Contributing Editor Rowann Gilman returned from picking Ambrosia apples in Washington’s Wenatchee Valley, glowing over the food and restaurants there. If you didn’t catch her report on the apples, here it is.

She brought back an apple crisp recipe that she can’t wait to have again. Since fall is prime apple crisp season, it arrives just in time.

If you don’t know the difference between a crisp and a cobbler, crumble, betty and other kin, THE NIBBLE has spelled it out below.
 
RECIPE: OLD-FASHIONED APPLE CRISP

Try this old-fashioned recipe with new-fashioned Ambrosia apples. It’s from Chef David Toal of Ravenous Catering in Cashmere, Washington.

Ingredients For 6 to 8 Servings

For The Crumb Topping

 
For The Ambrosia Apple Filling

 
Plus

TOP PHOTO: A crisp is has a crumb or streusel topping. The crumbs can be breadcrumbs, breakfast cereal, cookie or graham cracker crumbs, flour or nuts. Photo courtesy Ambrosia Apples. BOTTOM PHOTO: Ambrosia Apples. Photo by Rowann Gilman | THE NIBBLE.

1. PREHEAT the oven to 375°F. Butter a 13×9-inch baking dish or 6 to 8 individual ramekins and set aside.

2. COMBINE the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl; toss well to combine. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut the butter into the dry ingredients.

3. STIR together all of the filling ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine. Transfer the filling to the prepared baking dish or ramekins. Top the filling with the crumb topping.

4. BAKE for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and bubbly around the edges. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

5. SERVE with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle some of the juice from the baking dish over top.
 

TOP PHOTO: In our book, it isn’t apple crisp
if it isn’t topped with vanilla ice cream. Photo
courtesy TheMeaningOfPie.com. BOTTOM
PHOTO: A cobbler has a dropped dough
topping that bakes up to resemble
cobblestones (hence, the name). Photo
courtesy Melissas.com.

Most people use these terms interchangeably. Even Produce Pete called a crisp a cobbler in last week’s episode on NBC. If you really care about food, you’ll care about knowing the differences among pan-baked fruit dishes.

At this time of year, Brussels sprouts are in season and many people are debating how to prepare them for Thanksgiving. Our nana and aunt disagreed to the extent that each brought her preferred preparation (one a gratin laden with Gruyère and pancetta, one with a honey balsamic sauce).

But you don’t have to cook Brussels sprouts. You can slice them or remove the leaves (as with cabbage, remove the bottom core first). Then, make:

 
Be sure you buy freshly harvested sprouts. As they age, they develop stronger and more bitter flavors. This applies equally to the sprouts used in cooked recipes.

To start you off with raw Brussels sprouts, here’s a tasty salad with holiday accents. There’s another recipe below that combines raw Brussels sprouts with raw shaved root vegetables.

Prep time is 15 minutes.

Raw Brussels sprouts salad with holiday accents. Photo courtesy McCormick.

Raw Brussels sprouts, dried cranberries, toasted walnuts and toss in a light vanilla-sage vinaigrette for a salad that’s sure to please during holiday gatherings.

Ingredients For 5 Servings

 
Preparation

1. WASH, trim and thinly shave the Brussels sprouts.

2. MIX the oil, vinegar, vanilla and seasonings in small bowl with a wire whisk until well blended. Add the cranberries; let stand 30 minutes to allow cranberries to soften.

3. TOSS the Brussels sprouts and walnuts in a large bowl until well blended. Drizzle with the dressing; toss to coat well. Serve immediately.
 

TOP PHOTO: Brussels sprouts salad with a
holiday touch. Photo courtesy Julie Gransee |
Lovely Little Kitchen | McCormick. BOTTOM
PHOTO: Shaved fall vegetable salad. Photo
courtesy GoodEggs.com.

This recipe combines raw Brussels sprouts with raw fall root vegetables and some arugula for greenery. It was adapted from a recipe on GoodEggs.com. A bonus: You get to practice your shaving skills on a mandoline.

Ingredients For 2-4 Servings

 
*Some varieties of apple brown more slowly when their flesh is cut and exposed to air. Look for Ambrosia, Cameo, Cortland, Empire, Gala, Ginger Gold, Goldrush, Masonova, Shizuka or SnowSweet varieties. Browning is caused by an enzyme called phenolase, that reacts with oxygen. These apple varieties have much less of the enzyme (or a weaker form of it), so they turn brown very slowly, without having to be dipped in acidified water or other slowing technique. They are natural varieties, not genetically modified like the Arctic Apple, a GMO that was bred not to brown for a very long time.

†While the fronds come free with the fennel, we had fresh dill on hand and used those fronts instead (see Step 3 below).

‡Check out the different types of vinegar.

1. CAREFULLY SHAVE the radish, fennel, apple and celery root on a mandoline. (Depending on the size of the celery root, you may need to cut it in half before shaving.)

2. ROUGHLY CHOP a small handful of the fennel fronds.

3. COMBINE the arugula, apple, Brussels leaves, celery root, fennel, fennel fronds and radish and in a big bowl. Dress with the olive oil and vinegar, a drizzle of honey, salt and pepper.

4. ADJUST seasonings to taste and finish with blue cheese crumbles.

This time of year, supermarkets are filling with limited edition seasonal items, from Red Velvet Oreos to Starbucks Holiday Blend to Pumpkin Spice Coffee-Mate.

We don’t indulge in any of them; but here are some of the treats we look forward to each holiday season:

HOLIDAY ICE CREAM & SORBET FLAVORS

At Ciao Bella, you can sink your spoon into three holiday flavors.

 
Discover more a CiaoBellaGelato.com.

From Talenti, get your fill of:

TOP PHOTO: Holiday sorbetto from Ciao Bella. BOTTOM PHOTO: Peppermint Bark gelato from Talenti. Talenti has styled the top of the gelato with tiny edible evergreens and sleds.

HOLIDAY BISCOTTI FLAVORS

Nonni’s Biscotti, which produces delectable seasonal biscotti in limited edition Gingerbread and Pumpkin Spice, has added two new holiday flavors this year.

 
You can give eight-piece boxes as holiday gifts, enjoy them with your holiday ice cream, or with a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate. We won’t put into print how many we’ve polished off in the writing of this article.

Discover more at Nonnis.com.

We nominate homemade cinnamon pecan topping, which can be used to garnish both sweet and savory foods. See our list of uses below.

You can use any nut, but pecan goes particularly well in this type of topping.

We adapted this recipe from McCormick. It makes 12 servings, 2 tablespoons each. You can make a double batch and keep it in the fridge.

Although the McCormick version uses rum flavor, feel free to substitute real rum or whiskey.

Plan ahead: You can bring a jar of topping as a house gift, or give it as holiday gifts.

Prep time is 5 minutes, cook time is 12 minutes.

RECIPE: CINNAMON PECAN TOPPING

Ingredients For 1-1/2 Cups

TOP PHOTO: Top a Brie with homemade cinnamon pecan topping Photo by Caroline Edwards from Chocolate and Carrots | McCormick.com. BOTTOM PHOTO: Turn a plain scoop of ice cream into a sundae. Photo courtesy Yummly.com.

Keep it in the fridge to pull out whenever you need it. Photo courtesy McCormick.

Preparation

1. MIX the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in small bowl until blended. Set aside.

2. MELT 2 tablespoons of the butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add the pecans and toast for 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low.

3. STIR the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, corn syrup, water, vanilla extract, rum flavor and the brown sugar mixture into the skillet. Cook, stirring until the butter is melted and the mixture is heated through.

4. REMOVE from the heat. The mixture will thicken as it cools. Serve at room temperature.

November 2nd is National Deviled Egg Day.

Deviled eggs took off as picnic and cocktail party fare after the Second World War. But their roots date back to ancient Rome.

The cooks of wealthy Romans boiled eggs, seasoned them with spicy sauces, and served them as a first course (known as gustatio).

Serving these deviled eggs to guests was so common that it featured in a Roman saying, “ab ova usque ad mala,” literally from eggs to apples (indicating from the beginning of a meal to the end), or what we might call “from A to Z.”

The culinary record is relatively quiet until the 13th century when stuffed egg recipes begin to appear in Andalusia, the south of Spain. The yolks of boiled eggs are mixed with cilantro, onion juice, pepper and coriander, fish sauce, oil and salt. After the mixture was stuffed into the egg whites, the two halves were fastened together with a small stick and seasoned with pepper.
 
DEVILED EGGS VS. STUFFED EGGS

By the 15th century, stuffed eggs were found throughout Europe. One medieval recipe filled them with raisins, cheese, marjoram, parsley, and mint. They were then fried in oil and topped with a sauce of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, raisins, and verjuice, or dusted with sugar. Both executions were served hot.

The first known printed mention of “devil” as a culinary term appeared in Great Britain in 1786. It referred to dishes that contained hot and spicy ingredients (like paprika), or those that were highly seasoned and broiled or fried.

By 1800, deviling had become a verb to describe the process of making food spicy. Deviled eggs were seasoned with chiles, horseradish, mustard, paprika, and spicy sauce.

So all deviled eggs are stuffed eggs, but only stuffed eggs with hot spice are deviled eggs.

TOP PHOTO: A book of deviled egg recipes. Get yours at Amazon.com. BOTTOM PHOTO: Deviled eggs with smoked okra (recipe). Photo courtesy Rick’s Picks.

Nonspicy versions were called dressed eggs, mimosa eggs, salad eggs or stuffed eggs.

In the United States, stuffed eggs began making an appearance in cookbooks by the mid-19th century.

THE MODERN DEVILED EGG EVOLVES

A recipe from Fannie Farmer’s 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cookbook was one of the first to use mayonnaise as a binder for the filling of stuffed eggs.

While mayonnaise began to be distributed commercially in the U.S. in 1907, the condiment was not commonly featured in deviled egg recipes until the 1940s. The classic version of deviled eggs mixed the yolks with mayonnaise, mustard, and paprika.

In more recent times, cooks have reworked the classic with modern ingredients, from beets, chutney, and smoked okra to luxury ingredients like caviar, crab, and smoked salmon to international influences like kimchi, sriracha, and wasabi.
 
DEVILED EGG RECIPES

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