MITCH IN THE KITCHEN

apple-pear butter

Turns out apple butter is pretty easy to make. It just takes some patience to wait for everything to reduce. I threw in a few Bosc pears because they were here and on the verge of rotting into a brown mess. Spread this stuff on toast, biscuits, whole wheat muffins (like I did), pancakes, nut butter sandwiches, meaty sandwiches, melted cheese sandwiches, bagels with cream cheese, vanilla ice cream… you get what I’m getting at.

about 4 pounds (10-12 medium or so) apples and/or pears
1 cup apple cider
small cinnamon stick (optional) or some other blend of warm spices
1/3 cup sugar
a few squeezes of lemon juice

Peel the apples and/or pears and cut them up into chunks. Combine with apple cider and cinnamon stick in a pot (it should be filled about halfway up). Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and cook until the fruit gets soft, about 30 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick. Pureeing is optional; you can make your fruit butter as smooth or chunky as you’d like. Add sugar and lemon juice to the pureed fruit. Cook mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it has reduced and thickened. This may take a few hours. Be careful towards the end, because you don’t want scorched apple butter stuck to the bottom of your pot. You can do some real canning after this, or you can just store it in a jar in the fridge.

peach, plum, pear gratin

Those of you who are as in love with Joanna Newsom’s music as I am get it. It was that time of year that straddles summer and fall, when my CSA gives us the last of summer’s peaches and plums along with early fall pear varieties like Red Clapp, Bartlett, and Seckel. And the opportunity to allude to a good song while handling food is one I can rarely pass up (it happens in my mind when the Simon & Garfunkel herbs go into something, out loud when John sees summer or winter savory and iTunes is within reach, and don’t even get me started on the teaches of peaches).

After a long day of work, the thought of chilling and rolling out pie dough or even making biscuit batter to scoop on top of this fruit combo seemed like too much in terms of time and how big of a production I wanted it to be. Mark Bittman to the rescue: fruit gratin (with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and amaretto instead of vanilla extract). I couldn’t get the top to brown because my baking dish explicitly says “No Broiler” on the bottom. And to be really honest, this would’ve been better with some kind of crust or crumble or batter surrounding it. Oh well, you really can’t have it all sometimes.

Next up: clam, crab, cockle, cowrie risotto?

cauliflower with brown butter, pear, sage, and hazelnuts

Are people still complaining about all the snow? I, for one, don’t really mind it (especially now that I finally have a sturdy and reliable pair of tall rubber boots). And when it’s in the 30s or 20s or teens outside, I like to cozy up with baked, buttery, meaty and cheesy things (not necessarily all at once) but also crunchy vegetably things. Like cauliflower dressed up with fruit and nuts and herbs. The recipe is from famous chef Andrew Carmellini and isn’t too much of a pain in the ass to make, especially if you’re all into brown butter and sage like I am right now (remember when I made another famous NYC chef’s gnudi?). Also good mixed with pasta and grated cheese.

spiced apple-pear sauce cake with cream cheese frosting

This one’s for Nancy :)

A few weeks ago, I found myself with way, way, way too many Bosc pears. Several of them were starting to get brown and mushy and spoiled in spots. I ended up turning maybe 10 of them into a pear puree (like applesauce but with pears), carefully peeling them and cutting around the gross brown spots. I added a couple of tart (cameo, I think) apples to the sauce, because the pears’ flavor was a little too subtle, and I felt like the sauce needed a little more… pop to it. I had enough apple-pear sauce to make two of these cakes, one for a previously mentioned pre-Thanksgiving potluck with friends, and another for a post-Thanksgiving potluck at Mike’s place (yes, there was overlap in friends who attended… best 2 weeks of Thanksgiving ever). This cake is fantastically moist and simple to make, as far as cakes go. Next time, I may have to make one all for myself.

Adapted from Gourmet (I mostly cut down on the sugar a little bit, because I like my sweets not-too-sweet)

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or use only 2 cups all purpose flour, total)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce, pear sauce, or apple-pear sauce
1 small crisp apple or pear, peeled and grated using a large-holed grater (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square cake pan (I like to line the bottom with parchment paper and then butter it).

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.

Beat butter with brown sugar and vanilla at high speed using an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Add applesauce. Add flour mixture at low speed, just until combined. Fold in grated apple.

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool completely before frosting.

For frosting:

5 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together at high speed using an electric mixer, until fluffy. Sift powdered sugar and cinnamon into the mixing bowl, then beat at medium speed until combined. Spread over cooled cake.

gingerbread pear cake

I was going to bring this to a class session/potluck at my professor’s house* but didn’t because I could not get over the shame of accidentally omitting one of the ingredients (buttermilk). The result wasn’t at all inedible, but I ended up being the jackass who showed up empty handed. Luckily nutrition students are reliably excellent, considerate, and forgiving potluck participants, so the absence of this cake was no big deal and all the food was delicious.

*I am still in awe of said professor, her home, her garden, and the fact that she and other instructors let a bunch of grubby grad students into their living rooms every year.

(adapted from Epicurious)

1 1/2 cups flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 Bosc pears

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, white pepper, and salt.

Beat together brown sugar and butter with an electric mixer until combined. Beat in molasses. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Beat in flour mixture at low speed until just combined. Add buttermilk and ginger, beating just until smooth. Pour into cake pan.

Peel and core pears and cut each into 8 slices. Arrange in batter. Bake until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool slightly before serving. I like mine with a little dollop of sweetened whipped cream.