Fast apples and pork, how to work with masa flour, chocolate news you will love, and crisp, fizzy muscats - includs recipes

Sunset, Feb, 1995 by Jerry Anne Di Vecchio

Apples browned in a little butter don't take much effort, skill, or planning - which is why I suspect my mother succumbed so readily when we requested them, even at breakfast. They were grand with sizzling little pork sausages - and even better with cured pork loin roasts direct from my great-aunt Nora's smokehouse.

In fact, almost any part of a pig - roasts, chops, sausages, hams - is complemented by apples in one form or another. Over the years, I've learned a few tricks to keep butter-browned apples a family favorite, well ahead of applesauce, baked apples, and other such competitors.

Some apples get mushy when sauteed and need a politically incorrect amount of butter to keep them from sticking to the pan. Some need a calorically significant amount of sugar to round out their flavor. But Golden Delicious apples, one of my favorite varieties, skirt these pitfalls. Wedges of this apple usually hold their shape as they brown, while becoming creamy inside. And they need only a touch of sugar to emphasize their natural sweetness. Akane, Cortland, Empire, Idared, and Jonagold hold up almost as well.

Usually I saute a few dried currants to go with the apples, because I like their chewy contrast and decorative speckling. When this dish is served with smoked pork loin roast, mashed potatoes, and a green vegetable such as spinach or broccoli rabe, you have an earthymeal of exceptionally complementary flavors and textures. Best of all, it's a menu that works into a tight schedule.

Smoked pork loin roasts from the market come fully cooked and just need heating to serve. If guests are delayed, you can reduce oven temperature to 150 [degrees] and keep the meat hot for at least an hour, no harm done. Carved, the chops are rosy pink and juicy.

And if mashed potatoes are too much work, scrub little ones and boil them whole.

Smoked pork loin roast. For 4 to 6 servings, buy a 4- to 6-bone (2 1/2 to 3 lb.) fully cooked smoked pork loin roast. At the market, have the bones sawed through so you can cut between them easily. Set roast, bones down, in a slightly larger pan. Bake in a 350 [degrees] oven until hot (about 120 [degrees]) in center, 50 to 60 minutes. Slice into chops to serve. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

GREAT INGREDIENT

Masa moves mainstream

Homemade corn tortillas - which really are worth the effort at least once - represent my first serious commitment to Mexican cookery. I made them with dehydrated masa flour (corn tortilla flour) because fresh masa (ground lime-softened soaked dried corn) wasn't so easy to find. Dehydrated masa flour was, and still is, available at the supermarket. You may know the brand Masa Harina.

After I had made a batch of tortillas, I still had a lot of the dehydrated masa flour. Soon I was dipping into the bag for everyday uses, because the distinctive masa flavor fits well with so many foods. Consider these uses:

Cornbread. Decrease each 1 cup cornmeal in the recipe by 1/4 cup and replace it with 1/4 cup dehydrated masa flour.

Biscuits or scones. Decrease each 1 cup all-purpose flour by 1/4 cup and replace it with 1/4 cup dehydrated masa flour.

Oven-fried chicken. Dip chicken pieces (skin on) in broth, milk, or water, then coat with dehydrated masa flour; shake off excess. Place chicken skin side up and slightly apart in a rimmed pan. Bake in a 375 [degrees] oven until well browned, 45 to 55 minutes; baste several times with pan drippings. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Plain shortbread cookies. Decrease each 1 cup all-purpose flour by 1/4 cup and replace with 1/4 cup dehydrated masa flour.

Pan-fried fish. Rinse fish steaks or fillets, drain briefly, then coat with dehydrated masa flour and shake off excess. Pan fry as usual.

Soupy chili or beans. Instead of boiling to reduce liquid, blend dehydrated masa flour with enough water to make a smooth paste and stir into the boiling mixture until it thickens to preferred consistency.

GREAT TOOL

Get a lift with tongs

Chinese cookware and hardware stores carry a handy, inexpensive tool that makes it easy to retrieve containers with a lip - canning jars, pans, bowls, even plates - from hot water or a steamer.

It's a three-fingered tension tong that looks a lot like the gadget used to pull olives out of narrow-neck bottles. It works like tongs used for canning, but, for me, these hold objects more securely.

As you lift, the tong fingers are pulled tightly against the container. The tool's gripping capacity depends on the span of the fingers. Mine can handle a 10-inch plate.

Frankly, tension tongs look cheap (mine have a fluorescent pink plastic grip) and are flimsy, but they only cost about $2. A caution: if not carefully handled or stored, the tongs are easily bent or broken. Once it's out of whack, it's more practical to replace it.

BOOK NEWS

Even more for less... and chocolate, too

Walking up the steps of Alice Medrich's brown-shingled house in Berkeley, California, I was inspired with the mad notion that the shingles might be made of chocolate. Only Alice would have such a home - so singular is her devotion to chocolate. It all began with her pursuit of the perfect chocolate truffle, after she had tasted her ideal in Paris, and it led to her award-winning, authoritative book Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts (Warner Books, 1990).