Welcome to Mise en Place, a journey of culinary delight where anything can happen. Based on the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s list of food by month, KRCC takes a look at farmers, chefs, and fodder, all with a Centennial State bent.

Each month, the state’s agriculture department highlights a commodity and provides a recipe using that product. We take it a step further.

Colorado apples are out on a limb and ready for the pickin’. KRCC’s Ellen Mahoney headed up to the Fort Collins’ Farmer’s Market to meet with apple grower, Steve Ela of Ela Family Farms located in Hotchkiss. Ellen also visited the historic Chautauqua Dining Hall in Boulder and met with Pastry Chef Nick Webster, who prepared an apple cobbler.

All photos by Ellen Mahoney, except first two. The orchard pictures come courtesy of Steve Ela.

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Click below for the apple cobbler recipe from Nick Webster, and for a recipe for Tomato Apple Gastrique from the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

Apple Cobbler
Nick Webster, Pastry Chef, Chautauqua Dining Hall

Ingredients
8 apples, small diced
2 cups granulated sugar
3 oz butter
1 orange (zested & juiced)
3 tablespoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons whiskey

Streusel topping
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all streusel ingredients in a
bowl and mix with hands until butter is incorporated evenly. Set
aside. Next, dice all apples. In a medium-size rondo, add apples,
butter, orange zest, sugar, and saute while stirring occasionally.
Add cinnamon and whiskey and cook until al dente. Do not overcook
apples. Scoop apple mixture from rondo into small molds and sprinkle
tops with streusel topping. Bake 10-12 minutes. Serve hot with
vanilla ice cream.

Recipe from the Colorado Department of Agriculture

Tomato Apple Gastrique
Chef Jason K. Morse, C.E.C., Valley Country Club, Aurora, Colo.

Olive Oil
2 cups Grape Tomatoes, whole
4 ea. Fuji Apples, peeled and diced
1 tsp. Shallot, minced
2 tsp. Garlic, minced
2-1/4 cups Sugar
2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
1-1/2 cups White Balsam Vinegar
3-1/2 cups Chicken Stock
3-1/2 cups Veal Stock
1 Tbsp. Butter
Kosher Salt
White Pepper

Sauté tomatoes, apples, shallot and garlic in olive oil. Add sugar and cook until caramelized. Add wine and vinegar and reduce by half. Add both stocks and reduce until slightly thickened. Remove from heat, strain through chinoise and return to heat in new pan. Reduce stock until it coats the back of a spoon. Top with butter prior to serving. Adjust seasoning according to taste and serve with Colorado lamb loin.