Comfort Me With Apples……
If there ever was a time to misquote these words from Song of Solomon 2:5, this seems to be it. Never has there been more enthusiasm for our quirky apple CSA than this season when we filled up to overflowing with apple loving shareholders in the blink of an eye. During these strange and troubling times, perhaps the apple is the ultimate comfort food. Who isn’t transported back through the years by that first crisp bite of a fall apple - to picking Wolf Rivers in grandpa’s back yard, to stealing fruit from the the forbidden orchard down the road, to neighborhood Halloween parties and cider pressings, to helping mom churn a kitchenful of Wealthys into sauce. Baking apples mingled with the aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg pull even harder at our taste memories - holiday gatherings, cozy winter nights, diners and coffee shops with pie a la mode. Just imagining the smell of an apple pie in the oven makes me feel relaxed and embraced, something we don’t get to do with each other much these days. So perhaps it is a lot to ask of this simple fruit, but we hope that these apples can provide you a bit of normal in these non-normal times, that they can provide both distraction and excitement when every day seems like “Blursday” , and that they can provide a touch of inspiration and hope for better times ahead.
Picks of the week:
(Click each variety for more info)
Duchess of Oldenburg
Martha Crab & Centennial Crab
Milton
Red Gravenstein
William’s Pride
Zestar
Red Gravenstein, Martha Crab, Centennial Crab, Duchess, Zestar, Williams’ Pride and Milton on the garden wall.
Summer apples are the Prima Donnas of the apple world. They start dropping to the ground whenever they feel like it while you’re still thinking about peaches and blueberries, they demand a tender touch by their handlers, and they collapse in a heap of sorrow if you don’t pay attention to them right away. As a result you don’t find them too often at farm stands and you-pick orchards and never ever at the grocery store. But we think they’re pretty special. The apples that ripen August and early September have enough variety in taste, texture and use to satisfy all our apple needs. In your share you’ll find apples with pizazz for fresh eating - Zestar, Williams’ Pride and the diminutive crabs with the giant taste - Martha and Centennial. There are also some great saucers, like Milton, and the Blue Ribbon pie apples, Duchess and Gravenstein.
Of course this is not to say that you can’t eat the three we call cooking apples fresh or try experimenting with the dessert apples. We kept a bushel of Williams’ Pride in our kitchen this week, and we have been trying them a new way every day. I’ve been amazed at how versatile this variety is. I caramelized them using the recipe below, and they held up well to the heat and sauteing, getting tender but not mushy. We happily slathered the caramelized apples over our Sunday pancakes and imagined that they would make an even better crepe filling. John made up a batch of strikingly rosy pink sauce from them that was both floral and spicy. And then there were the apple preserves I made with a recipe from a southern cookbook that OOAL crew member, Josh Hinchman, lent me. The Williams’ Pride slices became translucent half moons swimming in a golden liquid that seemed to have its own inner luminescence. Amazing. But the biggest WOW came when I dried them. Their flavors seemed simultaneously to condense and amplify, shouting out notes of peach, banana and vanilla birthday cake. So while I must admit to overlooking Williams’ Pride in the past, I have become a convert.
Throughout this apple season we encourage you to engage with the apples in your share in new and different ways. Don’t take our word for it - sauce them, bake them, dry them, juice them, grill them, saute them, slice them and dip them in peanut butter (or maybe even melted chocolate). We’re certain there is an apple in every share that will be the apple of your eye..
Our apples come to you straight from the tree, so, as with all fresh produce, please be sure to wash them thoroughly before eating. Some of the apples are grown using Integrated Pest Management by the orchards we collaborate with throughout Maine, and some are organically grown here on Super Chilly Farm.
Maine orchards invaded by horrible nests of caterpillars!
A few weeks ago large, unsightly webs began to appear on many apple trees in Maine, including ours. This year they have been particularly noticeable. The webs also appear on cherry, oak, ash, willow, elm and other deciduous tree species. These are the communal nests of the Fall Webworm (Hyphantria cunea). But fret not, your trees will be OK. This is not a late season invasion of the nasty Browntail Moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea) or the destructive Eastern Tent Caterpillar. Despite the fact that the nests look like hell, the Fall Webworm larvae do not damage healthy trees or even disturb next year’s fruit buds. You can burn them out of your trees with a flamethrower or a tiki torch. You can also spray them with toxic chemicals or the organically certified Dipel. Or you can just let them be and try not to look at them as you walk by. They’ll be gone before too long, and all will be well again in your orchard.
Recipe of the Week
Based on the number of instagram posts I have seen in the past 5 months of large, crusty, golden brown boules, batards and baguettes, I can only assume that the majority of people we know, and many that we don’t, have spent the pandemic perfecting their bread baking skills. There could be no one who has more enthusiastically dived into this baking frenzy than OOAL crew member, Alex Mahaney, who may single-handedly be responsible for the shortage of yeast and flour we are experiencing in central Maine. I recently saw him lugging a 50 lb. sack of flour across the farm, and at last count our apple cooler had 4 different types of bread proofing in it. So when Alex shared his concern that the 6 loaves in his kitchen might get moldy before he could eat them all, I immediately recruited him to make Amy Traverso’s Apple Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce. Amy recommends using a firm-sweet apple, such as Gravenstein. Alex used the Duchess, but we think the pudding would benefit from a combo of the two. Or throw in the Williams’ Pride to mix things up even more. What could be more comforting than a big bowl of warm bread pudding laced with cinnamon and apples for breakfast, lunch or dinner? And if you still feel in need of a little lovin’ when it’s all gone, you can always eat the leftover caramel sauce with a spoon.
Apple Bread Budding with Salted Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
OOAL crew members Josh, Alex and Steve packing apple shares in the barn.
1 loaf (1#) crusty white bread
11/2 cups caramelized apples (see below)
3 large eggs
2 cups half & half
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
1 TBS vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp kosher salt
Caramelized Apples
Martha Crab crowded on the branch in Skowhegan, ME.
11/2 TBS salted butter
11/4 lbs firm-sweet apples - cored and cut into 1/2” cubes
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 cup apple cider
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 TBS white sugar
Salted Caramel Sauce
1 cup white sugar
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 tsp kosher salt
Directions
Caramelized Apples
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and spices, and cook til the apples are softened and lightly browned in spots, stirring occasionally. This should take 10-15 minutes depending on the firmness of your apples.
Add the apple cider, and stir until the cider reduces and becomes a glaze over the apples, about 3 minutes.
Add the maple syrup and sugar, and cook, stirring often, until the sauce is think and glossy and the apples are tender, 4-6 minutes.
Bread Pudding
Butter a 11’x7” baking dish. Set aside.
Trim the sides and ends of the bread loaf; leave crusts on the top and bottom. Cut the loaf into 11/2” pieces, and arrange them evenly in the prepared pan. Tuck the caramelized apples among the pieces of bread.
In a large bowl whisk the eggs, half & half, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Pour this mixture over the bread. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours.
About 15 minutes before you are ready to bake the pudding, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and set the rack to the middle position. Remove the baking dish from the refrigerator, and toss the bread and apples with your hands to make sure everything is moistened.
Bake until the top of the pudding is golden brown and the custard is set - about 50 minutes.
While the pudding is baking, make the caramel sauce. Pour 3/4 cup water into a 2-3 qt. saucepan. Mound the sugar in the center of the pot - don’t let it touch the sides. Turn the heat up to high, cover, and cook until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to bubble and turn a pale amber, about 12-15 minutes. Resist the urge to stir or swirl the mixture. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the caramel darkens to amber. Remove from the heat, and slowly add the cream. (Watch out for a burst of steam.) Add the salt, and stir.
Serve the pudding hot. Pass the caramel sauce to drizzle over the top.