I Love NY: apple picking, and a few recipes

Zoe and Frankie at Stanton’s Farm 

Like all good New Yorkers, true Empire State lovers, the people who grew up here and never left (actually, I left but I came back, so I can still be one of those people), I love to go apple picking in the fall. In my most perfect world, apple picking includes every family member, a chipper, enthusiastic crew of the people I love and a sunny, warm day. I know, I know. That’s lofty expectations and all of those things happening at the same time are kind of like a solar eclipse. So, come fall, me and my expectations are tucked into a fall sweater and when the combination of a sunny day and some free time happens, I plan a day for our family to pick apples. Sounds good, right? 

This year, the perfect day was a Sunday afternoon in October. I know from many years of marriage and experience, but forgot: Sundays in the fall are often Buffalo Bills game days and so my husband was chipper, but not going apple picking. My youngest was expected back from college that day, and I know from many years of experience and motherhood, but forgot: weekends are sleep-late days for 20-year-olds. Elliot was neither chipper nor present, so he was also out. That left my oldest son, Luca, my daughter, Zoe, me and Frankie the granddaughter. We were all in good spirits and the sun was shining brightly, so we packed up and went in search of apples. 

We did what you do when apple picking: we hauled heavy bags of apples and one baby through the apple orchard. We ate doughnuts. We bought a pumpkin, and we basked in the New York State sunshine and the beauty of twisty trees, heavy with fruit. Here follows recipes for using up an over-exuberant purchase of apples (because we always purchase more than we can comfortably carry to the car), and one recipe that has no apples but is good fall eating. 

I like to cook up something cozy for a post-apple-picking meal. With a bagful of gorgeous red peppers purchased from the market, I made a pot of sauce. First, I took the time to roast them, until each was deflated and blackish in spots, which doesn’t look pretty but is the base of a luscious and silky sauce. This dish is a different take on vodka sauce – an Italian-American restaurant staple: rich, creamy, tomato-y and with a bite of vodka – which is an old favorite in our house. It’s best on pasta that’s shaped like a tube, which holds creamy, rich sauce better, and I like to have bites that are equal parts pasta and sauce. Serve this sauce and pasta with a green salad for a simple, vegetarian meal, or add a roasted chicken for the meat-eaters in your life. It all starts with a chopped onion and garlic and a good dollop of tomato paste. To that foundation of flavor goes the roasted peppers, butter and a few shots of vodka. Why vodka, you may ask? A bit of vodka adds a bite to the dish and heightens the scent and flavor. 

Apple Quinoa Salad

In the weeks following an apple picking outing, apples always show up over and over on our dinner table, and not just in baked goods (there’s plenty of that, and I’ll get to it next). It’s serious work, using up all the apples from one haul. I like to add apples to salads of all kinds, including simple green salads with cheese and nuts. Here, I made a salad of quinoa, vegetables, nuts and one tart, chopped apple. Quinoa is the king of all “lunchbox” food in our house. Cook up a batch on a Sunday, add whatever fruit, vegetables, cheese and herbs you’ve got hanging around, and you’ve got a happy lunchbox for the week. I made this salad, took a bite to check the seasonings, and then went to my desk to write a few emails. I couldn’t wait until lunch, so at 10:30 a.m., I was back at the fridge, helping myself to a bowl. It’s got a slightly sweet and salty balance of flavors that I cannot resist. 

When it comes to apple desserts, my family will eat anything, any dessert that has apple, sugar and a dash of spice in it. By this time in the season, we’ve eaten our way through apple pie, apple crisp, apple tart, apple cake, apple cobbler, apple muffins and apple waffles. We drink apple smoothies. And as I write these words, Zoe is sitting beside me, eating an apple spread with peanut butter (our particular favorite snack). It seems that we have simply eaten every recipe, every preparation and method for cooking apples known to mankind. But hold on a moment. There’s one apple dessert that I haven't made, and it’s a good one. A kind of important one, in the world of apple desserts. You see, the cakes and pies and breads are all great. Those desserts are all part of one kind of dessert family: the tender crumb, the spice, the softened, warm apples. But here comes apple strudel and it’s a different kind of dessert. This one, instead of the bread-y envelope, has layer upon layer of crispy, buttery phyllo dough, wrapped around chopped, sweetened apples. 

Traditionally, strudel dough is made from flour and some kind of fat and it’s pulled so thin, you can see right through it. In short, it’s a lot of work. Here, handy phyllo stands in for the stretched dough, making the dessert prep a quick affair. With half a package of phyllo, a stick or so of butter and a few chopped apples, you’ve got a complex, buttery, sweet dessert that lets the apples shine. In making this strudel, I did not use a lot of spice. It’s got barely a whisper of cinnamon. I like that the taste is very apple-y. You can spice it up more, if you like. 

Aren’t we lucky to live in such a beautiful place? A land that, under blue skies and nestled in green valleys, gifts us row after row of the prettiest trees, ripe with juicy apples? I marvel at all of it, each and every autumn season. 

And even though some people slept late and others chose the Bills over apple picking, we shared our cider doughnuts and the apple tart with them, just because. I have hope for another apple picking date next year, a perfect fall day that’s sunny and each and every one of my family members are chipper, enthusiastic and ready to pick apples. 

Roasted Red Pepper Vodka Sauce
Serves 5

Olive oil
3 red peppers
1 pound rigatoni
1 large red onion, trimmed and diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup vodka
1 cup pasta cooking water
2 cups unsalted chicken broth
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
Salt and pepper, to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the peppers on the paper. Brush generously with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes, until deflated and blackened in spots. Remove from the oven and place a clean kitchen towel over the peppers to capture the steam. Allow to rest and cool. Remove the stems, seeds and skin from the peppers. Save the flesh and catch any juices for the sauce – that’s great flavor!

Cook the rigatoni in a large pot of salted water until al dente. Reserve one cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. 

Meanwhile, heat a swirl of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot set over a low flame. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft and fragrant and barely starting to turn brown at the edges, about 20 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and turn the heat up to medium low. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is dark red. Pour in the vodka and stir, scraping up the bottom of the pan. 

Stir in the pasta cooking water, chicken broth and the roasted red peppers. Use an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender) and puree until smooth. Return to low heat and stir the butter in. 

When the butter has melted, taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper if you like. Serve hot over pasta with cheese. 

Crunchy Apple Quinoa Salad
Serves 6

1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions (about 3 cups cooked)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large apple, cored and chopped
2 celery stalks, with leaves, chopped
4 ounces feta in brine, drained and crumbled
1 large handful flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1 cup Maple Walnuts (recipe follows)
Maple Dijon dressing (recipe follows)

In a large salad bowl, combine the quinoa, carrots, apple, celery, feta and parsley with the cooled walnuts. Toss with the dressing and serve. Keeps, refrigerated, for 4 days. 

Maple Walnuts
Makes 1 cup
1 cup raw walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon maple syrup (B grade)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

In a dry skillet set over a medium-low flame, toast the walnuts until they are warm, golden brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Be sure to stir to ensure even toasting. Pour in the maple syrup and stir to cover the nuts evenly. Turn off the heat and season with the salt. Allow to cool. 

Maple Dijon Dressing
Makes about ⅔ cup
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon maple syrup (B grade)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Whisk together all of the ingredients and taste. Add more salt or pepper, to taste. Can be made ahead. Keeps for one week in a glass container, tightly covered. 

Apple Strudel
Makes 1 12-inch tart

4 medium-sized apples, peeled, cored and diced (see note)
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch kosher salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
½ package phyllo dough, defrosted
Powdered sugar, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Toss the apples together with the sugar, cinnamon and salt and set aside. 

Microwave the butter in a small glass bowl at 30-second intervals until melted. Open the package of phyllo dough and unroll, then cover with a clean kitchen towel. Place one sheet of dough on the parchment paper and use a pastry brush to coat evenly with butter. Cover with another piece and brush again. Repeat until all of the dough is stacked and brushed with butter. 

Pile the cinnamon-apple mixture into the center of the dough and spread out to the shorter sides, leaving 2-inch border on each of the longer sides. Fold the dough over and gently roll, putting the seam side on the bottom. Brush the top with any remaining butter and tuck any apples that escape back into the roll. It’s OK if it’s a little messy. 

Bake for 30 minutes, until the dough is browned and crisp and the apples on either end are soft. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar, then slice and serve. 

Note: this dessert (and any apple dessert) is best when made with a mix of apple varieties. I used one each of Empire, Honeycrisp, Jonagold and Gala.