I first saw Meryl Streep in 1979 in Kramer vs. Kramer and then in Sophie’s Choice. Both earned her Oscars. A wonderful string of movies followed: Manhattan, Silkwood, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, The Hours and Out of Africa, to name a few. In 1990 at the Screen Actors’ Guild national women’s conference, Streep spoke out against the Hollywood establishment over the issue of gender-based wage disparity and the dearth of roles for 40-something women. She continues to act, notably playing a grim-faced and relentlessly acerbic fashion magazine editor in The Devil Wears Prada.
Read Also
Beef demand drives cattle and beef markets higher
Prices for beef cattle continue to be strong across the beef value chain, although feedlot profitability could be challenging by the end of 2025, analyst Jerry Klassen says.
She has chosen some comedic roles. In It’s Complicated, she plays a divorced bakery owner who embarks on an affair with her ex-husband, who gives her a joint he wants to share with her later. But she smokes the joint with her architect and they end up in her bakery late one night, where she makes chocolate croissants, watching the laminated dough pass back and forth in the sheeting machine with stoned fascination and eating the warm pastries as dawn arrives, melted chocolate and crumbs festooning their clothes and the counter. In Julie & Julia, she turns in a tender and hilarious portrayal of food legend Julia Child as she attempts to publish her first cookbook, for which Streep received her 16th Oscar nomination.
I consider her one of the finest actors of her generation. I love how she moves from hilarity to serious in her roles — and because of all her roles, leading and supporting. She creates complex and believable characters who leave an impact, even when they are secondary to the plot.
Which brings us to apples. From star turn to supporting roles, apples are a constant presence in my kitchen. In their supporting roles, apples are legendary, adding character, sweetness, fibre, texture and flavour. At Christmas, I grated apples into the big bird’s stuffing. Last week when making muffins, I grated two Galas and diced one, caramelizing the dice with butter, nutmeg and maple syrup. This week when Mom was jonesing for coleslaw, apples worked their magic on curmudgeonly cabbage to make a slaw better than you can buy. Apples, ginger and lemon needed not a whole lot, beyond apple cider vinegar and a cinnamon stick, to simmer into chutney for next week’s curried chickpeas. But nothing tops apple pie, no matter if it’s a glamorous inverted tarte Tatin, a rustic galette, a streusel-topped deep-dish, or a two-crust-with-fluted-edges classic.
Apples are one of the few fruits I eat year-round. In midsummer, when I have recovered from my peach infatuation and the new-crop Macs are out, I eat apples to the exclusion of all else. Nothing can come between me and raw apples — except maybe apples in a crisp or cobbler, apples in a pie or tart, caramelized apples in a bread pudding (did I say that? I don’t even like bread pudding!), and apples in any kind of pastry at all. Like Streep, apples are a class act. First we eat, then let’s binge on Streep films.
Deep-dish apple pie and variants
Like Meryl Streep, this all-Canadian pie is adaptable. Single-crusted, topped with streusel, up-styled with a handful of frozen raspberries, it uses pat-in pastry. Or omit the pastry and make a crisp in individual containers or a large ceramic dish. To make tarte Tatin, caramelize quartered apples tightly packed in a cast iron pan, top with pastry, bake, and invert onto a platter. Or roll out the pastry and centre it on a parchment-lined baking sheet, add the apple mixture, and fold the pastry’s edges over top to make a galette, then bake. Serves 6-12.
Pasta frolla:
- ½ lb. unsalted butter, cool and malleable
- ½ c. white sugar
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- a pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp. ground ginger
- 1 orange, zest only, finely grated
- 2 -2 ½ c. flour
Streusel:
- ¼ c. flour
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- ¼ c. melted unsalted butter
Filling:
- 10 tart apples
- ½ c. frozen raspberries (optional) or Thompson seedless raisins or dried cranberries
- ¼ c. lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp. flour
- ¼ c. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground allspice
- ¼ tsp. ground cloves
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
To make the pastry:
Cream the butter and sugar in a food processor or mixer. Add the remaining ingredients, mixing long enough to develop a little gluten. Turn out and pat into a 9-inch springform pan with removable bottom or a deep pie pan. Chill.
To make the streusel:
Combine the streusel ingredients, blending with fingers or a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
To make the filling:
Peel and slice the apples. Toss in a large bowl with the raspberries, raisins or cranberries. In a smaller bowl, mix together the lemon juice, flour, sugar and spices. Stir into the apples. Pour the mixture into the prepared pastry.
Set the oven at 425 F. Cover the pie with foil, place on a baking sheet and bake, immediately reducing the oven temperature to 375. After 45 minutes remove the foil lid, evenly distribute the streusel, and bake another 30 minutes, until crusty and brown. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.
