You know, so, no big deal at all.
Whats in the book? Seeing as I already showed you the cover, I thought Id show you what the book looked like naked. (Gasp!) You see, I was pushing for a jacketless cover (those paper flaps, they irk me) and we compromised by having a different cover inside that would be a treat for people who get excited about things like that. Between the covers, there are 105 recipes (85 percent that have never been seen on this site), about two-thirds of them are savory (including a beloved recipe for featherlight Gnocchi in Tomato Broth, a Flat Roasted Chicken with Tiny Potatoes inspired by something we bought on a Paris street, and an absolutely hideous but boundlessly delicious Wild Rice Gratin with Kale and Caramelized Onions) and the rest are for sweets things (such as my sons towering second birthday SMore Cake, and what I consider two of the ultimate Thanksgiving desserts, a Cheesecake-Marbled Pumpkin Gingersnap Tart and the Deepest Dish Apple Pie youve ever seen). There are over 300 photos in the book, lots of stories and also this one little other thing that I pressed for, a cookbook that stays open on your kitchen counter when you want it to. My goodness, this makes me happy, as happy as I hope those Artichoke Heart-Stuffed Shells will make you.
As you can imagine, yesterday didnt exactly go the way we had in mind. Monday night, as Alex was giving Jacob a bath and I started typing this post, a monster storm was making landfall on the East Coast. I heard a loud boom from the direction of the Con Ed plant on Avenue D, and the sky went briefly green, then turquoise. You can imagine the rest power outage, phone outage, the discovery that we dont actually own a flashlight (am I good at being an adult or what?) but that I mix a solid Perfect Manhattan by candlelight. Needless to say, we got off easy. Our home is intact, the lights always go back on on Broadway, and were now cozied up at my in-laws while some of this simmers on the stove. I cant even imagine some of the devastation many of you woke up to yesterday. I hope you and your loved ones are all safe and dry.
In the last few months, Ive been asked a few times if I have a favorite recipe in the book. I usually clutch my chest in mock horror and say something along the lines of, I cannot believe you would ask me to choose a favorite child! But, of course, Im lying because this, this is my favorite. These apple cider caramels are my love letter autumn in my city, my attempt, as I wrote in the book, to pack everything I love about New York City in October the carpet of fiery leaves on the ground from the trees I didnt even know we had; the sky, impossibly blue; the air, drinkably crisp; the temperature finally delicious enough that it implores you to spend hours wandering around, sipping warm spiced apple cider from the Greenmarkets into one tiny square.
To make them, you take a quart of fresh apple cider and boil and boil it until it is a slip of its original volume, just syrupy apple impact. Then, you expand this syrup into a cinnamon-scented buttery caramel with hidden crunches of sea salt. Theyre the most intense caramels that Ive ever made and if you had a bucket of these at your door when I went trick-or-treating, well, Id steal them. Thus, you should either not invite me anywhere or make a lot. I think you know what you need to do.
Thank you: Ive gotten so many kind, wonderful notes in the last couple asking as to our safety and also from many of your who already received your books and are cooking from them. I dont know what I did to get such a warm, sweet bundle of people for readers, but you make all of this 100 times more fun. Thank you.
Book tour: We were so sad to have had to cancel the NYC launch event at Williams-Sonoma yesterday evening, and hope to reschedule it as soon as possible. If all goes well (cross your fingers for us?), Ill be hopping on a flight to the West Coast on Thursday morning and then the rest of the tour will begin. Los Angeles, Napa, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Portland, Vancouver and Seattle, I hope I hope I get to meet all of you.
One year ago: Baked Pumpkin and Sour Cream Puddings
Two years ago: Buckeyes
Three years ago: Baked Chicken Meatballs
Four years ago: Cabbage and Mushroom Galette
Five years ago: Cranberry, Caramel and Almond Tart
Six years ago: Bretzel Rolls
Apple Cider Caramels
From The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
Apple cider (sometimes called sweet or soft cider), as Im referring to it here, is different from both apple juice and the hard, or alcoholic, fermented apple cider. Its a fresh, unfiltered (it has sediment), raw apple juice the juice literally pressed from fresh apples. Its unpasteurized, and must be refrigerated, because its perishable. In the Northeast, I usually find it at farm stands and some grocery stores. I occasionally find vacuum- sealed bottles called apple cider in the juice aisle, but none of the bottled varieties that Ive tried has the same delicate apple flavor as the more perishable stuff sold in the refrigerator section.
4 cups (945 ml) apple cider
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, or less of a finer one
8 tablespoons (115 grams or 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (110 grams) packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy cream
Neutral oil for the knife
Boil the apple cider in a 3- to- 4- quart saucepan over high heat until it is reduced to a dark, thick syrup, between 1/3 and 1/2 cup in volume. This takes about 35 to 40 minutes on my stove. Stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, get your other ingredients in order, because you wont have time to spare once the candy is cooking. Line the bottom and sides of an 8- inch straight- sided square metal baking pan with 2 long sheets of crisscrossed parchment. Set it aside. Stir the cinnamon and flaky salt together in a small dish.
Once you are finished reducing the apple cider, remove it from the heat and stir in the butter, sugars, and heavy cream. Return the pot to medium- high heat with a candy thermometer attached to the side, and let it boil until the thermometer reads 252 degrees, only about 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on it.
(Dont have a candy or deep- fry thermometer? Have a bowl of very cold water ready, and cook the caramel until a tiny spoonful dropped into the water becomes firm, chewy, and able to be plied into a ball.)
Immediately remove caramel from heat, add the cinnamon- salt mixture, and give the caramel several stirs to distribute it evenly. Pour caramel into the prepared pan. Let it sit until cool and firmabout 2 hours, though it goes faster in the fridge. Once caramel is firm, use your parchment paper sling to transfer the block to a cutting board. Use a well- oiled knife, oiling it after each cut (trust me!), to cut the caramel into 1-by-1-inch squares. Wrap each one in a 4-inch square of waxed paper, twisting the sides to close. Caramels will be somewhat on the soft side at room temperature, and chewy/firm from the fridge.
Do ahead: Caramels keep, in an airtight container at room temperature, for two weeks, but really, good luck with that.
Apple Cider Cinnamon Jelly Recipe - Food.com - 353475 I have not tried jelly. I'm posting this for safe keeping. I found this recipe Complete Book Of Small Batch Preserves. This full bodied taste of fresh apple cider ... Six Sisters' Stuff: Apple Cider Caramel Cookies Recipe 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 (14 ounce) bag Kraft Caramels Instructions The Cooking Photographer: Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies Last weekend I visited a ginourmous Wal-Mart in the big town of Post Falls, Idaho. There I proceeded to hunt down bags of Kraft Caramels, because where I live ... gimme some oven Blog Archive caramel apple cider cookies ... Last weekend, I took a trip with my lovely book club girls.camping! Thats right! A bunch of city girls road tripped it to spend a 40-degree evening together ... Apple Cider Caramels Our Best Bites Note: This recipe has been modified from when it was originally posted for greater user-friendliness, particularly in dissolving the sugar. First of all, I hope ... Apple Cider Brined Turkey Recipe - Food.com - 334879 FROM the www.chefscatalog.com website - Diane Morgan, The Thanksgiving Table (Chronicle Books, 2001). If you would like to purchase this book, please visit Chronicle ... SmithsAppleFarm.com 24405 Poquette Lake Road Shell Lake ... Bakery & Gift Shop. Apple Cider Donuts are made fresh daily, there are times in the fall when pumpkin ... Apple Cider Cups Busy Mommy: An Iowa Mom Blog There's something about this time of year that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. As the weather starts to turn colder, leaves change and fall and Table of Two "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." - Virginia Woolf (by Michele J Martin) DIY Salt Caramels Un-Gift Guide 2008 The Kitchn Here's another wonderfully easy candy recipe for the holidays - salt caramels! Here's the recipe, along with links to great ideas for pretty wrapping and packaging.
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