An Apple Falling Far From the Tree
For years I thought I had invented something very special- polenta bread, and would boast about my cleverness, having figured out what a great ingredient it is in baking. It makes a moist loaf with a crunchy crust from the ground corn meal.
I found out rather recently though that it's a 'thing'...already discovered, with lots of recipes all over the place. No big deal. I took credit for this bread because of the odd circumstances surrounding its creation in my father's kitchen years ago in New York. To say that dad was a 'plain eater' is a vast understatement. It was probably due to the way he was raised by his bird-like mother, a tiny little woman, both in stature and attitude. Grandpa was nothing like that, but he dropped dead of a heart attack early in life. One day here, smoking some cigarettes, the next day gone...boom! If he'd lived longer maybe it would have been different in the dynamic of that family. For one thing, there would have been 2 parents to carry the load, and grandma could have relaxed enough to use ketchup/mayonaisse/mustard, even pickle relish! So dad didn't experience the taste of anything even vaguely interesting, and that was how he liked it....a sandwich of ham on white bread with butter.
When I would visit him I did a lot of cooking, partly to amuse myself, but also in hopes of tempting him to eat more generously. I had some success with things like boeuf bourguignon, chicken dijon, anything with shrimp...stewy stuff served over rice or noodles. Also salads...he was always up for a salad. So one night I got this idea for a meal that seemed similar, though a bit more daring...polenta with scallops in cream sauce, and grilled asparagus. Doesn't that sound just excellent? So I prepared the whole business, and arranged it on the plate with a scoop of polenta on the bottom, the scallops over that, with sauce cascading down the sides, and the asparagus balanced atop the whole thing, sitting in a kind of star-shape. I brought it into the study where we usually ate watching TV. He always used a large tray and balanced it on his lap while eating. He looked at the plate, poked it with his fork, then looked at me and said 'I don't know what to do with this'. 'But dad, this is like something you'd be served in a great restaurant. It's scallops! You love scallops!' ' I'm sorry honey, I just can't eat this.' So I took it away, back into the kitchen, scraped the scallops off the top, the asparagus got rinsed and saved in tupperware, but then there was the pile of polenta. What do to with it? Throw it into flour and yeast and see what happens. Thus the polenta bread.
I think he felt bad about all this, so the next night he promised to bake an apple pie. It was the only thing he ever made, and it was good, with only a top crust, which he made from scratch. In the afternoon he lined up the ingredients on the counter...granny smith apples, flour, butter, brown sugar, baking powder, salt. The day wore on...became night...no pie activity. At 11pm I put everything away and I surrendered to the reality that my father was not interested in food at all and never would be. I came to call that 'Dad's virtual Apple Pie'. I am a different breed entirely. I think about food all the time. I plan all day what I will make out of what ingredients are on hand. I dream in flavors. I endlessly make shopping lists...figs, quinoa, caraway seeds, cream, olives, almonds. Let's talk about those apples though...the ones that never make it into a pie. This is a recipe for apple sauce. We all think of this as something humble...you might serve it with a pork chop, you might plop it out of a jar. Don't do that. Make this instead, and you'll find it's just delicious on its own, eaten with a spoon out of a bowl on a tray propped on your lap.
Chunky Zingy Apple Sauce
4 organic medium red apples, with skin ( red delicious, gala, or honeycrisp)
½ cup water
½ cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
zest and juice from one medium orange
a sprinkling of fresh mint
In a heavy pot pour the water and vinegar, sugar and salt. Put onto a medium flame, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Stir in the butter. Chop the apples in a small dice with their skin on and add, along with finely minced orange zest and orange juice. Cook over a low flame, and stir so all the ingredients cook evenly, for about 15 more minutes. Don't overcook it. You don't want mush. I hate mush. Taste for sweetness. You can always add a bit more brown sugar. When this has cooled add a little finely chopped fresh mint.