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Stuffed Baked Apples with Apple Velouté
This is "Part Three in the Classic Sauces with a Twist"
As discussed in the previous post, sauce Velouté is one of the Classic French
"Mother Sauces". The Mother Sauces consist of Sauce Tomat, Bechamel, Velouté
and Espagnole later adding Hollandaise . Our Sauce Velouté is actually not
considered to be a finishing sauce, however for our purposes today we will be
using it as such. Sauce Velouté is a base sauce for soups or with a liaison.
(A combination of egg yolks and cream that is used to finish this sauce) as well
as several other classical French sauces. So why am I adding this sauce to
the reduction series...well because this sauce uses the process of reduction.
Now this sauce is generally based from either chicken, white fish or veal. My
twist here as you may already know is that our Sauce Velouté is apple based.
The process of the sauce will be the same, with just a couple of additional
notes. As apples have a natural sugar you will need to use a slightly lower heat,
and take a bit extra caution not to brown or caramelize. The Sauce Velouté
utilizes a white stock (simmered and not broiled or baked meats with bones)
and a blond roux(equal parts butter and flour just slightly toasted) .
What you will need:
For the baked apples
4 large apples, preferably organic :)
8 ounces marscarpone
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 small bunch of champagne grapes
2-3 sugar plums
2-3 small figs
1 cup or so boiling water
1 baking dish
For the roux
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, clarified
*you will need about 1 teaspoon extra prior to clarifying
2 tablespoons flour
1 small sauce pan
*Note: To ensure pristine flavor use
stainless steel or enameled pan.
Your roux
2 cups apple stock, hot
*apple stock recipe
Pinch of salt, finely ground
Pinch white pepper, very finely ground
Let's get cooking:
For the baked apples
You will need to core your apples, like the photo above. You can do this
with an apple corer or sharp pairing knife. Make sure to leave about 1/2 inch
of the bottom. Now take a grapefruit spoon, or regular spoon and remove the
seeds and some of the apples interior. You should have an opening about 1 inch
or so wide.In a small mixing bowl add you figs, grapes and sugar plums. You can
leave these a bit damp after washing then add brown sugar and mix. Add your
marscarpone and fold together. Stuff filling into each apple to the brim.
Place apples in a baking dish and add boiling water to dish, enough to
cover about 1 inch deep in the pan. Bake in a pre-heated oven at
350 degrees (F) for 30-40 minutes, or until just tender. Note: Baste sides
occasionally but do not baste over filling area.
For the velouté
We will start by clarifying our butter...Using your small sauce pan
that has be slightly warmed. Add your 2 tablespoons and a bit extra to the pan
and melt on a low heat.You will notice the solids floating to the top. This will be a
bit foamy, as these solids begin to rise, remove them by using a large spoon just
below the surface to gently lift and separate them. Continue this process until only the
golden yellow liquid remains. Remove pan from heat source and whisk in flour.
Whisk your mixture until smooth then return to your hear source. Keep mixing
or whisking until your roux has achieved a slightly golden hue. Be careful
not to brown your roux, we are looking for a blond roux here.It should
take about 4 minutes to achieve a blond roux with this ratio of butter and flour.
Now remove your pan from the heat source once again and add 1 cup of
your apple stock. Again you will want to mix until smooth, then return to heat
adding the remainder of your stock. Continue to whisk until smooth, then bring
your mixture to a low simmer. Add your pinch of salt and pepper, continuing
to whisk and simmer for about 25 minutes or until reduced by at least a third.
Strain though a mesh stainer. We are looking for a silk like sauce here
Serve your Apple Velouté warm with the baked apples :)
This recipe is entered into
"The Spicie Foodies Your Best Recipes of the Month"
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