A simple apple crisp to soothe the soul
The sudden closure of Gourmet magazine sent waves of grief through the food community.
None was more blindsided than editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl who was on a book tour promoting a cookbook created by the publication when she was summoned back to New York City to be told the magazine, that had offered interesting stories and reliable recipes for almost seven decades, was being shuttered.
What followed could be viewed as making lemonade from a lot of lemons as Reichl took the year that followed — a year of grief, of reflection, of finding solace in the preparation and sharing of food — and turned it into a cookbook-memoir hybrid titled My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes that Saved My Life (Appetite by Random House).
Reichl has a poetic voice that makes it easy to fall into her words. Her book is heavily punctuated with recipes for comforting foods or exotic ones, dishes that soothe the soul or offer escape.
As I read, I stuck in Post-it notes of recipes I wanted to return to. Dishes like Spicy Korean Rice Sticks with Shrimp and Vegetables, Pumpkin Pancakes, Three-Day Short Ribs and Fresh Peach Breakfast Cobbler — because good days start with a cobbler, I believe.
The book is conveniently organized by season, starting with the fall.
It was here I was most inspired to choose a recipe, reflecting my own need to eat in the season, but also because I could barely get past the first 90 pages without having too many to choose from.
Apple Crisp may seem like an unexpected choice. Neither exotic nor challenging.
I confess, though, I partly chose it because of the way the instructions are written: Poetically, simply, with just the bare minimum of words. It appealed to the side of me that craved simplicity.
Indeed, the recipe is startlingly simple, with only scant instructions and the shortest list of ingredients I’ve seen for this dessert.
The apples are not weighed down by spice or sweetness, left to simply showcase their own natural flavour.
The topping is made from ingredients that required no trip to the store. This recipe is meditative. The resulting crisp is one of the best I’ve had. The apples become soothingly soft and buttery, their fragrant juices pooling in the pie plate.
I still mourn the loss of Gourmet, but see My Kitchen Year as a silver lining. One I can mine repeatedly.