I used Raynal's French Brandy b/c it's cheap)
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour

To make the pie crust:
- Cut shortening into small pieces.
- Add flour and salt.
- Slowly add cold water 1 Tbs at a time and work into mixture until dough comes together.
- Roll out and place in a 9" pie dish.

To make the pie filling:
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Mix apples, sugar, cinnamon, brandy and 2 Tbs flour.
- Pour into a 9" unbaked pie shell.
- Bake pie for 10 minutes at 450.
- Mix butter, brown sugar and 1 cup of flour and use your hands to crumble the mixture.
- Take pie out and drop the temperature down to 300.
- Put edge protectors on pie and sprinkle crumble mixture on top.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes and test for doneness by poking fork through (the apples should be soft and tender).
- Garnish with whip cream (I sprinkled a little cinnamon into it).

I normally don't post on Fridays, but I found it my Lush Chef duty to share with you all the news about acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns' opus on Prohibition that will be premiering this coming weekend.  The 5 1/2 hour documentary will be airing on PBS over the course of 3 days—October 2, 3 and 5 at 8:00 p.m.   He co-directed it with Lynn Novick and it charts the "rise, rule and fall of the 18th Amendment...and the entire era it encompassed."

If Prohibition hadn't been repealed, I wouldn't be entertaining you today with this blog!  On January 16, 1919, our silly Congress passed the 18th Amendment, with the intent to curb alcohol abuse and its effects, as well as ennoble Americans.  Instead, it had the opposite effect.  Drinking increased, once innocent citizens turned to rum-running and boot-legging, and large pockets of organized crime sprang up that remain here today.  It was one of the most misguided efforts by our government to date, but the era has also inspired today's mixologists to look back at our history and honor the creativity of those scofflaws.

Luckily, on December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified (Utah being the last state to vote for the 3/4 majority) and Prohibition and the Volstead Act were repealed. Check out PBS' site for "Prohibition," where you can learn more about this era, watch some videos and explore their photo gallery.  Maybe take a visit to The Varnish, squirrel away a flask in your garter and have them make you an illicit-inspired drink.  Me?  I'll be parked on a couch with an old-timey cocktail and tuning in.

Fall is here, so its seems appropriate that this month's libation education focuses on Applejack (no, not the cereal).  If apples and whiskey had a baby, this is what it would be.  Made by Laird & Company, which has been around since 1780, Applejack consists of 35% apple brandy and 65% neutral spirits that have a hint of apple and aroma.  According to a recent post on The Kitchn, Laird & Company was actually granted a federal license during Prohibition to make it for "medicinal purposes."  Mmm hmm...

This delicious libation is made at the peak of apple harvest, which is usually September until mid-November.  The pure apple juice is fermented naturally (it doesn't need any kind of yeast or starter) in big oak fermenting tanks for 7-30 days until all of the sugar has been fermented into alcohol.  The juice is then sent to the still where the distillation boosts the proof to about 160, where it ensures the maximum flavor and aroma.  After this, the apple brandy is cut with water and aged in oak barrels for 4-8 years.  Applejack tends to be made with a younger blend of this brandy (about 4-6 years).

Applejack is a lovely fall substitute for your traditional whiskey cocktails like Old Fashioneds and Manhattans, and I bet it would be killer mixed into a Hot Toddy or hot spiced cider.  It's also a main ingredient in American Trilogies, but you're all just going to have to wait for that recipe...

Libations used: 1 1/2 cups red wine
Libations left over: About half the bottle, so serve with dinner or have a glass while the stew is simmering.
It was a gloomy, slightly chilly weekend by the ocean in Santa Monica, and that kind of weather gets me in the mood for hearty soups overloaded with seafood.  One of my favorite seafood stews is Cioppino, which sounds like an Italian dish, but actually hails from San Francisco.  It was developed in the late 1800s by Portuguese and Italian fishermen in the north bay of San Fran and they would actually made it on their boats.  This particular recipe from Gourmet doesn't require you to whip up some stew on a dinghy, but you can get creative.  I've had this dish served with king crab, squid, mussels, and other kinds of fish, so just add whatever seafood you like.  As always, I got my catch of the day from Santa Monica Seafood, because as much as I would like to spend all morning casting my net out to sea, this Lush Chef has other things to do.

Cioppino - serves 6
Ingredients:

• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp crumbled dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried red hot pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 green bell pepper, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 2 Tbs tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups dry red wine (I used a Pinot Noir)
• 1 28-32 oz can whole plum tomatoes - drain and reserve the juice and chop the tomatoes
• 1 cup clam juice
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 (1 lb) king crab leg (I left this out because it's freakin' expensive)
• 18 small (1 1/2 lbs) littleneck clams, scrubbed
• 1 lb skinless red snapper or halibut fillets, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 16-20 large shrimp (1 lb), shelled with tails left on
• 3/4 lb sea scallops 
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 3 Tbs finely chopped fresh basil

- Cook garlic, onions, bay leaf, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in olive oil in an 8 quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring until onions are softened (about 5 min). 
- Add bell pepper and tomato paste, stirring for about 1 minute.
- Add wine and boil until reduced by about half (5-6 min).
- Add tomatoes with their juice, clam juice and chicken broth and simmer covered for about 30 minutes.
- While stew is simmering, hack crab leg through shell into 2-3 inch pieces.
- Add crab pieces and clams to stew and simmer covered, until clams just open (5-10 min), checking every minute after 5 minutes to transfer opened clams to a bowl with tongs or a slotted spoon.  Discard any unopened clams after 10 minutes.
- Lightly season fish fillets, shrimp and scallops with salt and pepper and add to stew, simmer covered until just cooked through (about 5 min).
- Discard bay leaf and return clams to pot.
- Gently stir in parsley and basil.
- Serve with focaccia or sourdough bread rounds.