Of Course I Made an Apple Pie

Plus: Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic, Café Kestrel, and The Big Gay Jamboree.

Hey everyone,

The person that I live with, aka: my husband Craig, requested an apple pie this weekend and how could I refuse? It’s nearly October, it’s been raining, and the farmer’s market sent its tomatoes home and replaced them with a chorus of Honeycrisps, Granny Smiths, and Pink Ladies. If you don’t make an apple pie right now, there’s something seriously wrong with you.

I was thinking about the expression “easy as apple pie” as I was titling this post and, of all food expressions, I feel like that one’s the biggest lie. Apple pie is not easy. I’ve made many, many pies over the years and I still get nervous and sweaty when I make the dough. I still use this recipe: 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 sticks butter, and enough ice water to make the dough.

I don’t know why I get so nervous, though. The key is making sure the pie dough is rollable when you bring it together. If it’s super cracky, I keep working it until it’s not. And look at this pie!

I suppose apple pie is easy if you believe that it’s easy. Sort of like Tinkerbell and her wings. So if you’re nervous, just take the leap. Even if you screw it up, it’ll still taste really, really good.

I served this apple pie for my friend Chris’s birthday, which is approaching this weekend.

Guess how we’re celebrating? We’re going to Mexico City and Oaxaca! And while most of our dinners are planned, we have all of our lunches open. So if you have lunch suggestions for either place, let me know in the comments!

For the entree, I served one of my all-time favorites: Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic. Here’s a video I just made of the recipe, which is based on Ina Garten’s:

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It’s so cozy and surprisingly simple to make. The key? Get that chicken really, really golden brown. Not only does it make it taste good, it enhances the sauce with all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Not to be really dramatic, but I have a new favorite restaurant.

Helen Rosner’s review of Café Kestrel dropped on Saturday and I immediately made a reservation for Sunday night. Her review evoked two restaurants — Prune and Rochelle Canteen (which I haven’t been to, but Margot Henderson’s cookbook is one of my all-time favorites) — and I knew I would love it.

It’s truly the most charming, magical space. It is a lot like Prune but even less bustling. The dining room is so small, you genuinely feel like you’re in somebody’s elegant living room. It felt like SUCH a New York spot: the kind of sophisticated hole-in-the-wall that couldn’t be justified anywhere else, but that here makes complete sense.

And the food is just the kind of food that I want to eat when going out. We started with fried squash blossoms and a kind of cheddar served with rose jam with actually rose petals in it:

Our favorite course was this tuna tartare sort of thing with homemade waffle chips; each bite was a dream:

But also? The entrees were dreamy too. Craig had the grilled pork loin with celeriac puree; and I had the most boring-sounding dish that was anything but: grilled chicken breast, coated with spices, and served with carrots and on top of a date puree. It was exploding with flavor.

For dessert, we had the apple sundae which was felt like a final taste of summer (ice cream!) as we get pulled into autumn (apple!).

We loved this meal so much, that immediately upon coming home we made a reservation to go back in October. My only regret is raving so much in this newsletter: I’m scared it’ll get so popular we won’t be able to get back in again….

Finally, we went on Friday to see our friend Jonathan’s new musical The Big Gay Jamboree and had the most amazing time.

Jonathan, who studied musical theater with his best friend Marla Mindelle (of Titanique fame), co-wrote this show with her (she stars in it too and slays every song!) and every moment was a blast — from the opening number, with hints of Singin’ in the Rain, to the final moments that were straight out of Black Mirror. If you love big, campy, non-stop hilarious musicals, this is the show for you. I’m so proud of everyone involved!

Okay, let’s look at some links:

• Judith Jones has a cookbook for dogs (Eater);

• The NYT review of Ina Garten’s memoir (NYT);

• Carindal’s Cinderella Rockefella… a Manhattan-type drink made with amaro and a spiced honey syrup. Sign me up! (The Guardian);

• Via Carota Chefs Selling Their West Village Apartment… anyone have 2.95 million dollars I can borrow? (Curbed)

That’s all for today, folks!

See you back here on Thursday….

Your pal,

Adam