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GourmetGrrl Bites
GourmetGrrl.com: Food with 'tude
November 23, 2005
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An apple a day can mean many things: a fresh apple, a shot of Calvados, or a pint of cider. Whichever you choose, it's apples to apples.

Cin Cin!
GourmetGrrl, aka Laura Holmes

Grrl, Hard Core
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Hard Cider. Johnny Appleseed was a bad boy. It turns out Johnny was indeed planting more apple trees-- but only so he could make more hard cider. Lucky for us that Johnny was successful, because there are a lot of ciders out there to get us through the winter. Made from fermented apple juice, hard cider has an alcohol content 4 to 7 percent by volume.

Specialty ciders are the latest thing: brands like Blackthorn, Cheddar Valley, Three Witches, and Bad Seed are produced in small batches and range from semi-dry to dry with intense apple flavor. Ace Cider, from Sonoma County, California, is another oustanding artisanal cider. It's available nationwide and they even have a cider pub if you're in the area. Doc's Dry Apple Cider is one to look for in New York State. Nationally available brands like Woodpecker, Woodchuck, and Hornsby's are on tap in most bars but are less complex than specialty ciders.

If you're feeling adventurous try the spritzy French cidres from Normandy (Clos Normand and Comte Louis de Lauriston Cidre Bouche Brut are two brands you can easily find in the States). Other European ciders include the fruity Basque ciders and the sweet sidras of Spain and dry Austrian ciders.

Or make your own: Leener's, a do-it-yourself store in Ohio, sells a cider-making kit for $89.95 The kit comes with everything you need to make five gallons of hard cider, except the apples.

Grrl's Guide to Apples
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Apple of Our Eye. There are over 6,000 varieties of apples in the world, with about twenty available commercially, including Gala, McIntosh, Macoun, Honeycrisp, Red Cort, Cortland, Empire, Jonagold, Fuji, and Braeburn. Americans eat 19.6 pounds of fresh apples every year, not including apple pies.

Most apples are available nearly year-round, except certain heirloom varieties, which are available for a few months of the year. But if you want to eat in season, eat your apples from September through April, their true season. Off- season apples are flown in from New Zealand and other warm locales and aren't quite as tasty.
A few apple tips:
*For baking, use any variety but Golden and Red Delicious (they get mushy once you cook 'em).
*Keep apples in the 'frig. (They lose their crispness if you keep them on the counter.)
*To keep apple slices from turning brown, squeeze some lemon juice on them.
*As apples ripen, they give off ethylene gas, so you can actually use apples to ripen avocados (and bananas) more quickly. Stick an apple and an avocado in a paper bag and that rock-hard avocado will soften right up.
*Apples float in water because twenty-five percent of their volume is air.
How do you like them apples?

Grrl with Knife
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A certain GourmetGuy we know loves apple crumble, so here's a recipe that even the culinary- challenged can whip up in no time.

APPLE CRUMBLE
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 apples, such as Pink Lady or Cortland, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Make the topping: In a bowl combine the almonds, flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and salt, using your hands to break up the almonds into small pieces. Add the butter and rub it into the mixture until crumbly.
Place the mixture in the 'frig.
In a baking dish, add the apples, 2 tablespoons sugar, the cinnamon, and lemon juice. Mix well.
Spread the fruit evenly in the baking dish and add the topping, spreading it evenly over the apples.
Bake for 40 minutes, until bubbling. (If the top is getting brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil.)
Serves 6

Grrl, Reading
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If you need a little reading this holiday weekend pick up a copy of Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl, a witty memoir by the former New York Time restaurant critic. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wanna eat.