Cook-the-Apples-First Apple Pie

Plus: Pork Shoulder Braised in Apple Cider, Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie, and Dinner at Ernesto's.

Hey everyone,

Can we take a moment to admire the crust in that picture above? I made that with my very own fingers. It’s the fourth pie I’ve made in the past month: there was the chocolate chess pie, the regular chess pie, a chocolate Bourbon pecan pie (more on that in a sec), and now this cook-the-apples-first apple pie inspired by Erin Jeanne McDowell. Here’s a video:

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Yes, I finally succumbed to the pie wizardry of Erin McDowell (I’ve had her pie book for a while!) and this technique of cooking down the apples before you put them in the pie is pretty genius.

It’s also pretty time-consuming and dishes-dirtying. As I say in the video, this is not the pie that you want to make if you’re hosting Thanksgiving this year. This IS the pie to make, however, if you’re asked to bring dessert and you want to knock people’s socks off.

There are two main ideas behind this pie: #1 (and the most important) is that by cooking the apples first, they shrink in the pot and therefore when you cool them and pack them into your pie crust, that space between the top crust and the apples doesn’t get an air pocket… you’ll have one apple-packed, dense piece of apple pie; and #2 (and I found this pretty interesting) by cooking some of the liquid out and starting that process of thickening with flour you create the base of what becomes an almost apple caramel that coats the apples at the end.

Would I make this pie every time I make an apple pie? Probably not. It’s a special occasion kind of thing. But wow did this make the house smell good. And when we finally cut into it and lifted a slice, it was as packed with apples as anything I’ve ever seen and tasted like pure heaven.

Speaking of apples, I had a bunch of VIP food guests over the other night, including Cup of Jo’s Joanna Goddard and her lovely new boyfriend (just revealed in her newsletter!) Freddie, plus Eric Kim, his lovely fiancé Paolo, and Dinner: A Love Story’s Jenny Rosenstrach and her delightful husband Andy.

What did I make this distinguished crowd?

The answer: pork shoulder braised in apple cider per Molly Stevens’s brilliant recipe. Let’s go to the tape:

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I’d actually just watched an America’s Test Kitchen where Julia seasoned a pork loin with crushed coriander and cloves, so I added that to the meat (just a pinch of cloves) to shake things up a little.

Otherwise, the dish was a perfect fall meal. And I used Jenny’s recipe for making the polenta a day ahead and then baking it in the oven.

In fact, I made the whole meal ahead so I could go see a matinee of Maybe Happy Ending starring Darren Cris at 2 PM five hours before people came over. (I absolutely loved it. Highly recommend!) How’s that for dinner party chutzpah?

For dessert, I made Melissa Clark’s chocolate Bourbon pecan pie:

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I use the same pie crust recipe every time — it’s the one that I have written out by hand on my fridge (but I have it memorized): 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 2 sticks of cold butter cubed, and 3/4ths a cup of ice water (usually more).

The pre-baking — which helps you avoid a soggy bottom — is made easier by using foil and pie weights, really jamming the foil between the crimps so they hold. (A great Jessie Sheehan trick.)

The finished pie was nice and boozy (I may have added a little extra hooch) and enhanced with fresh whipped cream into which I have also added a little extra Bourbon.

Finally, I went on Saturday night with my friend Chris to dinner at Ernesto’s on the LES.

It’s a Basque restaurant and everything that we ate was excellent, especially the house-made potato chips with Iberico ham (above) and the Hemingway “bikini,” a sort of panini with shrimp, sausage, and topped with honey:

It’s always nice to go to dinner with a professional food model.

Hey, let’s look at some links! But first let’s look at Winston:

• How Healthy Are Sweet Potatoes? (NYT);

• Rude customers at Alinea (Eater Chicago);

• How to turn old bagged salad into a nutritious soup (The Guardian).

That’s all for today, folks!

See you back here on Monday….

Your pal,

Adam

P.S. If you haven’t already, pre-order my novel!