Apple

Gina: Nothing is as warm or as inviting as an old-fashioned baked apple. Our baked apples are even more inviting because we pack them with golden raisins, dried cranberries, and nuts, splashed with rum for extra goodness (or try Calvados, an apple-flavored liqueur from France, for a special twist). Serve these warm, fragrant little gems with a scoop of caramel or rum-raisin ice cream. In the unlikely event that you have a few left over, there’s nothing like a cold baked apple for breakfast, served in a pool of cold half-and-half. (Chances are your sweet-tooth husband is also on to this secret, so don’t be surprised if he beats you to the kitchen.)

This country was built on apple pie with a very flaky crust, thanks to an abundance of lard or vegetable shortening. Instead of an overly caloric full-blown crust, this lightened-up pie has a crumbly Brown Betty–type topping. When you pulse the topping mixture, don’t over-mix or it will be tough—not melt-in-your-mouth tender. If you must serve ice cream with this pie, look for a low-cal alternative. The usual scoop of “à la mode” adds 250 to 350 calories.

Coleslaw goes with so many things. You’ll rarely see a cookout without it. The crunchy shredded raw cabbage and the sweet-and-sour flavor make it a wonderfully piquant counterpoint to the grilled meats and BBQ sauce-slathered main dishes that make up America’s favorite backyard menus.

This recipe calls for lean boneless pork loin, and to avoid added sugar, we use fresh apples instead of applesauce. Tart Granny Smiths contribute great texture and flavor—as does a grainy Dijon mustard.

Cheese fondue is a puddle of warm melted cheese flavored with wine, and I adore it. When it’s done right, the cheese coats a piece of fruit or bread with a perfectly satin layer of fatty unctuousness that transforms both parties into something miraculous. Getting that singular texture without all of the fat is a matter of making a thickened wine-shallot reduction and using high-quality low-fat cheddar. I threw in a little bit of bacon because everything’s better with it. If you leave it out, though, this reformed fondue contains one tenth the fat of the original.

Chicken and applesauce . . . sounds like hospital food, huh? Well, if that were the only way to get this elegant, savory supper, I’d check myself in!

Make a Thanksgiving dinner, Southwestern style, any night of the year with this stuffing shortcut.

We love the complex flavors of this puree. We like to serve it with the Twice-Cooked Scallops (page 25). It also goes well with salmon, turkey, corned beef, and the Root Beer–Braised Short Ribs (page 226). The smokiness gives the mixture a rich meaty taste and enhances the sweetness of the dried fruits. Rest assured, though—even if you don’t have smoked fruits, you can use the regular dried version and still enjoy something special.

I love this chunky applesauce for its texture and the fact that it uses grapes as a sweetener. The key is good, flavorful apples. Take a bite out of one of the apples to determine the tartness.

My first taste of a French applesauce tart was in a convent in Jerusalem many years ago. When I was visiting Biarritz recently in late autumn, I was delighted to taste it again, at the home of Nicole Rousso. She learned how to make the tart from her grandmother, who came from the Vosges Mountains. Nicole has a penchant for bio and healthy products, and uses fresh grapes as a sweetener in the applesauce. I love her elegant French touch of thinly slicing an apple and arranging it on top of the applesauce before baking.

Danielle Fleischmann bakes this apple cake in the same beat-up rectangular pan that her mother used. Known as a “Jewish apple cake” because oil is substituted for butter, it is called gâteau de Hannouka in France. When Danielle makes the cake, she uses very little batter, and half sweet and half tart apples, a combination that makes a really tasty version of this simple Polish cake. Although her mother grated the apples, Danielle cuts them into small chunks. I often make it in a Bundt pan and serve it sprinkled with sugar.

One of the cooks highlighted in a day celebrating Jewish food history and the presence of the Jews in France was Huguette Uhry. I first noticed her intriguing recipe for frou-frou chalet on the Web site www.LeJudaïsmeAlsacien.com. Similar to a light, caramelized apple tarte Tatin, it is traditionally served at the dinner prior to the fast of Yom Kippur. When I called Madame Uhry, she walked me through the recipe and told me that frou-frou means “the rustling of silk” or “to make a fuss,” and a charlotte—or, as she spells it, chalet—means a kind of apple cake. You can substitute Passover cake meal for the flour.

This is one of my favorite winter Alsatian vegetable combinations, and a common winter vegetable dish of French Jews. It is best made a day in advance and left to meld the flavors. Serve as an accompaniment to roast goose, chicken, or duck.

When the French make noodle kugel, it is more delicate and savory than the rich, creamy confections that Americans know. This nudel schaleth or pudding is derived from the Sabbath pudding baked in the oven overnight. Here is where linguistic immigration gets all mixed up—some call it noodle schaleth, others noodle kugel.

At a recent Kiddush after a Bat Mitzvah service in France, the wine was French, unlike the sweet wine usually served at American synagogues. The food was elegantly prepared, as only the French can do it: spread out on a large table were thin slices of smoked salmon on toast, eggplant rolled and filled with goat cheese, a North African sautéed-pepper salad, squash soup served in tiny cups, and celery-root rémoulade. If you have never eaten celery-root salad, then start now! And if you’ve never made mayonnaise before, it’s an exhilarating and rewarding experience that I highly recommend. Any leftover mayonnaise can be kept in a jar in the refrigerator for a few days.