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Episode 56

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Published on:

14th Oct 2024

WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about apples!

It's fall in our part of the world . . . which means it's apple season. We love picking apples. And we want to share our passion for apples with you.

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of three dozen cookbooks (plus another on the way). We've published tens of thousands of recipes. We've got a passion for food and cooking. Thanks for coming along with us!

These are the segments to this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:

[00:58] Our one-minute cooking tip: Refresh glazed donuts in a little butter in a skillet.

[03:13] Let's talk about apples, the great fall treat.

[15:09] What’s making us happy in food this week: chestnuts and rice + kimchi.

Transcript
Bruce:

Hey, I'm Bruce Weinstein, and this is the podcast

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Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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mark: And I'm Mark Scarborough,

and together with Bruce, we

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together have published 40 books.

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It's impossible to believe.

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Bruce has got two knitting books

under his name, plus lots of

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knitting patterns on his own website.

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What is that?

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BruceWeinstein.

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net There you go.

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Lots of knitting patterns on his own site.

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I've got a memoir about my life in books.

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And then we've got, oh my

gosh, three dozen cookbooks.

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And we're working on the

next one, even as we speak.

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But this is our podcast for that

passion for food and cooking.

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And we've got a lot in it.

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We've got a one minute cooking

tip, which I think sounds like the

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grossest thing I've ever heard,

but we're going to let Bruce do it.

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And we're going to talk about fall apples.

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And.

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All of the things that you need to

know to get the best apples this fall.

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And we'll tell you what's making

us happy in food this week.

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So let's get started.

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Bruce: Our one minute cooking tips.

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Why do glazed yeast raised

donuts go stale so quickly?

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Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

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The next day?

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mark: What, what, what, what?

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They're leftover.

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Bruce: Yeah, well if you have leftover.

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This happens?

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You know something?

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With this tip, you may want

to go buy some and keep them

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leftover because this is so good.

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Okay.

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So you take your stale donuts,

right, and you melt them.

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butter in a nonstick skillet.

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You have to use a nonstick skillet.

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mark: How much butter?

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Two sticks?

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Four sticks?

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Sure.

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Come on.

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Bruce: A few tablespoons.

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I don't know, just a tablespoon or two.

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mark: Okay.

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Bruce: And you melt it till it's sizzling.

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You put your glazed

doughnuts into that butter.

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You cook it like a minute.

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What you're trying to do is melt

the sugar off the outside so it

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caramelizes and it becomes like

a brulee crunch while the inside

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heats, creates steam and softens it.

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Do you flip Yeah, you turn it so

that Both sides get a crunchy brulee

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outside, and the inside gets soft again.

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mark: This sounds so I'm

picturing biting into it and

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squishing out butter in my mouth.

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That's what I'm picturing,

but you're climbing

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Bruce: That's never bothered you before.

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mark: I know, I over butter

toast like crazy, but you, I'm

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Bruce: They get crispy and crunchy.

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Yeah, because you're letting

the sugar caramelize, and you're

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letting it get crispy crunchy.

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Oh my

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mark: Oh, well, all right.

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Um, someday try it and let

us know what happens with it.

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Uh, I'm not going to

try it, but you try it.

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I'm like that lady, everybody's

so creative that tick tock and

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Instagram sensation where she

keeps saying, I can't try this.

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I'm allergic to all these ingredients.

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Well, I can't try this.

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I'm allergic to donuts

and butter, but Uh, okay,

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Bruce: then you are never going to get

donuts and butter again that you're done.

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mark: Now, before we get to the second

segment of this podcast, let me say

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that it would be great if you could rate

this podcast and even give it a review.

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You can give it a rating

on almost anything.

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Every platform, Podcaster, on

Audible, on Spotify, all of

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them allow you to rate podcasts.

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And if, in fact, you could write a

review on whatever platform you're

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on, even just NicePodcast, it's a

great way to support our otherwise non

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supported and, uh, independent podcasts.

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So, up next, Apple's, the great treat,

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Bruce: We live in the Berkshires,

and it's a beautiful part of the

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country, and there are so many.

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mark: Why don't you say

where the Berkshires are?

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Because not everybody, somebody living

in Western Nevada is not going to know

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Bruce: where

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mark: the Berkshires

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Bruce: are.

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No, they aren't.

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So please say where Berkshires

are the mountain range on the

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western edge of Massachusetts.

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The same mountains run down into

Connecticut, but once you cross

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the line in Connecticut, they

call it the Litchfield Hills.

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Correct.

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So the Litchfield Hills and the

Berkshire Mountains, which become

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the Green Mountains of Vermont, if

you continue up, and there we go.

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That's where we live, and over

here, there are amazing apple

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orchards within a quick ride of us.

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We got Riskebrook Orchards,

Bartlett's Orchards, Windy Hill.

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These places have the most beautiful

apples and the beautiful orchards.

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I

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mark: love a trip up to Bartlett's,

because I think Bartlett's

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has the best cider doughnuts.

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They're way up near Pittsfield.

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You're off doughnuts.

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Remember, you're allergic to doughnuts.

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No, no, those are cake

doughnuts, so I'm good.

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Um, they're not glazed.

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So, uh, and we tried Riskebrook recently.

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That's actually Almost in our

test, just over the border of

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the state line from our town.

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And, uh, that was amazing.

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Why we haven't been there in 18 years that

we've lived here in the middle of nowhere.

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So there's all kinds of varieties.

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You should just know that are available in

orchards that are probably not available

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in your supermarket, although they're.

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Coming into some supermarkets,

up markets, like Whole Foods and

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Erewhon, they're going to Erewhon's

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Bruce: going to be 20 an apple.

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Okay, whatever.

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They're

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mark: going to have I'm not going

to get into the Erewhon debate.

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They're going to have, like, the

Cox Orange Pippins, and That was

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George Washington's favorite.

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Greenings.

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Did you know that?

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No, I didn't.

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And they're going to have the

Roxbury Russets, and all kinds of

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kind of what are now called heritage

apple varieties, Spitzenbergs.

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Oh, I love

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Bruce: those.

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Those were Thomas

Jefferson's favorite, too.

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mark: But what you Mr.

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History?

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Okay, so there's all kinds of apples that

russets tend to have a rough exterior.

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So for example, Roxbury russets are kind

of greenish golden, but then they have

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a rough texture in places around the

skin like a almost like a russet potato.

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Yeah, kind of like that.

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And these apples have a much

more complex flavor than Granny

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Smith's or Yellow Delicious or Red

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Bruce: Delicious.

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Yeah.

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And so Give up the ones you're

used to and try something new.

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Look for them at your store.

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Look for something interesting.

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Or go to a farmer's market.

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You could do that too, but I mean, when

we go, it's all about texture, right?

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Right.

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Mark and I both like

hard and crunchy apples.

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I do.

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We like hard and crunchy food.

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Hard and crunchy more

tart than sweet apples.

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Why eat, here's the thing, why

eat anything if it doesn't crunch?

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Well, that has been my

refrain my entire life.

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If it doesn't crunch, I don't want it.

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I wanted to crack in my mouth.

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mark: Oh, there's so many vulgar things

I could say right now and I'm editing

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them all out to say that you should go

to an orchard and try picking your own.

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I can't even get it out.

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You should try picking your own,

you know, giant bags of apples.

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Of course, they come in these 20

pound sacks at some farmers markets.

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But if you go to local orchards or

smaller places, you can often find a few.

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I.

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I actually find that we make one,

maybe two trips to an orchard in New

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England and I have a hard time getting

through the second trip to the orchard.

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Because you know, I mean, there's only

so many apples you can eat and, but I

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will tell you that if you try apples

from the orchard, you won't eat them.

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ever want to try other apples.

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An apple

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Bruce: right off the tree doesn't

taste like any apple you've ever

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had, even if you are just going

for a Honeycrisp or a Macintosh.

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mark: And there's so many

things you can do with it.

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We should just say that we saw a video

a few days ago of Kamala Harris and

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she was making a topping for pancakes.

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And Bruce kept saying, I

wish I'd thought of that.

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So what

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Bruce: did she do?

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Bacon fried apples.

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So she chopped up like a pound of

bacon in a skillet until it was brown.

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And then without draining

anything, she tossed in a bunch

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of cubed, unpeeled apples.

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You know, she cored them, but then just

cube them up, tossed those around until

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they were tender and they were getting

a little caramelized, a little nutmeg.

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And then, uh, A little splash of

bourbon and reduce that whole thing.

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And then she and a campaign worker

sat and dumped that onto a pancake.

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And I was like, Oh, that sounds so good.

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mark: Bacon, apples with

bourbon on top of pancakes.

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Sounds pretty good.

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In fact, we've got a lot.

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Uh, recipes in the upcoming book, which

we'll be telling you about, but it's, uh,

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this specific recipe that I'm going to

talk about is a Greek traditional recipe,

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and I couldn't possibly say the Greek

name for it, but it's apples that have

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been cooked and preserved in, uh, Mmm,

can be a honey, can be a sugar syrup.

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I think traditionally a honey

syrup, but you can actually do it

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with just granulated white sugar.

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Bruce: Yeah, you put about two and a

half cups of sugar and half to three

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quarts of a cup of water and just bring

that to a simmer in a small pan and

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then you're going to add the sugar.

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Two to three pounds of small apples

that you've peeled and cored because

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you want them to fit in one layer in

that pan, and then you can let that

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syrup simmer, turning those apples every

five minutes or so until they are like

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glossade and candied and that syrup

is reduced and thickened, and they are

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just these candied, preserved apples.

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We love them on yogurt.

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We do.

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I get, I want to say that when

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mark: we were recipe testing for this

book, Bruce made these Greek preserved

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apples and there was a giant jar of them.

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I mean, like a, like a stock

jar of them in the refrigerator.

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And I apportioned them out slowly

because I didn't want them to go

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away because they were so delicious.

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And although I think by

USDA guidelines, guidelines.

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You could keep it about a month.

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We probably kept ours

three or four months.

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We did, and

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Bruce: neither of us got sick.

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So that was, you

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mark: know, again, about a month.

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It's about right for that,

uh, really fabulous thing.

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And with a big dollop of Greek

yogurt, it's just such a fine thing.

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I also love, uh, apples in

salads, but not with lettuces.

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I mean, it's a little weird when I, uh,

go to some chain restaurant and they've

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thrown a red delicious apple in a salad.

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It's a little bit disconcerting.

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No, I don't like it.

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But I like them in lentil salads, I

like them in chopped salads with carrots

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and cucumbers and that kind of thing.

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It's more

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Bruce: crunch.

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You're just talking about

more things that are crunchy.

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Right.

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I love that.

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Apples chopped up and tossed with

shaved and shredded up fennel.

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And then radishes and a little

wine vinegar and olive oil.

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mark: You know how I am with fennel.

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It's like, it's a favorite thing, so.

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Yeah,

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Bruce: it's a, it grew

on me over the years.

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I wasn't a big, because I don't,

I don't like licorice, so.

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Come

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mark: on.

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And fennel doesn't taste like

licorice, so you're reading good.

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Well, it does, too.

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It does not.

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Tastes like more licorice.

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Um, okay, no.

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So, roasted fennel is one of

my favorite things, but again.

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No, roasted

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Bruce: licorice.

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As,

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mark: no.

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It does not taste like licorice.

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Okay,

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Bruce: if you think fennel tastes

like licorice, We're gonna have a

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judging on this on our Facebook group.

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Go to our Facebook group.

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I'm gonna have a poll up.

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Who thinks it tastes like

licorice it doesn't matter.

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I'm,

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mark: I'm the, I'm the half

of this podcast, so I say

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it doesn't, and it doesn't.

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That's the end.

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Go away.

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So, I, I also love apples and radishes.

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And if you tie, you toss them together

with olive oil and white wine vinegar.

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I think it makes this really great

crunchy salad, especially if you

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add some, uh, chopped up nuts

to it or even pomegranate seeds.

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Those are the kinds of salads I like.

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I like big crunchy salads with apples.

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It's just hard for me not

to think about apples.

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I sometimes throw them, especially

this time of year, I'll throw

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one chopped apple in a big bowl.

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big chicken braise.

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I made a huge pot of braised

celery root and I don't know what

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I put in there, sweet potatoes

and celery root and parsnips.

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And I put all these root vegetables and

I braised chicken because we had two

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friends on the same day who had pacemakers

installed and I brought them food.

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And that's the kind of thing I would

love to have thrown on the table.

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Uh, crunchy apple, in it, right

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Bruce: toward the end because

it would sweeten it up a lot.

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Now that you say that, I'm making

lentil soup for dinner, and I

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think I'm gonna put an apple in it.

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Yeah, wow.

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That'll be really good.

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And for me, just give me a

good sour crunchy apple, and

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I'm gonna do like my dad did.

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I'm gonna core it out.

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I'm going to stuff it with crunchy peanut

butter and I'm going to sit in front of

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the TV and eat my apple and peanut butter

and that's going to make me very happy.

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I like that.

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Just peanut butter and apple.

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mark: Well, I, I, I, I just

ate an apple before we recorded

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this podcast with a cup of tea.

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So what can I tell you?

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It is a favorite thing.

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And when you go to your farmer's

market or your up end market that's

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going to have many different things.

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different varieties of apples in

it and better choices that you

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can try at this time of year.

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Let me say that you want to really be,

uh, pretty judgmental about your apples.

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You want to make sure

that they're not soft.

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Um, when you pick up a small bag of

them, they should smell like apples.

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If they smell like nothing, try again

because they should have a very distinctly

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Don't waste your money on apples

that don't smell like anything.

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That's why I won't eat a Red

Delicious apple in February.

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Because it doesn't smell like anything.

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Bruce: Most fruit should smell

like what it is before you eat it.

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If you want it to be good,

it should smell good.

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It goes for fruit.

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It goes for dating.

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It goes for a lot of things in life.

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mark: What?

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What?

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It goes for dating?

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If you want

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Bruce: it to be good,

it should smell good.

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mark: Oh!

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Well, that's true.

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We've been married 28 years and, uh, let

me just say that, uh, it's one of the many

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reasons that if you drop dead tomorrow,

I'm not going back on the dating market.

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Bruce: Because then not

everybody smells good.

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mark: Oh, God.

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That's the grossest thing.

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We were talking so nicely about

apples and you wrecked it.

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Okay,

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Bruce: so when you go to that

apple orchard and you buy

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apples, they almost kill you.

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Always have cider.

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And the way they make cider is

they grind up the apples and

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they put them in an apple press

and they squeeze the juice out.

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And here's how you can make

some apple cider at home.

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It's a little cooking,

but it's really good.

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So fill a saucepan or a small stock

pot halfway up with apple quarters.

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Leave the seeds, leave the

skins, just cut them in quarters.

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Then add one And if you want Orange,

quartered, and put some fall spices in it.

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You know, a cinnamon stick, a few

cloves, a little allspice, a nutmeg.

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Yes, you can use pumpkin

spice blend if you want.

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Uh oh, uh oh, here we go.

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Now, now it's lit, as they say.

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Go on.

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Cover everything with water by

two inches and bring it to a

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simmer, covered, for two hours.

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It's almost like you're

making applesauce, right?

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But you're not.

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Then take the orange pieces out,

uncover, another apple slice.

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hour of simmering.

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And here's where instead of putting

it through a food mill to have

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applesauce, you're going to put it

in a fine mesh sieve or a jelly bag.

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And what comes out of it is cider.

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mark: Oh my gosh, a jelly bag.

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Only you, only my chef husband would

think a jelly bag is something that's

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just routine in most people's lives.

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Bruce: Well, I like jelly bags.

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I think they're good.

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You can clarify anything I make.

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Clear gazpacho with a jelly bag.

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mark: You do, but it's so fussy.

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And so, uh, not anything I would do.

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Can you tell who's the

writer in this pair?

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Uh, I wouldn't do anything like that

because I just can't imagine it.

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But okay, there's how to

make your own apple cider.

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Or you can just go to a farmer's

market or the supermarket right now.

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by Apple cider because like

it's everywhere right now.

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That's our whole talk about apples.

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Let me just say, in case you don't know

that we would love to hear from you and we

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can hear from you on our Facebook group.

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There is a Facebook group called

cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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So, you know, check us out there, check

out this episode there, and maybe we

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would like to hear your Apple story.

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Okay.

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As he's always traditional,

what's making us happy.

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In food this week,

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Bruce: along with apples.

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The other thing that's fallen out

of trees right now are chestnuts.

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mark: Oh, they are falling

out of New England.

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Royans

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Bruce: farm market in Canaan, Connecticut.

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Shout out to you because you have

chestnut trees that this year have

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produced the sweetest chestnuts.

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I have ever seen.

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They

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mark: are smaller because the drought,

believe it or not, despite the nightmare

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flooding in the south here in New England,

we're in a bit of a drought and our

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trees are not turning pretty colors.

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They're kind of turning yellow,

brown and leaves are falling

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off because of the drought.

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So it's not a great year.

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And that means that chestnuts

have been really small, but

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Bruce: they're

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mark: super sweet.

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I'm the first night that Bruce rose to

chestnuts and we were sitting watching

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some show on TV and he was peeling

chestnuts and handing them to me.

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Yes, I.

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Bruce: peel chestnuts for him.

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Yes, that is our marriage.

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mark: Um, I did well.

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Okay, anyway, I'm sitting there and

he's peeling chestnuts and passing one

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or two to me as he's eating them too.

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I kept saying, are you sure

you didn't put sugar on these?

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Are you sure?

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Cause they are so sweet.

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I just

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Bruce: scored the skin and I

put them in a dish and put that

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dish in the air fryer at 350.

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300 degrees for 30 minutes.

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mark: It's incredible.

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And I should say that what's making

me happy in food this week is

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something that you might want to try.

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And it is something that I find

so fundamentally comforting,

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it's hard to even talk about it.

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And that is rice, cooked rice plus kimchi.

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I find kimchi on rice to be one of

the most comforting things around.

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This is of course traditional in certain

Asian cuisines, but last night, for

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example, Bruce grilled the chicken

thighs, and I, um, we had a big pot of

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rice, and I slathered kimchi all over my

rice, and ate it with my chicken thighs,

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and I just find kimchi and rice It

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Bruce: was good, I smashed it

all up in my plate together.

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So super

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mark: satisfying, and so

It's so super comforting.

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It's my great love of kimchi and it

works particularly well with sweet rice.

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Not sweet rice as in sushi rice, but just

the natural sweetness of rice itself.

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It's so delicious.

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Okay, so that's our podcast for this

week and we thank you for being with us.

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Bruce: Every week we tell you

what's making us happy in food.

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So please tell us what's making you

happy in food this week at our Facebook

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group, Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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We want to know what you're

eating and how delicious it is.

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So share it with us there.

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And we'll be back next week for another

episode of Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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About the Podcast

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
Fantastic recipes, culinary science, a little judgment, hysterical banter, love and laughs--you know, life.
Join us, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, for weekly episodes all about food, cooking, recipes, and maybe a little marital strife on air. After writing thirty-six cookbooks, we've got countless opinions and ideas on ingredients, recipes, the nature of the cookbook-writing business, and much more. If you've got a passion for food, we also hope to up your game once and a while and to make you laugh most of the time. Come along for the ride! There's plenty of room!

About your host

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Mark Scarbrough

Former lit professor, current cookbook writer, creator of two podcasts, writer of thirty-five (and counting) cookbooks, author of one memoir (coming soon!), married to a chef (my cookbook co-writer, Bruce Weinstein), and with him, the owner of two collies, all in a very rural spot in New England. My life's full and I'm up for more challenges!