Monday, November 13, 2006

An Apple Gala



Chefs in the City met tonight for an apple gala (get it, a gala is a type of apple from Washington!!). Anyway, us Chefs in the City girls decided to cook with a common ingredient this month, rather than having a theme dinner. Everyone came with great dishes! The dishes included an apple and parsnip soup that was made by our new member Megan, and had a bit of coriander in it for a nice little kick; Andrea brought some apple and potato pancakes with a horseradish dip that were crispy, light and super flavorful (must have been the oil that kept them so fresh.... (was that the reference, Andrea?); a brussel sprout and apple side dish prepared by Kendra; some pork and apple and red cabbage and apple turnovers made by Larisa; and, last, but certainly not least, a delicious apple pie made by Maggie. The dishes were all very creative and very tasty.

I was a little nervous about our apple gala. I associate apples with pies and crisps and tarts and sauces and trees and maybe blow pops, not an ingredient in a main dish or a side dish. After performing an exhaustive search of all the major cooking internet sights and NOT coming up with one interesting main dish that incorporated apples, George's Mom found a dish for pork and apple turnovers. The recipe, at first, seemed intimidating as it called for turmeric, cumin, fresh ginger, and various other spices and ingredients that I didn't have in stock, but once I got cooking, the recipe was really quite simple. Essentially, 3 inch squares (exact measurements are an absolute must - blast the math!) of puff pastry are stuffed with a pork, apple, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin, and chili powder mix. The 3 inch squares are folded into triangles and baked for about 20 minutes. Knowing how to use a tape measure is a must for this recipe because a slightly-off 3 inch square suprisingly doesn't produce a perfect puff pastry triangle - yes, it's a conspiracy....

To make a short story long, the turnovers were a bit dry on their own. They needed a sauce. I came up with a sauce incorporating most of the spices in the turnovers, but using a hoisen garlic sauce as my base. The sauce was a reduction of hoisen sauce, honey, fresh ginger, cumin, chili powder and diced apples. I think it made the turnovers a bit more interesting to eat!

Anyway, this month's supper club was a lot of fun and a huge success. We were joined by a new member, Megan, and look forward to getting to know her better!

Until next time...

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