accomplishedPork Steaks with Apples
Ingredients:
2 pounds of pork steaks, thawed
1/4 teaspoon Muntok white peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon Madagascar green peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon Hawaiian red salt
1/4 teaspoon clove powder
1/2 teaspoon dried lemon thyme
1/4 cup apple butter
1/4 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Granny Smith apples (4 small or 2 large)
1 small sweet onion
1 can chicken broth
1 canful apple cider
pinch Hawaiian red salt to taste
ground Muntok white pepper to taste
Directions:
In a mortar, combine 1/4 teaspoon Muntok white peppercorns, 1/4 teaspoon Madagascar green peppercorns, and 1/4 teaspoon Hawaiian red salt. Crush together. Add 1/4 teaspoon clove powder and 1/2 teaspoon dried lemon thyme. Stir.
Pour the spice mixture into a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup apple butter, 1/4 cup apple cider, and 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar. Mix thoroughly. This marinade should be thick enough to cling to a pastry brush but not too pasty; adjust proportions if necessary.
Use the pastry brush to coat both sides of each pork steak. Stack the steaks in a shallow container. Pour any remaining marinade over the top of the steaks. Put the lid on the container and allow to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
Slice the apples and remove the cores. Put the apple slices in a large bowl. Peel the onion. Slice it and separate the slices into sections. Mix together the pieces of apple and onion.
Remove the pork steaks from the refrigerator. Put one pork steak in the bottom of the crock pot. Put a double-handful of apple and onion slices over the pork steak. Continue layering until you run out of ingredients. Pour the can of chicken broth into the bottom of the crock pot. Fill the same can with apple cider and pour that in too. Sprinkle a pinch of Hawaiian red salt over the contents of the crock pot. Grind a bit of Muntok white pepper over everything.
Turn crock pot on “Low,” cover, and cook for four or more hours. After the apple and onion slices start to soften and release their juices, use a spoon to stir them around some and scoop the broth over the pork steaks. The dish is done when the apple and onion slices are soft, and the pork steaks come apart easily.
Notes:
Pork steak is a cheap cut of pork. It benefits from long, slow cooking. The marinade helps make it tender and the broth keeps it moist. My package had three steaks in it, so I put one on the bottom of the crock pot, then a layer of apple/onion, one steak in the middle, the rest of the apple/onion, and the last steak on top.
Granny Smith is a popular type of cooking apple. These apples have bright green skin and crisp white flesh. They are sour, but they hold their shape and flavor well even when cooked for a long time. Usually they are huge – up to softball size – but this time I could only find little ones. You could substitute some other variety of cooking apple. Use what you have.
Fancy types of salt and pepper add to the character of a dish. Muntok white pepper has a mellow, mild flavor and Madagascar green pepper has a fresh spicy flavor with fruity notes. Hawaiian red salt has iron-rich clay added to it, which gives a subtle yet rich earth-metallic note to meat. It is especially favored for use with pork.
Red wine vinegar has a dark fruity flavor. Apple cider vinegar would also work well in this recipe; I just didn’t have any.
In the end, this dish came out quite well, savory and tangy and a little sweet. The pork steaks are tender, though not quite as much as when they’re made with mango marinade: the apple-marinated steaks will cut with a fork along the grain, but to cut across the grain takes a table knife.
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Ginger Gold Apple Pie
Ingredients:
1 frozen pie crust, thawed
4 Ginger Gold apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger root
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick rolled oats
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger chips
5 tablespoons butter
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Peel the ginger root. Grate it (or mince it in a food processor) and measure 1 tablespoon. Extra ginger can be frozen for later use.
Slice the apples and remove the cores. Put the apple slices in a large glass bowl. Pour 1 tablespoon of lemon juice over the apple slices and toss to coat evenly. Add 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger root. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger and 1/3 cup white sugar over the apple slices. Toss to coat evenly.
In a medium-size bowl, combine 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup quick rolled oats, and 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar. Mix thoroughly. Add 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, and 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger chips. Mix thoroughly. Slice 5 tablespoons of butter into pats and add them to the bowl. Use a butter cutter to combine dry ingredients with butter, until loose and crumbly.
Put the apple slices into the pie crust. Scrape the bowl to get all the sugar and spices onto the apples. Gently arrange the apple slices so they lie flat. Spoon the crumble topping over the apples, covering them completely.
Bake the pie at 350ºF for 20 minutes. Then take it out and check for doneness. Poke a fork into the center; the pie is done when the apples are tender but not mushy. Also check the edges of the crust; they should be golden brown. If it’s not done yet, return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes and check it again. Adding a pie shield during the later stage will help prevent burned crust.
Notes:
Yes, I cheated a bit and used a premade frozen pie crust. This would probably be better with a homemade crust. I was just too busy for that today.
Ginger Gold is an early-season dessert apple that ripens in late August to early September. These apples have yellow skin and crisp white flesh. They really do taste of ginger – a bright, high note of spice soaring above the overall apple flavor. Because they are dessert apples rather than real cooking apples, be careful not to overcook them or the flavor and texture will melt away.
Could you use some other type of apple in this recipe? Sure, but it wouldn’t have quite the same spritely taste. This is truly a seasonal treat, because Ginger Gold isn’t a “keeper” variety; it’s only available a few weeks out of the year. Savor it accordingly.
The filling and crumble topping are designed to have a nice flavor contrast. Notice the use of white sugar, lemon juice, and fresh ginger in the filling vs. brown sugar, crystallized ginger, and allspice in the topping. The powdered ginger helps unify the flavors.
If you can’t find crystallized ginger chips – Ginger People is an excellent brand – then you can substitute regular crystallized ginger chunks minced finely.
I wound up cooking my pie 20 minutes, then 10 minutes with a foil pie shield, then another 3 minutes with the shield off. Total time = 33 minutes.
The flavor turned out exactly as I hoped: bright and sweet and sprightly. The texture was almost perfect: apples tender but not mushy, and the pie held together well, but oozed juice into the bottom of the pan. Next time I’ll try adding a bit of unflavored gelatin or tapioca to thicken it just a smidge.
