Apples, apples, apples, that's the first food that comes to mind when people think of a food that starts with A. I blame those alphabet signs and cards from kindergarten. The A is forever associated with Apples in people's minds. It was in my mind when I made Autumn Apple Pork Stew (I know it's not autumn but I need whatever As I can get.). I also made Astypalaian Yellow Biscuits which are from the Astypalaia island of Greece. The two made for an interesting pairing. American and Greek, not too international. I'm not Greek, I just happen to be preparing a lot of Greek food during these A weeks. I guess they like the letter A associated with their food over there.
Autumn Apple Pork Stew: A-
I'll start with a confession, I made this stew in a crockpot, not exactly gourmet or culinaristically advanced, I know, but convenient. The stew contained actual apples (Granny Smith), apple juice and apple cider vinegar, in addition to other 'stewy' ingredients, like vegetables, and then pork. Similar to the mishap during the asparagus soup pureeing process, the stewing stew overflowed a bit and spilled some liquid onto the counter. I may have overfilled the crockpot a tad, but that can't be the reason why. My brother who not only cleaned up the mess but spun the mishap as well, said that spills ensure success. And he was right. The stew ended up tasting pretty good, although somewhat sweet due to all of the appley ingredients. I could have gone for some more saltiness and earthiness, but that didn't stop me from eating it. If I make it again, I'll add some ale in addition to the apple sauce, probably instead of the water.
Astypalaian Biscuits: A?
I had never made these before. I came across the recipe on epicurious looking for recipes and dishes that start with the letter A. They sounded interesting so I thought I'd try them. I can't think of anything similar to them so they're tough to explain. And I didn't quite follow the recipe perfectly. I did splurge and by some saffron though, but only because it was half price. Almost $9 for 1 oz. The culinarians crack. I formed the 'biscuits' (they are nothing like your standard bicuits, except ever so slightly in texture) into rings, or 'crowns as the recipe calls them, and baked them, but I opted to not bake them the second time around, because they tasted good the first way, and they were fully baked. I was concerned the second baking would try them out, but I'm going to give it a try with a few just to check. There's allspice in them and you can taste it. They're spicy and kind of sweet, fluffy and a little flaky. They are certainly like nothing I've made or tasted before, but I think I like them.
Recipes: stew. biscuits.
