Take a good look at this woman. She may look like the most wise, strong, and loving mother in the world. And, well, that’s because she is. But I’m sorry to tell you, she is a chronic “storer.”

Yes. A storer. She has the amazing resourcefulness to find the best deals within a 40 mile radius and an even more astounding ability to pack it all away … a great skill to have in post-war Korea, but not necessarily a survival tactic necessary in the land of plenty (and Costco’s). Nevertheless, so it is.

Many a times during my childhood did I pop open my mother’s trunk after a shopping trip to find totes upon totes of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and health foods galore only to have my mother reply to my gasp, “But they were on sale!” Well, there must have been a special on apples recently, because what I found upon opening the refrigerator on my recent visit home were not one, nor two, but three bags of apples sitting unapologetically on the shelf.

Others might have seen waste, but in my “fatty” eyes, all I saw were dancing visions of experiments with Fall recipes. To start with, I baked up a dependable Apple Crostata that filled our home with wafts of nutmeg and cinnamon that announced my arrival home to my Dad’s nose. The recipe is quick and easy, and the butteriness of the flaky crust and the sweetness of the filling are wonderfully offset by the splashes of freshly squeezed lemon and grapefruit zest added to the filling.

Apple Crostata

And the beauty of it all is that there are still plenty of apples and some other goodies to experiment with in the coming days! We have a can of pumpkin puree with an impending expiration date and a can of adzuki red bean paste sitting on the pantry shelf that are crying out to be used. So look forward to some fun recipes coming your way soon!

Apple Crostata

For the crust:
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar*
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter chilled and diced
2 tablespoons ice water

For the egg wash:
1 egg white
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar

For the filling:
3 small apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 teaspoon grapefruit zest
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the crumbles:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter, chilled, and diced

*I substituted each unit of sugar with half a unit of Splenda brown sugar blend, and everything baked up just fine

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit

1. Give the flour, sugar, and salt a quick mix to combine
2. Add the chilled butter to the dry ingredients, and use the back of a fork to crumble the butter into the dry ingredients until small clumps form
3. While continuing to mix, add the ice water in a steady stream and continue to use the back of the fork to incorporate everything. Stop right before the dough becomes a solid mass.
4. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 1 hour and up to 1 day
5. As you wait for the dough, prepare the filling by tossing the apples with the lemon juice and grapefruit zest. Set aside.
6. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmet. Add the butter and use the back of a fork to make the butter crumble into the dry ingredients once more.
7. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the chilled crust dough out on a  lightly floured surface into an 11 inch round
8. Transfer the crust dough onto a baking sheet. Add the apples to the center of the dough, leaving a 1.5 inch border along the edges. I like to create a small mound, so there are more apples in the center of the dough.
9. Sprinkle the crumbles atop the apple filling
10. Fold the crust over onto the apples along the edges of the mound, pinching as necessary to cover up holes
11. Brush the egg white onto the crust edges and sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the crust
12. Pop in the 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the apples are tender and the crust is golden
13. Cool and serve warm or at room temperature

vs.

David Chang has catapulted into the culinary world, bringing with him a hefty slab of pork belly. Some may call pork belly just an over-glorified, fatty cut of meat, while others see it as a tender, earthy morsel that melts in your mouth, leaving behind a richness on your tongue, and a satiated sensation in your tummy. As for Koreans, we’re just surprised that it took so long for the pork belly to take off: pork belly is among the most inexpensive cuts of Korean barbecue meat around. It has been enjoyed for generations, thinly sliced, sizzling on a low-standing korean grill, dipped in the perfect blend of sesame oil, salt, and pepper, wrapped in freshly picked red lettuce leaves with a spoonful of rice and a hefty dollop of red pepper paste with a sliver of fresh garlic, and chased with some ice cold soju on a hot summer day.

This common food item, however, has made its way into stardom, making its debut appearance on the menus of 4-star restaurants around the nation. To many restaurant patrons, the belly has become an obsession. Chefs all over the U.S. have responded to the uptick in interest and have started braising, crisping, roasting, and doing all sorts of fanciful things in hopes of creating a dish that will wrest away the title of best pork belly from Chang’s delectable pork steamed buns.

I recently had the chance to sample two variations of the pork belly at No. 9 Park with D. and J. and at Uni with D., E.,and S. The pork belly at No. 9 was roasted and accompanied by creamy polenta, hedge-hog mushrooms, and fennel agrodolce. The skin was roasted to a crisp and the crunch was a delightful counterpoint to the sometimes overwhelming fattiness of the meat. Unfortunately, ease of edibility was sacrificed for taste, as the skin was crisped to such a degree that it could not be cut through with a fork and knife. So unless the restaurant patron was blessed with a fantastic set of molars and incisors, the skin had to be set aside, unable to be enjoyed. Thankfully enough, the naked cut of meat left behind was delicious enough on its own, melting in my mouth at first bite, with a hint of sweetness from the polenta, and rich earthiness from the hedgehog mushrooms.

Unsurprisingly, the Japanese-style sushi restaurant and bar Uni took an entirely different approach from the French and Italian peasant-fare inspired restaurant No. 9 Park. While No. 9 Park’s pork belly was roasted, its skin was crisped, and it was served with a number of accompaniments, Uni’s pork belly was braised, its texture was tender throughout, and it was served with minimal accompaniments, letting the pork take center stage. Additionally, while No. 9 Park’s pork belly was minimally seasoned so that the full body of the meat could resonate on its own, Uni’s pork belly was marinated and served in a subtle sauce smelling faintly of soy sauce, sesame oil, and daikon. The daikon in the sauce and served alongside the pork in the dish was key to the success of the dish, as it lent it a refreshing overtone that cut through the richness of the meat. The texture of the meat was meltingly tender, and the mushroom in the dish highlighted the earthy flavors of the pork. The dish was excellent overall. And in E’s and my cases, it helped create a sense of nostalgia as it conjured memories of comfort meals enjoyed in our mothers’ kitchens.

While both of these dishes are delicious, they are a far cry from Chang’s simple and delectable steamed pork buns (tender pork belly sandwiched in a steamed bun with cucumbers and hoisin sauce) that are simple to the point of elegance, proving that oftentimes, less is definitely more.