Fruit

We fell so in love with the Ritz crunch that we decided to start recipe testing a few pie options using it as a crust. As we delved deeper into the world of pies, we became obsessed with both the concept and the technique of Ohio Shaker pie (a traditional Americana pie, where thinly sliced lemons are tenderized without heat in sugar and a little salt) and key lime pie (the South’s best use of sweetened condensed milk, which naturally thickens with the acidity of the key lime juice). We tried as many different citrus fruits as possible, thinly sliced and layered with sugar into a pie shell, or juiced and stirred into sweetened condensed milk. Grapefruit was the clear winner, and it turns out that combining the two pie methods made for our favorite recipe—though instead of thinly slicing the grapefruit and candying it, we make grapefruit threads so you get the same tangy grapefruit pop in every bite of pie. This recipe is a little more involved than others in this chapter, but it’s delicious and worth a few more minutes of your time.

Concord grapes are one of the greatest things on God’s green earth. There really is no substitute for their fresh grapey flavor. Make this juice when the grapes are in season and then freeze it so you never have to live without it.

One of the first fall desserts ever put on the menu at Ssäm Bar was a riff on the poor man’s pb & j: peanut butter, Concord grape jelly, and a saltine panna cotta (page 191). We loved the Ritz crunch crust so much that the following fall, we presented the pb & j in a more straightforward pie, showcasing Concord grapes in another light, with Ritz crust bringing the same salty, starchy component as the saltine panna cotta.

Since most people don’t have a commercial Hawaiian shaved ice machine, this recipe has been adapted to make ice pops. Use molds or ice cube trays with standard wooden ice pop sticks, plastic spoons, swizzle sticks, or even chopsticks.

This classic Argentine condiment gets a bit of a Southwestern spin, making it ideal for brisket barbacoa tacos.

If you really want to replicate the Chef Shack’s most popular fall dish, go organic with the eggs and milk, try to get your hands on some bacon beer brats (they use Fischer Farms), and crisp up the bread in a deep fryer. If that sounds out of reach for you, your favorite pork sausage links will do, and a griddle or frying pan should work almost as well.

For the porchetta at the RoliRoti truck, Thomas uses a deboned pork middle, cutting out about half of the belly fat and leaving about 1/2 inch of fat on the loin. If you’re unable to find pork middle (a special request item, for sure), he suggests using a skin-on pork belly and wrapping the loin inside of it. Thomas also uses his signature rotisserie. Using a home version would be ideal, but this recipe has been adjusted so that it can be made in a standard oven.