Double Apple Strudel and Inglourious Basterds

October is here! I am full of excitement. This is the month of spooky stories, golden late-afternoon sunlight pouring through flaming trees, and dark, still nights when you can practically feel the spirits that supposedly walk the Earth on Halloween surrounding you. In terms of baking, though, do you know what I love best about October? APPLES! Apple season is largely in September in my part of New England, and during the month of October I love to think of new recipes featuring the fruit I harvested the past month. I went apple picking last Thursday, September 29th, a date which coincidentally contains two apple-related holidays this year: Michaelmas (an old European harvest festival honoring St. Michael the Archangel) and Rosh Hashana (the Jewish new year, where apples and honey are eaten to ensure a sweet year). It rained that day, but I had a ton of fun scampering through the misty fields with my family, picking the juiciest-looking apples and enjoying cider donuts in the farm's rustic wooden kitchen. No other fruit says harvest or autumn to me quite like apples.

I decided to make an apple strudel to honor my favorite fall fruit. And I can think of only one movie that suitably displays this recipe: Quentin Tarantino's Oscar-nominated epic Inglourious Basterds. That film, if you remember, showcased a absolutely delicious strudel in a scene which otherwise radiated with suspense and apprehension. Inglourious Basterds is one of my favorite films. I didn't think that I would like it, because I am very squeamish when it comes to blood (I once had to leave my sixth-grade classroom because we were watching a documentary about prehistoric animals attacking each other. It was embarrassing), but Tarantino doesn't rely on violence as much in Inglourious Basterds as he does on clever conversations regarding how cinema distorts images of war. I know some people had problems with the film's historically inaccurate ending, but Inglourious Basterds is supposed to be a fable, a revenge fantasy. I think Tarantino has made an excellent movie about World War II movies. Here are Dan's thoughts.

Inglourious Basterds


Think of The Dirty Dozen as only Quentin Tarantino could see it and you have Inglourious Basterds, an ingenious reimagining of WWII which ends the way many wish it could have. Yes, Inglourious Basterds is fantasy wish-fulfillment in the same way that the flag-waving cartoons from the era were. But it's much more than that and what makes the movie so special is precisely its untidy category.

It's easier to say what the film is not and that is a war picture, at least not in the strictest sense of the word. There are no battle scenes and minimal geopolitical babble. Instead, it focuses on the individuality of the characters and it's one of the first movies about WWII in which I can boldly remember the names and personalities of the characters.

Of course, no one who sees Brad Pitt's Lt. Aldo Raine could forget this grizzled war maverick. A renegade who wears his Appalachian origin and Native American heritage on his sleeve, Raine fights his own war and organizes a Nazi hunt employing a motley crew of Jewish-American soldiers who are ordered to find Nazis and bring back their scalps.

This would be enough to satisfy any movie and it did once, the aforementioned The Dirty Dozen. But if you know Tarantino you know his movies are layered labyrinths with no one character hogging the spotlight. Predominant in our memories is Christoph Waltz as the despicable Col. Hans Landa, nicknamed "the Jew Hunter." He is a snake with slow-killing poison. He not only kills but seems to enjoy tormenting his victims. So horrifying is this character, made especially frightening by Waltz's brilliant performance, that his final comeuppance actually leaves us wanting more. It comes in the hands not only of the titular Basterds, but also with the help of a young woman (Melanie Laurent) who lost her family to Landa's men.

Revenge is sweet. But since Tarantino has made it one of the major themes in his canon of work, it has also become fascinating and Laurent's revenge on the Third Reich is an ingenious scheme with gripping suspenseful moments. And because this is under the direction of the most brilliant movie junkie in the world, you can be sure it will contain references to films as far-out as The Wizard of Oz. Oh, and if the alternate history presented here troubles you, there are many other explanations drawn from real-known facts to make the ending more compatible with the history books. So do yourself a favor and enjoy Inglourious Basterds. It's in many ways Quentin Tarantino's magnum opus and, ironically enough, the more you know about WWII the more fun you are bound to have.

Thanks, Dan! And now for the strudel.

This apple strudel came from The Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. Whoever says diet recipes are blah will eat their words (ha ha) after they try this strudel. Trust me, while it doesn't look as pretty as the strudel in Inglourious Basterds, it is delicious. I have never tried a better strudel in my life. I don't know what gave it the extra-oomph, if it was the dried apples that were added along to the fresh apples or the gingersnap cookie crust. I just know that it was delectable. My family bemoaned its loss. So if you're going to watch Inglourious Basterds, make sure that you make this strudel first to accompany it. It's a must.

Double Apple Strudel
Adapted from Weight Watchers: The New Complete Cookbook 
Ingredients:

• 3 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
• 18 slices coarsely chopped dried apple
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. dark raisins
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup walnuts
• 4 gingersnap cookies
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 12 sheets phyllo dough, room temperature

1) To make the filling, combine the apples, dried apple, raisins, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and water in a large nonstick skillet. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally until the apples tenderize and the mixture becomes thick. Stir in the vanilla. Let the mixture cool completely.

2) In a blender, combine the walnuts and gingersnap cookies until they resemble crumbs.

3) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a big cookie pan with nonstick spray. Reserve 2 tsp. of the melted butter for later. Place a sheet of phyllo dough on a dry towel (keep the remaining phyllo covered with a damp towel). Brush the sheet lightly with a little bit of butter. Top with another sheet of phyllo. Brush that sheet lightly with a little bit of butter, then sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. of the crumbs. Repeat this using all of the phyllo sheets, crumb mixture, and butter, ending with the phyllo.

4) Spoon the apple filling over the phyllo, making sure to leave a 2-in. border. Starting at the wide end, and using the towel to help you, roll the strudel jelly-roll style, making sure the filling is enclosed. Place seam-side down on the pan and brush the top with the reserved 2 tsp. of butter. Make 11 shallow cuts through the top layers of the phyllo dough, being careful not to cut down into the filling. Baking 40-45 minutes or until golden. Cool for at least 10 minutes. Cut at the scored sections.

Next week: Not sure yet, but something involving pumpkin and a Halloween-themed film