Food is fuel. But if you are privileged enough to also eat for pleasure, food becomes deeply intertwined with time and place. Particular dishes and those with whom we shared them become etched in our memories. Maybe it’s the rhubarb pie your mom made as soon as the ruby red veggie hit the market in late spring. Perhaps it’s the first time you bit into a freshly plucked peach so ripe that the juices dribbled down your chin. The joy of eating seasonally is the premise behind Cheryl Sternman Rule’s new cookbook Ripe, filled with recipes and colorful photos of fruits and vegetables in their prime.
Right now, it’s apple season. My apple memory bank holds a bushel-full of stories. Not from trips to Eckert’s orchards; rather to parks and green spaces, where we’d climb high up the tree or stand below and shake the limb, whereupon red and yellow fruit would rain like hail on our heads. Apples also remind me of the few years that my husband became the self-appointed custodian of the two apple trees on our block, that is until the city parks department workers came along and cut them back. A hefty bag of apples evoke memories of the pounds upon pounds of warm, chunky, honey-sweetened applesauce it’s taken to convince my kids that the homemade stuff is tastier than commercial kinds. And the real reason that I whipped up Sternman Rule’s recipe for Gruyere-Crusted Leeks and Apples in Ripe? The dish takes me back 20 years to a ski trip in the Swiss Alps. After a long day on the slopes, my college travel mate and I were too poor to afford anything but the cheapest thing on the menu: a plate of apples to be dunked in melted cheese. It was sustenance for body and soul.
Granny Smith apples are not actually the stars of this dish. But,they lend such tart flavor and crunchy texture to the grassy, onion-y leeks that the recipe wouldn’t be the same without them.
As for the leeks, I just want to beg for a gentle hand. The recipe calls for a militant blanch and shock followed by draining and squeeze-drying them. I am too much of a vegetable pacifist to squeeze such beautiful, edible plants, so I took a more subdued approach and let the leeks drain in their own good time on paper towels. One of my taste-testers wanted the leeks to be shorter than the prescribed lengthwise cut. Cutting the leeks into circles seems like it would work just fine but might decrease the saute time.
Gruyere-crusted Leeks and Apples is made flavorful with the simplest of sauces: dry white wine, vegetable stock, nutmeg, cream, and just a little salt and pepper. Of course, it’s the Gruyere that takes it over the top. If you like things cheesy, add ¼ cup more. The Swiss are not a warring people and won’t wage battle on you if you go generous on the cheese. I had a bottle of pinot grigio available and, as chance would have it, a freshly made loaf of bread. All that was missing was the roaring fire, just like at the restaurant I ate at years ago in the mountains of Verbier. Gruyere-Crusted Leeks and Apples
4 Servings
4 large leeks, white and light green parts only, quartered lengthwise
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup vegetable stock
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 medium Granny Smith apple, unpeeled, cored, halved and thinly slicedS
¾ cup packed shredded Gruyere cheese
• Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Set a large bowl of ice water nearby.
• Rinse the leeks well under cool running water, spreading the layers to release any grit. Blanch in the boiling water for 2 minutes. Drink and then add to the ice water. Drain again and squeeze dry between paper towels. (Note: I let them dry naturally on a paper towel.) • Combine the butter and olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter melts, add the leeks and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper. Saute, turning occasionally with tongs, until the leeks begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and stock, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently until very tender, about 5 minutes. Add the cream, up the heat slightly, and let bubble until thickened, about 4 minutes.
• Tuck the apple slices among the leeks. Sprinkle with the Gruyere. Broil until the cheese melts and turns golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes, watching carefully. Serve immediately.
What is your favorite memory of apple season? Tell us in the comments section below for a chance to win a copy of Ripe by Cheryl Sternman Rule. We’ll announce the winner in next week’s By the Book column. And now, we’d like to congratulate Kiley, whose comment on last week’s By the Book has won her a copy of Ten Dollar Dinners. Kiley, keep an eye out for an email from the Sauce crew.
This article appears in October 2012.