In “The Gathering Basket” Annamarie is often found in the kitchen.  The following recipes are what I, or my daughter, Chef Dakota Weiss, imagined that Annamarie would serve. 

1st Course: Field Salad with Apple Balsamic Dressing  & Roasted Fennel Baby Carrots

Baby red oak, mazuna frisee and arugula.
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup apple juice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. toasted ground fennel
1 tsp. sugar
Juice of one lemon
16 baby carrots 

 

Dressing:
Whisk balsamic vinegar into apple juice.  Add oil and dry herbs, add lemon juice.  Dress salad greens.  Set aside.

Carrots:
Toss peeled carrots with 1-tbs. oil, fennel and salt.  Place on a cookie sheet and roast at 300 F. about 30 to 40 minutes or until soft.

Place salad greens on four individual plates and top with roasted carrots.

2nd Course: Muscat & Calvados Sorbet (prepare the day before)

1 Bottle of Muscat reduced by 1/2.
1 cup Calvados
1 cup sugar
Juice of one lemon
Several springs of fresh mint

In a bowl, mix all ingredients, thoroughly dissolving the sugar.  Pour into an ice cream machine and once mix is froze, let it freeze overnight.

Serve a small scoop in individual bowls with a spring of fresh mint.

3rd Course: Apple-Cumin Rubbed Tenderloin With Sauteed Chard & #10 Apples, Zucchini & Yukon Potatoes With Herbed Beef Sauce

Apple-Cumin Rub for Tenderloin:
Tenderloin, approx. 8 oz. per person
8 ounces of dried apples made into a powder
1/4 cup ground cumin
1 tbs. salt
1 tbs. ground white pepper.

Mix all ingredients and rub beef well.  Set aside.

Vegetables:
2 apples
2 Yukon potatoes
2 medium zucchinis
1# of rainbow chard (any other chard is OK)

Using a #10 melon ball tool, scoop the apples, potatoes and zucchini.  Saute’ with 1 tsp. of butter, add salt to taste.  Keep warm and set aside.
Wash Chard well and dry.  Saute’ with 1-tsp. butter and salt to taste.  Mix into above sauteed

Herbed Beef Stock:
32 oz. beef stock

Using fresh:
1 cup basil
1 cup rosemary
1 cup thyme
1 cup marjoram

Simmer beef stock with all of the herbs until sauce is reduced by 1/2.  Strain and serve over grilled tenderloin.

4th Course: Apple Blueberry Potpie

1 pie crust
4 peeled and cored apples
1 pt. blueberries
2 tbs. butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. orange zest
1/2 cup Riesling

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Streusel:
2 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2# melted butter

Mix streusel ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

Saute both zests with butter.  Add apples and saute for 3 minutes.  Add blueberries and saute an additional 3 minutes.  Add sugar and cook until in dissolves.  Deglaze with Riesling.

Make slurry with cornstarch and water and slowly whisk in with above ingredients.  Cool mixture.

Form the piecrusts in 4 individual potpie bowls and bake the piecrusts for 5 minutes at 350 F.

Add filling into each potpie and top with streusel.  Bake at 350F until bubbles form on the edges

5th Course: Carmel Apple Fritters

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cloves
2 eggs — beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 apples cored and quartered
1/2# caramels — melted down

In medium bowl, mix beaten eggs with 1/4 cup to make an egg wash.

Mix all dry ingredients in separate larger bowl.

Dip apple quarters in egg wash, then in flour mix.

Fry in corn oil until golden brown.

Sort apple fritter on 4 individual plates and pour melted caramels over fritters.