BRATTLEBORO — Fall in southern Vermont brings with it, by degrees, certain changes - in the quality of the light, in the crispness of the air, in the smell of the apples on the trees, waiting to be picked, and eaten, and used in the recipes of the season. Fall brings the smell of donuts, of pumpkin pie, of other foods that bring us back to a place and a time.
Following are a few favorite fall recipes we've accumulated from staff.
Apple Pie
I'm privileged to have a mother whose love of good food and good cooking shines. The only dark consequence is I graduated from college without the slightest bit of cooking ability.
The first day I lived on my own, I stopped by the local market and bought a cheap cube steak for dinner. The next day I stopped by the market, picked up a box of spaghetti and bought the ingredients for sauce. And then for six months, I alternated between eating spaghetti and cube steak.
After a few months of this diet, during which I probably contracted scurvy, I bought a paperback cookbook and made an apple pie. “If you know how to cook three things,” I explained to friends, “one of them might as well be pie.”
This pie is fantastic and easy enough for a clueless guy to make. -Jeff Potter
For the crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
6 Tbsp. ice-cold water
For the filling
6 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into chunks the size of which you'd like to see in the pie
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 dash nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare the filling by mixing the apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and flour in a big bowl and set aside. Taste and adjust spices, adding more if you like a spicier pie.
Prepare the crust: Cut the shortening into the flour and mix thoroughly until the shortening moistens the flour and turns into small, pea-sized clumps. With clean hands, add the water, about a tablespoon at a time, and mix thoroughly. At a certain point, the dough will stick, but will not feel sticky or tacky.
Put several sheets of waxed paper onto a smooth work surface and dust with flour. Put half the dough onto the center. Cover with another sheet of waxed paper, take a rolling pin and roll smoothly and confidently in one direction away from you, starting from the center of the dough. Work clockwise until you have a more-or-less circular disc of dough.
Peel the top sheet of waxed paper from the dough and invert into a 10-inch pie plate. Peel the bottom sheets of waxed paper.
Fill the pie. Repeat the dough procedure for the top crust. Crimp the dough with your thumb and forefinger, adding scraps to fill in any holes or gaps so the pie is sealed. Slice some horizontal vents in the center of the top crust.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top crust is light golden-brown.
Makes 8 servings.
Apple Crisp
This recipe is adapted from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. It's so easy, even a newspaperman can make it. -Randy Holhut
Grease a 9x13 rectangular baking pan with butter and fill it with cored, sliced apples (5-6 cups of any variety you like). I leave the peels on, you can take them off if you wish.
In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 cup of oatmeal, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. A fork will do for mixing.
Sprinkle the flour, sugar and oat topping mixture over the apples. Dot the topping with 1/4 cup (a half-stick) of butter, cut in small pieces and distributed evenly.
Take 1 cup of apple cider and drizzle it over the topping, making sure it is soaked with the cider.
Put the pan in a oven preheated to 350F, and bake 30-40 minutes or until the crust is browned.
Eat plain, or serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Baked doughnuts
Beverly Cable, my mom, is an alchemist in the kitchen transforming mundane ingredients into culinary gold. Flour transmutes into flaky pie crusts, eggs and cocoa powder whip into gooey brownies. Milk becomes lehtüs, a Finnish-style crêpe.
Mom's early training took place at the elbows of her Nana, Mumu, and Ma. She received formal education through high school home economics classes that she took at the urging of a guidance councilor after she accidentally released chlorine gas during a chemistry class.
These baked, not fried, donuts are a recent addition to the family. Mom says she saw a donut pan at the King Arthur store in Norwich. The recipe also came from King Arthur - the only flour mom uses because it's the only flour her Mumu used. -Olga Peters
1 cup pastry flour or 7/8 cup flour (use pastry flour for a lighter doughnut)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. buttermilk or buttermilk powder (if using powder, add 2 Tbsp. water or yogurt)
2 large eggs
1 Tbl. vegetable oil
Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, oil, and water or dairy until foamy. Pour the wet ingredients all at once into the dry and stir until just combined. Grease doughnut pan and fill half full.
Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Doughnuts are done if they spring back when touched lightly. Remove from oven and from pan. Allow them to cool on a rack. When cool, glaze with icing or shake in a bag containing cinnamon and sugar.