Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [285]
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup water mixed with ½ cup dry white wine
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Wash the apples in cold water. Use any suitable tool, from an apple corer to a pointed vegetable peeler, to core them from the top, stopping short of the bottom. Create a hole in the center that is ½ inch broad. Prick the apples’ skin in many places, every inch or so, using a pointed knife blade.
3. Double a sheet of wax paper around 7 pairs of the amaretti, and pound them with a heavy object, such as a mallet or meat pounder, until they are crushed to a coarse consistency, but not pulverized. Mix them thoroughly with the very soft butter. Divide the mixture into 4 parts, and pack one part tightly into each apple cavity.
4. Put the apples in a baking pan, right side up. Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over each, and pour over them the water and white wine. Place the pan on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes.
5. Transfer the apples to a serving platter or individual dishes, using a large metal spatula.
6. There will be some liquid left in the baking pan. Separate the remaining 2 pairs of amaretti, and dip each cookie in the pan, but do not let it become too soggy or it will crumble. Put one of the cookies over the opening of each apple.
7. If the baking pan cannot go over direct heat, pour its contents into a saucepan, and turn the heat on to high. When the liquid has cooked down to a syrupy consistency, pour it over the apples. Serve at room temperature.
Ahead-of-time note The apples can be completed 2 or 3 days in advance and refrigerated, but return them to room temperature before serving.
Chilled Black Grape Pudding
For 4 servings
1 pound fresh black grapes
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
A mixing bowl kept in the freezer
½ cup very cold heavy whipping cream
1. Pull off all the grape berries from their stems and wash in cold water. Insert the disk with the smallest holes in your food mill, and puree all the grapes through the mill into a bowl. If you prefer to use a blender or food processor, first cut the berries open and remove their seeds.
2. Put 1 cup of the pureed grapes into a small saucepan. Add the flour, shaking it through a strainer. Mix thoroughly until the flour is smoothly combined with the grape puree.
3. Add the sugar to the pureed grapes remaining in the bowl, stirring it until it dissolves completely. Slowly pour the contents of the bowl into the saucepan, stirring constantly all the while.
4. Turn the heat under the saucepan on to low. Stir constantly, cooking until the grape mixture has simmered gently for about 5 minutes and has become rather dense. Adjust heat if necessary to keep the simmer from turning into a boil.
5. Empty the pudding from the pan into a bowl, letting it cool completely at room temperature. Spoon the pudding into 4 individual glass bowls, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but not overnight, before serving.
6. Just before serving, take the bowl out of the freezer, put in the cream, beat it with a whisk until it is stiff, and distribute it among the 4 bowls.
Macerated Orange Slices
AMONG ALL THE WAYS in which a meal can be brought to a fragrant close, none surpasses in refreshment these sliced oranges macerated in lemon peel, sugar, and lemon juice.
For 4 servings
6 sweet juicy oranges
The peel of 1 lemon grated without digging into the white pith beneath
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
The freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon
1. Using a sharp paring knife, peel 4 of the 6 oranges, stripping away all the white spongy pith and as much as possible of the thin skin beneath it.
2. Cut the peeled oranges into slices less than ½ inch thick. Pick out all seeds. Put the slices into a deep platter or a shallow serving bowl, and sprinkle with the grated lemon peel. Add the sugar. Squeeze the remaining 2 oranges and add their juice to the platter or bowl. Add the lemon juice, then toss rather gently several times, being careful not to