APPLE STRUDEL
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers
There are so many activities that can occupy one’s time on a cold, winter day here in Minnesota, so Kevin, Jen and I chose to spend the day making strudel. We decided to make the same dough recipe but roll it around three different delectable fillings; a Pear, Roquefort and Pecan, the Apple (recipe below) and a Chocolate.
The only time that I have ever seen strudel dough made and stretched by hand was by Mr. Rick Rodgers himself. (For a second, I was just going to just say by Mr. Rodgers, but that name conjures up a gentleman in a sweater asking if he would be your neighbor.)
Anyway, since we realized earlier in the week that making a traditional cassoulet, which was our original plan, would take upwards of three days to prepare, we settled on making this Austrian pastry. It’s quite easy to make actually, especially if a second pair of hands are there to assist in stretching the dough.
Strudel Dough
1 1/3 cups (6 ½ ounces) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry; add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.
Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).
It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inchround table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches. Cover your working area with tablecloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Jen and Kevin stretching the dough
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.
Letting gravity help stretch the dough
The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it’s about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.
Apple Filling
2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)
Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.
Heat 3 tablespoons (1 ½ ounces) of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring often until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Remove breadcrumbs to a shallow bowl and let it cool completely.
Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, or you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands).
Bread crumbs and walnuts on strudel dough
Sprinkle the buttered dough with the breadcrumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.l Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling.
Jen rolling up her chocolate strudel
Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself.
Ready for the oven
Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.
Now out of the oven
Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.
Pear and Roquefort Strudel served with a salad
L’Etoile Restaurant, a Star indeed!
I became familiar with E’toile Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin, many years ago. At that time, chef/owner Odessa Piper taught cooking classes at Cooks of Crocus Hill. Her passion for seeking out local ingredients was unbridled. As the cooking school coordinator at the time, she’d have me foraging all over town (virtually, mind you until I found it) for a particular ingredient. I came to appreciate her passion for seeking out what was local, sustainable, and when possible organic.
When a recent trip to Madison was confirmed, my first call was to E’toile for reservations. This was based on the reputation of Chef Piper, though I knew she had retired several years ago. Her chef de cuisine, Tory Miller, has now taken over the helm as both chef and co-owner of the restaurant.
We arrived on a crisp Friday evening, by walking a block from our hotel. Having never been to the original E’toile, I have nothing to compare the new location to the former, but I must say that the current setting is lovely with its modern, yet comfortable setting. Regardless of where you might sit, a view of the Wisconsin capitol, it’s beautiful architecture, and the square on which it sits is set before you. For some reason I was intrigued by the gorgeous gray carpeting, embossed with what I imagined to be tree trunks and branches. The tables, covered in white linen, were set comfortably close. And, the balcony in the back allowed a view through the floor to ceiling windows at the front.
While we pursued the menu, I enjoyed an E’toile Kir made with their very own house-made currant syrup. Jon savored “The Mitchell Report”, an aperitif of Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac, house-made pear reduction and muddled sage. Throwing caution to the wind, I decided on the five-course tasting menu with wine pairings, while Jon decided on three-courses from the menu.
On this particular night, the Amuse Bouche was a West Star Farm Salsify chowder, shiitake mushroom duxelle, with an Old Bay-seasoned oyster cracker. It was paired with a Marc Hebrart, Mareuil-sur-Ay Champagne. My only complaint was that I could not have two servings. Jon wouldn’t share!
I make a lot of crazy things at home, but it is very unlikely that I would ever make pork head cheese. Since it was an option, I went for it and enjoyed immensely the Mangalitsa pork head cheese, with a sauce gribiche, mâche salad, and gaufrettes while sipping a 2009 Sinnean Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough New Zealand. My fork did wander over to Jon’s plate and his Shooting Star Farm French breakfast and beauty heart radish salad, with parsley leaves, and red onion, tossed in a lemon vinaigrette and served with a Capri Farm Five-Points Reserve Cheese.
Mid-course was upon us and to the delight of my my senses, I relished the Cocco bucatini all’Amatriciana, Maine lobster, house-cured pancetta, herb salad, with a sweet onion-tomato sauce. This time the perfect pairing was a Jean Marc Boillot, Chataliene Vineyard, Rully, Burgundy France, 2008. I offered to trade a morsel of what I was enjoying for a taste of Jon’s Blue Ribbon sunny-side-up duck egg, celery root-potato hash, smoked shallot puree, confit of chicken gizzards, with a spicy hollandaise. Okay, so maybe it was two bites, just to get all the flavor components in my memory. I’ve since recreated this breakfast staple turned gourmet dinner delight at home.
Farm-raised daurade, scallion-potato cakes, Shooting Star bok choy, pea vine salad, summer truffle vinaigrette, with a sauce Choron was my “plat”. Accompanying this deliciousness on a plate was a Bernabeleva “Navaherreros” (Grenache), Madrid Spain 2008. Jon enjoyed his Fountain Prairie Fram dry-aged ribeye, “loaded” mashed potatoes, mushroom-broccoli ragout, horseradish-garlic compound butter, with a cabernet jus. As good as his was, I think top scores went to my third course.
We shared a cheese course which included a Fantôme Farm “Moreso”, a Blue Mont Dairy “Earth Schmier” and a Hooks 15 Yr. Cheddar. Somebody please tell me why we here in Minnesota cannot purchase these wonderful delights? We are not that far from the border.
Last but not least, I enjoyed a Cordillera chocolate pâte, caramelized fennel, honey-citrus ice cream, cocoa biscotti with a “New York Malmsey” from The Rare Wine Company Historic Madeira Series. Jon decided on the Door County Barnard cherry cake with maple creme anglaise, cherry-vanilla coulis, maple-cayenne tuile.
Everything about the evening was perfect from the moment we walked in the door. The waitstaff was top-notch and the meal impeccable. I could go on rhapsodically about the food, but the menu changes very often. What we enjoyed would most likely not be available again, as the local availability of produce and other ingredients is always changing. True to his reputation of local sourcing, there was a Tory spotting the next morning during our wandering around the farmer’s market. It was likely that he was picking out what was the freshest for the menu that evening.
To my pleasant surprise a recent issue of Food & Wine magazine featured E’toile, along with some of Chef Miller’s recipes and he philosophy of cooking. If you are ever in Madison, WI, E’toile is a must stop. In the meantime check out the article.