Not Derby Pie

Christmas may not be a holiday I officially celebrate, but folks, that won’t stop me from playing Nat King Cole’s holiday album, wearing my best snowflake sweaters (I have two), and baking a counter full of cookies. I’ll leave the Nativity bit to others, but the kindness, the cheer, the mistletoe, the sweets – that stuff is open to anyone.

Which is why I’m participating in a Secret Santa Secret Cookie Swap, because who doesn’t want to gift and be gifted on the holidays? The mystery recipient of my goodies better get some goat cheese ready, because I’m sending over a jar of my tomato jam, some homemade tangerine marmalade, cinnamon-pear maple syrup from Napa, and a little box of can-I-just-say-they’re-adorable sablé cookies filled with homemade dulce de leche.

But that’s not all: I firmly believe that we all need to expand our holiday baking horizons beyond cookies. Why insist on mailing containers of very breakable cookies or often-teeth-cracking biscotti when you can pack a tin full of dense, chocolatey, travel-friendly fudge to your loved ones? Or better yet, surprise them – and save on shipping costs – by sending the lightest, fluffiest, still-sturdy marshmallows ever made.

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October is for apple picking. I love bringing home big bushel baskets full of crisp, juicy apples, and eating one fresh on the way home. If it’s warm enough to wrap a big scarf around my neck and skip the coat, I’m game for raw apples.

But in case you haven’t heard, we got our first snow this weekend. It’s a wee bit – half an inch, maybe? – but it’s enough to unleash DC’s full-fledged phobia of functioning in “inclement” weather. It’s also enough that I want my apples baked.

By “baked,” I mean stuffed with sweet, nutty filling. Dotted with butter. Glazed with reduced cider or white wine. That kind of baked. Are you with me? I bet you are.

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We’ve officially overdosed on turkey. As is: in sandwiches, in hash with an egg on top (twice), in soup. I think we’re done. Momentarily ignoring that fact that I can’t really handle more poultry right now, I’m also mulling over some quasi-ambitious plans for Christmas Eve involving a whole duck with all of its pieces. It’s cold out, though not as cold as it’s going to get, and I’m trying to steel myself for a blustery, dark December.

But first, before it gets too cold to think about salad, I wanted to share this little number from our Thanksgiving table. It’s pretty straightforward: curly kale, simple picked radishes, pomegranate seeds. A dressing made with plenty of really good mustard. That’s about all.

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Well, I’m definitely too late for Hanukkah, but hopefully I can catch those of you starting to do your Christmas shopping.

These are gifts for the food lover, the cook, the person who dreams include fancy cocktails and beautiful pie servers. As always, if you’ve got other suggestions, leave them in the comments. Happy gifting!

Edibles

Pok Pok Som: When I ate at Pok Pok Ny for the first time, we started our meal with an addictive tamarind cocktail made from this drinking vinegar. It’s light, refreshing, and the perfect thing to take your mind off of the 20-degree weather outside. Tamarind is my favorite, but I also love the honey, ginger, and thai basil flavors.

Liddabit Stout Gingerbread Caramels: Brooklyn Larder is one of my favorite spots in New York, and Liddabit makes some of the best caramels in the country. These seasonal confections are particularly tasty.

Craft Coffee Subscription: For the friend who’s both a coffee snob and extraordinarily busy, Craft Coffee is the perfect solution: regular shipments of just-roasted, small-batch coffee beans, dropped off at your door. Not much more expensive than buying the bags at a store.

Falls Mill Grits: I first purchased these grits on a business trip to Nashville, and I so loved them that I’ve made a point to stock up every time I head down there for work. Really good flavor, not expensive, great for polenta or grits or even folding into bread.

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Well, that was quite a holiday.

Thanksgivukkah was a total thrill, from start to finish. “Start” was at 6:30 am. We finished the evening around 11. In between, we turned out one-and-a-half turkeys, two quarts of gravy, four kinds of sauces (cranberry, cranapple, pear, pear-cider jelly), 32 doughnuts (sweet and savory!), and three pies. That doesn’t count the handful of bottles of wine that my parents brought; the glorious vegetarian stuffing, courtesy of my friend Jana; the five (five!) flower arrangements (biggest and most beautiful again thanks to Jana), and whatever else was arranged or consumed yesterday. It also doesn’t count the scores of laughs, the countless political debates (which occurred near constantly and yet left no scars or bruises, victory!), the speeches comparing the stories of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving (just one, but it was one for the ages), and I don’t know how many times someone said “mmmm” and made my heart feel as full as my stomach.

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The menu is pretty much set. In the fridge are mason jars full of cranberry sauce, cranberry-applesauce, pear sauce, and dulce de batata, a sort of jam made from white Latin sweet potatoes, which we first had at Del Campo and which I replicated with shocking success. In the crisper are bags of diced carrots, onions, and celery, and little bundles of fresh herbs ready to add to round 2 of turkey stock. I’ve got sweet potato rolls rising on the counter, a turkey and a half dry-brining on the bottom shelf of the fridge, and an assortment of vases, flowers, ribbon, bowls, tea lights, and other random stuff intended to magically self-assemble into a pretty tablescape. (Doubtful.) 

But even if absolutely nothing goes according to plan, we know there will be doughnuts. And more doughnuts. So everything will be okay. And just in case, there also will be delicious, delicious pie.

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My friend Jeremy, an excellent cook and compost expert, is back to tell us about a fantastic new chef’s snack to make the most of Thanksgiving prep. We made them last night, and…well, it’s a good thing I snapped a picture immediately. They’re gone.

You’ll make these once and never think of peeling an apple the same way again. Seriously.

Thanksgiving is upon us — Hanukkah, too! — and if you haven’t already done so, there’s a good chance that “make apple sauce” is on your to-do list for between now and Thursday. Trust me. When you make that apple sauce, you’re going to want to make these dead-simple little treats, too.

Ingredients:

apple skins (any variety)
spice of your choice

Steps:

Cover a baking sheet with foil. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees. Make sure your apples are washed and dried.

When you peel your sauce apples, move the peeler from the stem to bottom of the fruit. Press a little harder than you ordinarily might, so as to capture a little bit of the apple’s meat along with the skin. You should end up with strips of apple 3/4″-1″ wide and 3-4″ long, depending what apples you’re using.

Lay the skins on the sheet, skin side down, in one layer, with at least a little separation between skins. Leave as is, or sprinkle lightly with whatever spices you like: my kids love cinnamon, my wife and I love cayenne. Experiment!

That’s it. Stick ’em in the oven, and check in on them in a half hour so. The skins should be starting to curl up into little straws. Pull them out when they’ve curled enough to feel rigid, but haven’t yet started to brown, usually 40-45 minutes total. Take note: they won’t be crispy yet. Use your fingers to gently knock the skins off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack. They’ll crisp up almost immediately as they start to cool, and be ready to eat in just a few minutes!

There are a bunch of reasons I love these things, beyond the fact that they’re delicious. For starters, they’re super easy. They come out perfectly crispy every single time, and the crunch you get when you bite into it is extraordinarily satisfying. They’re 100 percent good for you. And maybe my favorite part? They reduce waste and create food in one yummy little package!

I’m a sustainability entrepreneur (shameless self promotion: Compost Cab), and I can’t help think that we might be onto something here. In fact, I kind of want to market these as a healthy snack for kids-of-all-ages called Apple Skinz. That’s right — they’re so good I want to sell them at Whole Foods. Who’s with me? Make them for yourself, then let’s talk!

Thanks to Rivka and NDP for giving me a space to share this gem. Wishing everyone a peaceful and meaningful Thanksgiving, and if there are candles in your future, a very happy Hanukkah!