Apple Beignets & Hot Apple Knocker

~Molly & Jamie At the Green Market~

From Food Stylist Molly:

I was thinking about doing an apple post for November. Apples are best in early fall at the height of their picking season, but they are such a fall staple and available at the farmer’s market through the winter. I always like to have them on hand to chop in to a salad or have as a snack.

I was debating about our soon-to-be apple post when I stumbled upon an East Village second-hand store selling vintage issues of Gourmet magazine. Of course I greedily rummaged through them and selected an assortment of copies spanning November 1951 to January 1969.

The magazines are so fun to look through. It’s interesting to see how our ideas about food, style and presentation have changed. I don’t think recipes for ham mousse or stuffed partridges would appeal to many readers these days, but it’s also amazing how much our preferences have stayed exactly the same. People always seem to gravitate towards comfort foods and dishes they find familiar and approachable.

Two readers’ requests in the “You Asked for It” section reminded me of what I consider to be the perfect fall comfort food: apple beignets and a hot apple knocker. There is nothing better than munching on a fresh cinnamon-y donut and sipping hot cider when the cold weather arrives. Now I am more accustomed to the traditional apple cider donuts and hot apple cider, but these recipes are a fun twist on a familiar classic. Here are the recipes taken directly from the January 1969 issue of Gourmet.

~ Recipe and words by Food Stylist, Molly Shuster. Photography by me.

An ongoing collaboration, please do see more recipes from our series!

Dinner & a Movie

Autumn Stuffed Apples with Apple Wiener Schnitzel & Cider House Rules

This weeks Dinner & A Movie was all about embracing fall and what better way to do it that with apples in season and the path to the orchard in Cider House Rules.
I’ve always liked this movie, the journey one must take to find out where you belong along with Michael Caine’s echoing line “Goodnight, you princes of Maine. You kings of New England.” I think it’s interesting the impact a person can have on your life and how that shapes your destiny as is the case in this film.

So needless to say, it’s all about apples. The beautiful Apple Wiener Schnitzel is a recipe of Megan’s from the blog Feasting on Art. She invited me last month to partake in a Sweet & Savory collaboration for her Food, Art & Photography blog based on the painting by Paul Klee, Still Life with Four Apples. I was delighted at the task to contribute the sweet & make a Baked “Fried” Apple Pie while Megan in turn took savory with her Apple Wiener Schnitzel. So what a perfect dish to make with this week’s theme as well as trying her recipe out…. which I can tell you was so good there was not a single crumb left. Not having 2 weeks to make her side-dish of sauerkraut, I opted to making an Autumn Stuffed Apple.

Ingredients:

For the Wiener Schnitzel
Recipe from Feasting on Art

2 c breadcrumbs (can be fresh or dried)
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 green apple, minced
1/4 c finely chopped parsley
2 eggs beaten
1/4 c milk
4 chicken breasts
1 c flour
1 c olive oil
lemon wedges, to serve

For the Stuffed Apples

1/2 cup wild & long grain rice (or your favorite variety)
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup apple cider
2 TBSP Goat Cheese
2 large red apples such as Braeburn

For the Apple Wiener Schnitzel from the blog Feasting on Art:

Combine the breadcrumbs, minced apple, Parmesan, and parsley on a large plate. Place the eggs and milk in a bowl and beat lightly. In another bowl, add the flour and season with salt and pepper.

Place the chicken on a cutting board. Slice evenly through the chicken creating two thin escalopes of chicken. Using a meat mallet (or in my case a metal measuring cup) flatten each escalope to a thickness of 1/4 of an inch.

Dip the chicken first in the flour, then the beaten egg and finally the breadcrumbs pressing the mixture so it adheres to the chicken. Heat the oil in a non-stick frypan and fry the chicken over medium heat for one to two minutes until golden. Turn and cook the other side for another minute.

Drain on a paper towel and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining three pieces of chicken. Serve with a wedge of lemon and sauerkraut.

For The Autumn Stuff Apples

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the rice per package instructions in the chicken broth. While the rice is cooking cut off the BOTTOM of apples and begin scooping out the insides, I just used a soup spoon. Save the insides of the apple for later.

Once the rice is cooked add the cranberries, pecans, parsley, and salt & pepper to taste.

Stand the apples up on your baking sheet and fill with the rice mixture. Take 1/4 cup of apple cider and pour 1/2 of it into one apple, 1/2 in the other. Make little foil hats over each apple so the tops don’t become dried out.

Bake for about 15mins, adding the other 1/4 cup of cider to the apples around half way through.

Serve with about 1 tablespoon goat cheese on top.

~My recipes can be found on Tasty Planner!