Green Rooibus-Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I contribute recipes to the blog of my friends' tea company, Arbor Teas. Here is a recipe that uses one of their teas as a foundation for a soup broth.

If you enjoy drinking non-caffeinated and herbal teas, then surely by now you have experienced African rooibus. And perhaps you’ve even learned how to pronounce it properly too (hint: ROY-bus). But have you tried green rooibus, yet? It’s an unoxidized version of traditional (oxidized) rooibus that tastes lighter, less sweet and more herbal compared to its counterpart. These qualities also make green rooibus infusions a perfect foundation for soup broth. Here I blend green rooibus with roasted butternut squash, garlic, onions and cream for a wonderfully rich and herbal wintertime soup. It whips up without too much trouble and freezes nicely if you’d like to have a meal at the ready as the busy holiday months approach us.

Green Rooibus-Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

serves 4

4 cups water
3 TBS Organic green rooibus tea leaves
2 lb butternut squash, split in half lengthwise and seeds scooped
3 cloves garlic sliced
olive oil
1 medium onion, finely sliced
2 cups heavy cream
salt, fresh ground pepper and fresh ground nutmeg to taste


1. Bring water and organic green rooibus to a boil in a small sauce pan. Simmer for 5 minutes, then top with a lid and remove from heat. Allow rooibus to infuse while you proceed to the next step.
2. Preheat oven to 350° F.
3. Place the halved butternut squash on a roasting pan, sprinkle with the sliced garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Roast until slightly browned and soft, 45 minutes to an hour.
4. Heat a bit of olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion until translucent. Turn off heat and set aside. Reserve saucepan, without wiping clean for the final steps of simmering the soup.
5. Scoop roasted garlic slices and squash from its skin into the canister of a blender. Add the sautéed onions and then strain the rooibus broth into the canister. Blend until completely smooth.
6. Pour the soup back into the saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits left behind from sautéing the onions.
7. Add the cream, salt, pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg to taste. Bring to a simmer again and heat gently for 10 minutes more. Do not allow to boil.

Apple Cider and Maple Cream Crostata with Maple-Cranberry Compote

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Crostata is an Italian tart, the base of which is a sweet short crust pastry called pasta frolla. Pasta frolla is versatile. It can be filled with fruit preserves, pastry cream, fresh fruit, ricotta, and other ingredients, and, by itself, it makes very nice cookies. Made with butter, flour, sugar, and eggs, the technique to make this dough is a bit like making pasta though no harder to execute than any other type of pie crust.

I decided to make mine with whole wheat and hazelnut flours, and for the filling, I used this recipe from the October issue of Bon Appetit. Not traditional but definitely seasonal and highly amenable to local ingredients. The custard filling is made with no refined sugar. Instead, it is sweetened with maple sugar and a thick reduction of apple cider. Though humble in appearance, it's a decadent alternative to the usual apple desserts that show up this time of year.

Hazelnut Pasta Frolla

⅓ cup superfine sugar or ½ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ cup hazelnut flour or meal
a pinch of salt
6 TBS cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Put sugar, flours, and salt in the bowl of the food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add butter and pulse a few times until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal. Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface.

Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten egg and vanilla extract into it. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients then use your fingertips. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Roll out the crostata dough, on a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Roll the dough into a circle about ⅛-inch thick. If at anytime the dough becomes too soft to work with, chill in the fridge until firm again.

Ease the dough into the tart pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.

Roll out remaining scraps of pasta frolla and cut into lattice strips or desired shapes using a cookie cutter.

Cover and chill crust at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Maple Cream Filling

½ gallon fresh apple cider or cold-pressed apple juice
½ cup maple sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 large eggs
¼ tsp coarse kosher salt
⅛ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 drops maple extract

Bring apple cider or apple juice to rolling boil in large pot over high heat. Boil until bubbling thickly and reduced to generous ¾ cup, stirring occasionally, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grind maple sugar to powder in spice mill, blender, or mini processor. Transfer powdered maple sugar to 4-cup glass measuring cup; add cream, eggs, ¼ teaspoon coarse salt, nutmeg, extract, and ¾ cup cooled cider reduction and whisk to blend well.

Place tart pan with crust on baking sheet; set on rack in oven. Pour in filling. Bake tart until filling is puffed and cracked around edges and gently set in center, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer tart to rack and cool to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours.

Push up pan bottom, releasing tart. Cut tart into wedges and serve with compote (recipe below) and if desired, freshly whipped cream.

Maple-Cranberry Compote

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, picked over and rinsed
½ cup pure maple syrup (preferably Grade B)
¼ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
¼ cup apple cider
½ tsp finely grated lemon zest

Combine cranberries, maple syrup, brown sugar, apple cider, and lemon zest in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer until most berries pop and juices thicken slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Chill until cold, about 2 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

Delicata Squash & Toasted Fennel Seed Doughnuts

I have fond childhood memories of doughnuts. Just ask me about “little girl” doughnuts and you’ll see my face light up about special, perfectly-portioned treats my dad used to bring us from a small neighborhood doughnut shop. It operated out of a trailer parked in the lot of a shopping plaza. (I suppose this was my early introduction to food carts.) The best flavors always seemed to sell-out before sunrise, and the shop never stayed open past late morning. Now that I'm older, for health-conscious reasons, I stopped eating such fried indulgences. And really, most places selling doughnuts around town just don't do justice to my flavor memory anyways.

Although lately, I've been justifying eating “junk food” if I make it myself AND if I turn it into something a little more “high-end”. About this time last year I became very interested in homemade doughnuts. I was inspired by this post from Cannelle et Vanille, and then as the doughnut trend took off, built up momentum in my doughnut-making repertoire trying several different recipes. The recipe below is adapted from Cannelle et Vanille, but it incorporates the flavors I’ve been drawn to this fall: roasted winter squash and toasted fennel seed; warm notes of caramel with cool notes of licorice. To me, that combination tastes like a decadent candy; satisfyingly sweet but not overly saccharin.

I’ve been sampling various squash from my farm share, trying earnestly to learn the differences amongst them. So far, my squash of choice is delicata. A well-ripened one will taste candied when roasted, but not cloying. A moderate-sized one (just under a pound) yields the perfect amount of puree needed to make these doughnuts. Expect about one cup of puree per pound of squash. Sure it’s an extra step of preparation to roast and puree a whole squash instead of mindlessly opening a can of solid packed pumpkin. But branch out a little in your “from scratch” abilities. Try a new flavor. Learn how to circumvent a pumpkin shortage, if the need again arises. Avoid the fallout from what BPA-lined cans might leech into your food. I'll stop. I think you get the point.

Farmer's Market photo by Sarijk.

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

Delicata Squash & Toasted Fennel Seed Doughnuts
makes about 20 doughnut rings plus 20 doughnut holes

Pre-preparation of squash puree and fennel seeds:

1 medium delicata squash (about 12 oz or 350 grams)
1 TBS fennel seeds

Preheat oven to 350° F. Slice the squash in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Roast the halves, cut side down, in a baking dish filled with enough water to come a ½-inch up the sides of the squash. Cook until ultra tender when pierced by a fork, 25-30 minutes.

When sufficiently tender, remove squash from oven and allow to rest until cool enough to handle. Scrape the flesh away from the skin and tranfser to the food processor. Puree until extremely smooth, like baby food. Transfer to a mesh sieve set over a bowl and strain for several hours to remove excess liquid.

Meanwhile, place the fennel seeds in a dry skillet set over medium heat. Toast the seeds for about a minute or two. Tossing the seeds often. When they have turned a few shades darker and begin to smell fragrant, remove from heat and transfer to a spice/coffee grinder. Grind the toasted fennel seeds to a fine powder.

To make the doughnuts:
3 cups (375 grams) all purpose flour
scant ½ cup (55 grams) hazelnut flour
10 grams baking powder
8 grams baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1½ tsp freshly ground toasted fennel seed
⅛ tsp ground cloves
10 grams salt
½ cup (110 grams) delicata squash puree
¼ cup (60 grams) whole milk at room temperature
2 TBS (40 grams) sour cream at room temperature
scant ½ cup (100 grams) sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
4 TBS (60 grams) butter, melted

Canola oil, for frying
2 cups (400 grams) sugar
2 tsp freshly ground toasted fennel seed
1 tsp ground cinnamon

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, hazelnut flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground fennel seed, cloves, and salt.

In a separate bowl, mix the squash puree, milk, sour cream, sugar, eggs, and melted butter. Add this wet mixture to the dry ingredients and fold until it starts to come together. Knead lightly with your hands until a cohesive mass forms.

Dust your work surface with a bit of flour and turn out the dough on to this. Dust your hands and the top of the dough mound lightly with flour. Shape and pat the dough gently down into a circle about ½-inch thick. Using a doughnut cutter or two graduated-sized, round cookie cutters, cut out the doughnuts and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment and dusted with flour.

To fry the doughnuts, fill a pan up to 2" of canola oil. Heat the oil until it reaches 375° F. Do not over-crowd the pan with doughnuts. Fry about 3 at a time (depending on the size of the pan). They will sink to the bottom but then float to the top. Turn them over and let them cook for an additional minute or so.

Drain them on paper towels and while hot, toss them in the cinnamon-fennel seed sugar.

These are best eaten the day they are made, but will last a day or more, loosely covered at room temperature.

Million Dollar Butter

Late last summer, I started what I think just may become a tradition. Or ritual? Or right of season's passage? Well, maybe...

I made pear butter.

There's an unkempt pear tree in the field behind my home. The first year I noticed it, I picked so many, climbing first a tall ladder and then higher, straight up the branches. I picked and picked and then fretted each day after. "Are they ripe yet?" Pears ripen best off the tree. The technical term is climacteric. Like waiting for bananas to ripen, this may not seem like a big deal to let your harvest ripen here and there at a snail's pace, especially if you're just consuming out of hand as a snack. If your intention is to can them at peak flavor, though, the trick is to get the bulk to ripen simultaneously, and preferably on a not-so-busy weekend. That wasn't the case my first time around...

The reality for pears: the zenith of perfect ripeness seems to last an all too brief second before rot sets in. The reality of this recipe I'm sharing below: possibly every pot and pan in your kitchen will be used and a vigilant eye and stir-happy hand is required to monitor simmering for a couple of hours.

For the fretting over ripeness, for making this recipe the same day as hosting a largish dinner party, for stemming and quartering a way too ambitious quantity of fruit, for the passing through a food mill, not once, but twice to ensure proper consistency, for the stirring and simmering for hours in a hot kitchen, for the precious pear butter-full half-pint jar that broke irreparably in the hot water bath when being processed for storage and thus had to be thrown out, is why I've started charging $$$$/jar. No other jam has caused me this much hassle....or been received so well by friends!

Nah, I don't really charge. Like most everything else I make in my kitchen, I freely give it away, but I am sure to let its recipients know how much its worth in labor. Thankfully, they're quick to let me know that value I'm estimating matches in flavor.

Hopefully this doesn't deter you from trying to make it yourself. I bet you can find ways to make it less labor intensive! This year's batch went a little smoother, and I've got next year to look forward to further streamlining my technique.

Spiced Pear Butter

make 1½ quarts

6 lbs barlett pears, rinsed, stemmed and quartered, if you plan to use a food mill, don't bother to peel or core

¾ cup pear brandy

the juice of one lemon

1 cup turbinado sugar

6 orange slices

2 lemon slices

2 vanilla beans, split length wise, seed scraped

2 cinnamon sticks

9 cardamom pods

6 whole cloves

2 pinches of sea salt

Combine the pears, brandy, and lemon juice in a large preserve pan. Cover and simmer until the pears are soft, about 25 minutes. Lift the lid to occasionally give the pears a stir and push unsubmerged pears into the liquid. When soft, pass the pears through the coarsest setting of your food mill or coarse sieve to remove the peel. Then pass through the finest setting of the mill or transfer to a food processor to puree.

Return the puree to a large, heavy saucepan. Add remaining ingredients. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium and boil ever so gently until the mixture thickens and mounds slightly on the spoon. This could take 1 to 1½ hours depending on the juiciness of the pears. Stir often to prevent burning the bottom.

Discard fruit slices and spices. Ladle pear butter into hot canning jars, filling only ¼ inch from the top. Using a cloth dipped in hot water, wipe the rim free of drips. Place lids on jars and seal.

Arrange the jars in a pot of boiling water so that at least one inch of water covers the tops. Boil rapidly for 15 minutes. Remove the jars and cool to room temperature. Press the center of each lid. If any lids pop up, store these in the refrigerator. Sealed jars will keep at room temperature for up to one year. Refrigerate after opening.

The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Comfort en Croute

The December 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

For this challenge, I decided to go the vegetable route partly because of my lack of enthusiasm for cooking salmon (or beef for that matter) and partly because I had recently acquired a host of harvest vegetables through Tantre Farms CSA Thanksgiving share. This is the time of year when one looks to tuck into savory warmth and hearty fare. And thus, I envisioned individual puffed pastry pockets filled with a vegetable stew, kale and a bit of leftover roasted turkey from the Thanksgiving feast. For the stew, I adapted Deborah Madison’s recipe for Winter Vegetable Pot Pie from her cookbook Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone to suit the ingredients I had on hand. For the puff pastry, I used a recipe from a previous post, but swapped out a cup of all-purpose flour for whole-wheat pastry flour. Perhaps this makes it a tinge more healthful? Although hopeful, I realize with the amount of butter involved this is doubtful. Once baked, the veggie pockets ended up looking a bit like flying saucers, but no matter, the comfort provided with each bite surely satisfied.

Harvest Vegetable and Turkey Hand Pies
Makes about 2 dozen 3-in diameter pies
After filling the pies, there will be plenty of leftover stew to freeze and enjoy later!
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS butter
1 ½ lbs butternut squash (peeled and diced into 1-in cubes)
2 onions, diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 kohlrabi, peeled and diced
½ head of romanesco chopped
2 handfuls of brussel sprouts quartered
3 kale leaves, torn to small shreds
1 cup cooked turkey breast, chopped
2 TBS fresh sage, chopped
mushroom stock (see below)
1 recipe puff pastry
1 egg, beaten and mixed with a bit of warm water to create an egg wash

Quick Mushroom Stock
Makes about 1 ½ cups

¼ cup dried shitake mushrooms
2 tsp olive oil
1 red onion quartered
1 turnip roughly chopped
1 carrot cut into 3 pieces
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
one handful oyster mushrooms, chopped2 tsp tomato paste
1 TBS sage, chopped
½ cup champagne (it’s what was open, red or white wine works too)
1 TBS flour
salt and pepper to taste

Pour 2 cups hot water over dried mushrooms, cover and set aside. Heat oil in saucepan over high heat. Add onion, turnip, carrot, garlic and oyster mushrooms. Sauté stirring occasionally, until well browned (about 10 minutes). Reduce heat to medium. Stir in tomato paste, sage, and champagne. Deglaze pan by scraping up any browned bits. Sprinkle flour in pan, cover, and cook until the champagne is reduced to a syrup consistency (about 3 minutes). Add the shitake and their soaking liquid, ½ tsp salt, dash of pepper and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain.

Preheat oven to 425° F. In a dutch oven heat oil and butter, add onions and butternut squash and sauté over medium heat until crisp tender (about 15 minutes). Add remaining vegetables to the dish and mix in with the mushroom stock, adding water if more liquid is necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with lid and transfer to oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes until vegetables are slightly tender.

Meanwhile roll out pastry dough to ⅛-in thick and cut out round shapes using a large cookie cutter or a small bowl. Place circles on parchment-lined baking tray and refrigerate (at least 15 minutes) while assembling fillings. See tips for working with puff pastry from previous post.

Preheat oven to 400° F. Remove pastry circles from refrigerator and carefully stack a dollop of vegetable stew, shredded kale, and turkey on top of half of the circles. Be sure to leave a border around the edges to create a good seal. Brush border with egg wash and place another circle over the top of the filling. Crimp edges with a fork to seal and, if needed, trim excess with a knife. Brush outside of pastry with egg wash. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before serving.

French Macarons: trend predictions and ego maintenance

Trend ALERT: Have cupcakes met their match with the French macaron? The macaron may not be mainstream quite yet, but it's been speculated that it's coming. Ask most people (and I have) if they know what a macaron is, and they say “sure!”. Confirm by stating it doesn’t contain sweetened condensed milk or coconut; a bit puzzled, they say “oh?”. Compared to its American namesake, French macarons are a much more sophisticated meringue-style cookie traditionally made with ground almonds. Sandwiched together with a ganache or buttercream or jam or curd, these confections are infinitely customizable by flavor and color combinations. I first read about them a few years back in a foodie magazine article about Christmas gift suggestions. Intrigued, I looked into ordering some as a treat for myself but was shocked to find the shipping price as expensive as the cookies. Determined to have a taste, my next instinct was to figure out how to make them on my own. That’s when I stumbled across the blog of the lovely and talented Tartelette and read every tip and trick I could gather from her. With a great virtual mentor and perhaps beginners luck my first batch ever (tinted purple and filled with a lavender ganache) was perfect! And then I never made them again…

Fast forward to this month where the 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe. I was extremely excited to be reacquainted with macarons—I’ve already done this!

Unfortunately my first batch (cocoa flavored with spooky Halloween decorations) was disappointing. They tasted fine, but looked like sad little cracked and deflated disks, almost too soft and flimsy to hold a filling. I had read much about the finicky nature of the meringue batter, especially the careful attention needed during the macronage process (the technique of incorporating the dry ingredients into the whipped egg whites), but had yet to experience it firsthand. Things worked fine for me the last time. What was I doing wrong this time? Needless to say my kitchen ego was a little bruised, so I regrouped ingredients, pulled out the Tartelette recipe I was comfortable using (sorry Claudia Fleming) and started over. Round two (still cocoa flavored but with fall leaf and pumpkin sugar decorations) turned out so much better. I achieved the much sought after "feet"—that little ruffled edge at the base of the cookie. Complete success!

For the filling I wanted something that evoked the flavors of fall, so I chose a spiced pumpkin, dark chocolate ganache. I adapted it from a recipe shared with me by my favorite local chocolatier, Nancy Biehn of Sweet Gem Confections. I shouldn’t have strayed as far away from her recipe as I did, as the ganache turned out to be a mini disaster of its own—major, inexplicable cocoa butter seepage from the fancy chocolate in which I invested quite a fair penny! I couldn’t get it to pull together to be cohesive with the rest of the mixture. Having run out of ingredients and time to start fresh, I decided to drain off the liquidy cocoa butter and use the remaining spread as is to fill my perfectly-footed macarons. In doing so, I duly noted the additional opportunity for an ego check—making a ganache is usually foolproof.

Understandably, if this hasn’t enticed you to try making these yourself and you want to check if any bakeries near you sell French macarons, here’s a good place to start.

Will the French macaron supplant the cupcake as the next sweet trend? Hmm, perhaps not all regions of the country will readily take to the frillier dessert. If you ask me, I think pie might need to be thrown in the mix for good Midwestern measure. This is just my humble prediction, but it may be quite likely if the amount of flaky pastry dough coming out of my kitchen this year is any sort of barometer.

Chocolate Macarons

Ingredients
3 egg whites (separated from yolks 3 days before baking and kept at a cool room temp)
50 grams granulated sugar
200 grams powdered sugar
110 grams blanched almonds
2 TBS cocoa powder

1. Combine the cocoa powder, powdered sugar and almonds in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery. Sift into a large bowl. Regrind any large leftover bits of nuts in a coffee grinder and add to bowl.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment to a foam. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks and you achieve a glossy meringue.
3. Add sifted almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently with a rubber spatula to combine. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized rounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper). Let the macarons sit on the counter for an hour to harden their shells a bit.
6. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 300°F. Bake the macaron for 10-12 minutes.
7. Cool completely on a rack before filling.

Makes 2 dozen filled cookies

Spiced Pumpkin, Dark Chocolate Ganache
(this definitely needs tweaking)

1 cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup half and half
1 cup pumpkin puree
4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
2 lbs chocolate, finely chopped and set aside in a large bowl

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring all ingredients except for chocolate to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Let stand for a minute or so and then stir to incorporate. Ganache should be cooled slightly until firm enough to spread onto macarons.

Apples All Dressed Up: Polish Apple Fritters

Apples for me are a true harbinger for fall. Sure vendors at my farmer’s market proffered apples all summer, but no, no I whisked straight past towards berries and peaches half-believing those apples were even grown locally. Yes, I know there are early-ripening varietals, but for me, apple season coincides with days shortening, temperatures dropping, and leaves changing. They conjure warm scents of spice and longings for hot cider and doughnuts. Well, the season is certainly upon us now! I've been taking advantage by making cider and filled pastries and dumplings and preserves and sauce and pie...

Recently, a sweet, sweet grandfather-type co-worker shared with me a bag of fresh-picked apples and described his favorite way to eat them: Jabtusska w mundu kadi. This is a traditional Polish recipe that he said roughly translates as “apples all dressed up”. Essentially, these are apple fritters in that apple rings are dipped in a pancake-like batter and fried into deliciousness. By the look in his eyes when he talked about it, I could tell how special this recipe was to my co-worker. This made me that much more eager to try it. When I showed my him the picture of my results, he told me with much enthusiasm that I would “make a great European wife”. Well, I don’t know about that, but I am excited to be preserving a Polish tradition. Next he wants to teach me potato pancakes. I can’t wait!

Jabtusska w Mundu Kadi

2 eggs, separated
3 TBS superfine sugar
5 TBS milk
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
1TBS masa harina
1 lb apples
½ cup butter
powdered sugar
cinnamon

Beat egg yolks with sugar and milk in a medium-sized bowl. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whites into yolk mixture. Sift the flours over this egg mixture and fold in lightly. This should make a rather thick batter.

Peel, core and slice apples into ¼-inch thick rings. Melt butter in frying pan over medium heat. Dip apple rings in batter, turning to coat both sides. Slip apples into hot butter, frying until golden and puffed; then flip to cook other side. Repeat with remaining rings. Dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Serve immediately.

Serves 2-4