MING: This week on Simply Ming, we're on the road in upstate New York, in the Hudson Valley, and this show is about apples, apples, and apples.

Chef, that is a freaking good apple.

Mmm.

Today I'm joined by chef Ric Orlando, chef and partner of New World Bistro Bar in Albany.

He's also known around here as the pioneer of Hudson Valley farm-to-table cooking.

He'll be making a kale salad with apple chutney, curry vinaigrette, and goat cheese.

When I had my first kale salad, I did not like it, and I thought about the bitterness and the metallic flavors of kale and how to tame them.

MING: I'll be making a pork wonton ginger soup with some apple noodles.

All right, chef, check this out.

Look at that, look at that.

MING: So this is a spiralizer.

Watercress.

We'll use scallions.

Lemon juice just pops that watercress-- beautiful.

MING: We're on the road right now here on Simply Ming.

♪ ♪ Hey, Ming, how are you?

MING: Hey, Ric, Ming Tsai.

Nice to see you, man.

Nice to see you, too, man.

Welcome to my Hudson Valley.

MING: Beautiful!

Perfect day.

MING: And you got a lot of apples.

Oh, my God.

MING: A lot of apples.

This is Northeast apple country.

MING: Fantastic.

I want you to meet my friend, Jeff, Jeff Crist.

MING: Jeff, how are you?

Ming Tsai.

How are you?

Good to meet you.

MING: Pleasure.

Thanks for being here.

Apples in his family for five generations.

MING: No kidding.

He's the man.

MING: This is your... this is your office?

Our family has been farming here since the 1960s, and we've been growing apples in the Hudson Valley since 1883.

MING: So talk to me about it, because there's a whole bunch...

I mean, like, for example, how many varieties do you have here?

There's about 30 cider apple varieties.

This is the largest cider planting in the Hudson Valley.

MING: Nice.

And we're working closely with Greg Peck from Cornell, a scientist looking at... MING: My alma mater.

...apples grown for cider.

Yes, mine, too.

MING: Major difference-- talk to me-- cider apples versus apples we eat.

Well, one of the new exciting components of the apple industry is the apples for using in cider.

And this is a bittersweet apple, the Golden Russet, I was just looking at as you joined me here.

And I'd like to suggest you try one.

MING: Sure.

How are they?

It might taste a little bit tart, a little bit acidy.

I like tart.

Give it a try here.

It reminds me of the apples growing up.

MING: It's really tannic, right?

I mean, like, it's taken all the saliva out of my mouth, gone.

But not as tart... like it's not like a lemon tart.

It's apple-y, it's apple-y.

MING: It's apple-y, but tart.

So what do you look for for a cider apple?

Well, we're looking for productivity, of course, but quality that meets what they need for making cider.

MING: Right.

So this is an older orchard, the history is for culinary use, for fresh use, at your grocery store.

But these trees have been... were replanted about 50 years ago.

And they've developed a beautiful root system.

So rather than push out the tree and have to start over, we're using a process known as grafting.

It takes some wood from the cider trees and bond that into the existing culinary trees.

MING: Literally put the two together.

And if I may, I'd like to show you a little bit how that's done.

MING: I've never grafted, so... Love to see it.

We take a little piece of the cider tree, and under these leaves are the buds for next year's growth.

MING: Right.

You actually literally take this and bond it?

Yes.

Stick them together.

Yes.

And under the skin is the cambium, which is the growing point of the apple tree right here between the bark and the wood.

MING: Right.

We mesh that onto the cambium of the culinary variety and seal it up.

MING: And you glue it or tie it together?

Yep, a little bit of tape and a little bit of compound to seal it, to keep it from drying out.

MING: Literally hybrid.

And these buds will take off and basically make a new tree.

As we figure out the best cider varieties, we'll emphasize those in our grafting and new plantings.

Celebrating diversity with apples-- I love it.

(laughter) MING: What's going on here, doc?

This is an example of a cider wood that was grafted from that little stick I showed you a few... MING: So those two sticks that you showed us a second ago, this is what it ends up being.

And that bud I said would grow is what grew since May of this year.

MING: So what apple is this?

This is a McIntosh tree, a traditional culinary variety.

And we're taking these great roots that are underneath the ground we're standing on.

So this will grow, and we'll continue to cut this down and make a Dabinett tree.

MING: Awesome.

And are these ready?

Can we pick them?

Are these ready to eat?

Yes, these are... this is a culinary variety McIntosh.

Well, let me get a couple here.

MING: I'll get one.

I'll hand one off to Ric.

MING: Color matters, right?

The redder... That's a sign of maturity, yes, yes, and sweetness.

MING: How long does this take?

To grow?

MING: Yeah.

It bloomed back in May, grew this summer, three months.

Look at the yield on that tree-- unbelievable.

How's that?

MING: Chef, that is a freaking good apple.

So juicy.

Can you believe it?

MING: Thank you.

Chef, you're awesome.

I appreciate all your hard work.

I appreciate...

I appreciate the result.

Yeah.

MING: But, chef, we need to go get some more ingredients, right?

I'm going to take you to Davenport Farms.

MING: Okay.

Great farm market slightly north of here, we'll get some good stuff.

Bring some apples along, too.

MING: Thanks, chef.

Good to see you.

MING: Thanks.

I'm going to steal these.

Let's go.

Absolutely, take them away.

MING: Appreciate it.

Glad you came.

Ming, this place, Davenport Farms, awesome-- everything's... you can see where it's grown.

MING: It looks amazing.

Right-- look at these.

MING: And these are al l from literally local.

Local-- I mean, a lot of it's their own farm, most of it is.

MING: Fantastic heirlooms.

What do you need?

Do you need garlic?

MING: I need garlic, yeah.

A couple garlic, fantastic.

These are local, right?

Oh, yeah.

MING: Love it.

Perfect time of year.

MING: What are you doing?

I need some green pepper.

MING: Okay.

For the bitter, and some red pepper for the sweet.

MING: Okay.

And then I need some kale.

MING: I need some fennel.

Let's go.

MING: Over here.

In the greens aisle.

Here's your fennel.

MING: Fennel away.

I'm going to do some Lacinato and some red Russian kale, so we have a combination in the salad.

All right?

MING: Okay, awesome.

Beautiful.

MING: I'm psyched.

I have what I need.

I'm good to go.

MING: Let's cook-- come on.

Chef, well, here's some cider from Jeffrey.

We worked all day for this.

MING: We did.

This is what we're here for.

MING: It's been a hot one.

All right, dude, what's your dish?

A kale salad.

MING: Got it.

But not just a kale salad.

A kale salad that works with Indian flavors and ingredients from the Hudson Valley.

We're going to make an apple chutney.

We're going to make a batch of curried cashews, and a little curry vinaigrette.

MING: Let's go going.

Okay, so what we're going to need for this... MING: Can I chop for you?

Yes.

I need some diced onion and diced pepper.

And not too small, because we want some texture in the chutney, but small enough.

MING: So why Indian?

Do you have Indian... do you love the cuisine?

I love the cuisine.

I love global cuisine.

I love all the great spicy foods from around the world.

But, also, when I had my first kale salad, I did not like it.

And I thought about the bitterness and the metallic flavors of kale and how to tame them, and I found that Indian flavors, the sweetness of the garam masala, the perfumes of the spices really tame it.

MING: Love it.

So when those onions are chopped, we're going to go straight into the wok with them with some garlic.

I'm going to put a little bit of sunflower oil in the pan.

And you can use any kind of oil you want.

If you want to use veg oil, neutral oil...

I wouldn't bother using extra virgin olive oil on something like this, because it would just be overpoweringly strong.

So I'm going to put some lightly minced garlic in here.

And we're going to sweat it a bit.

And what I want to do ... let's turn this up a bit.

I'm going to get the... MING: I assume you want these apples diced, chef?

Yes-- I'm not going to add the peppers to the chutney until I've added the spices.

One of the things I love... MING: Why is that?

Well, what I learned in Indian cooking a lot is you want to bloom your spices, right?

So I'm going to add them to the onions, and I'm going to add them to the garlic, and let them kind of open up, let the flavors... and we're using three primary spices in here, although one of them is a mix of six.

MING: Right.

One is good curry powder.

I make my own.

MING: You make your own?

Yeah.

It's got fenugreek, turmeric, coriander, a little bit of fennel.

Oh, I make I make a lot of my own spices now, because I love just doing it.

I'm going to put a couple of nice spoonfuls.

MING: Plus you smartly just closed a restaurant of 25 years.

I closed a restaurant of 20 years.

You have more time.

I have a little more time.

You know, I have to tell you something-- even in the restaurant, we made a lot of our own blends.

MING: Did you?

I've got cumin here.

I've got allspice, and I've got curry.

So the cumin I also grind myself.

And if you see, I leave it a little bit on the coarse side so there's some texture, and I'm going to put about a heaping teaspoon.

Take a whiff of how strong that is when you do it yourself, right?

MING: Ah, that's amazing.

I always talk about grinding coffee.

You grind your beans, and then you make your pot of coffee...

It's a different animal.

MING: It's so much better than the ground coffee that you bought in the store.

Absolutely.

MING: It was ground, you know...

Absolutely.

MING: ...in Hoboken, New Jersey, or somewhere.

I'm going to do the same thing here.

Now, this is allspice, so we're going put a teaspoon of allspice.

And we're going to let this come together.

This is already getting where I want.

You could... if this was... MING: Smells amazing.

...in smell around, you would smell it all, right?

MING: It smells amazing.

So let's get these bell peppers.

MING: You need this, too, chef, right?

A little bit of green.

We're going to add a little bit of green.

MING: So green, you... you think green is a little bit more vegetal and red's a little sweeter, or what do you think?

Exactly.

The bitter and the sweet.

Green peppers have a beautiful bitter flavor.

You know, I'm southern Italian, so I have a great appreciation for bitter.

Bitter's in my DNA.

And I like to add bitter flavors.

Just like adding salt to a dessert, I find, like, bitter flavors accentuate the sweetness of things.

MING: Oh, it's so true.

Right, so that's part of the psychology of this dish.

and because you've got sweet onions, as the onions cook down, they get sweeter and sweeter, and with those spices on there.

So how are we looking on apples?

Do you want me to jump in and help a bit?

MING: Yeah, oh, ab... hello, it's your recipe!

Come on, are you sure?

MING: It's your recipe.

All right, we're going to keep cutting these apples.

So then once you get these apples in, how long does it cook for?

You want to cook this down for about anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes, depending upon how soft your apples are.

Get the rest of the apples in there.

And now we're just going to activate all these flavors.

We're going to add a pinch of salt, and a squeeze of lemon.

And then we're going to add our sweet and sour.

So the lemon's going to help, again, pick up the flavor.

MING: Right.

And now we're going to add cider vinegar.

MING: It smells awesome.

Oh, my God.

I make my own.

Smell that.

From the cider that we were just at, from the farm we just were at.

MING: Dude, you're doing apple times 12-- I love it.

You know, you know... MING: So cider vinegar, and what's that?

And we're going to use some molasses.

Now, molasses really... MING: "Some molasses."

You work for the molasses board?

Yeah, well, we've got plenty of acid in there.

And we're going to give this time to just kind of... a little bit of brown sugar, and we're going to let it sweat down, probably about 35 to 40 minutes, until the apples get tender.

Everything comes together.

These apples are tart, and that's why I went heavy on the molasses.

MING: So good, awesome.

And look at this.

This is beautiful already.

MING: Beautiful.

But once it cooks down... MING: All right, we're going to let that cook down, about 35, 40 minutes until it's perfect, and when we come back we're going to finish your salad.

You got it, babe.

MING: Stick around.

That looks good, too.

Look at that chutney, right?

MING: So 40 minutes.

Look at that.

May I try?

Yeah.

The apples broke right down.

They're beautiful.

MING: Oh, my gosh, that's good.

It's balanced-- a little sweet, a little salty.

MING: You said it-- Thanksgiving turkey, prime rib, piece of salmon, awesome.

All right, what's next?

All right, so what makes this salad pop?

We're going to add some curried cashews.

MING: Okay.

Took some raw cashews, roasted them in the oven for about 15 minutes at about 350 just to get them nice and golden brown.

We're going to use some of these.

The rest of these, we don't need them all-- put this aside.

And all we're going to do for this is really simple.

The cashews are still warm.

We're going to add melted butter.

And you can do this vegan if you want to use oil, but I like butter, because everything sticks.

Give them a toss.

If you don't know how to do this at home, learn, okay.

Because that's how you toss it the right way.

Let's get a little bit of fresh homemade curry powder in there.

I'll put it around the edge of the bowl.

Watch this little trick.

Salt around the edge of the bowl, and turbinado sugar around the edge of the bowl.

MING: Very edgy, chef.

I'm an edgy dude.

And then we're going to spin it around like this so it tosses evenly.

Now... MING: You know what, chef?

I've been around 54 years.

I learned something today.

I want to pop something.

MING: Well done.

I love that, the edge of the bowl trick.

Now let's pop this rosemary.

The rosemary's going to add an earthiness, taking curry to the next level.

I need about a teaspoon of minced rosemary.

I'm going to put it right in there.

I'm going to chew.

Mmm.

MING: I can smell those-- those smell awesome.

Delicious.

A little more of this.

MING: So just a teaspoon.

Yeah, about a teaspoon.

You don't want a ton.

You're not making rosemary, but you're adding this aromatic pop.

You get a little bite, you'll be happy.

There you go.

Great.

One more spin, go around the circle.

Oops.

Okay.

Now, if I were at home, I'd lay these out on a sheet and let them just dry for an hour.

But we're going to put them right in our salad in a few short minutes.

MING: All right, so vinaigrette.

Vinaigrette, real simple.

MING: Shallot?

We need fresh shallot in there and lemon juice.

And want me to climb around you?

MING: No, go.

You can go right here.

You're good.

We're going to start with our acid.

Now, because we're doing apple day, I've got cider vinegar like crazy.

This is made with New York apples.

MING: So just rough chop, right, chef, because you're pureeing this?

Rough chop, yeah.

It's going in the Cuisinart, the Cuisinart's going to do all the work.

We're going to add a squeeze of lemon to accentuate the acidity of the apples.

A little bit of garam masala.

You want to add salt and pepper to this on your end.

And some brown sugar.

and we're going to do a simple... you can drop them right down the chute.

MING: You want a little more shallot, no?

Yeah, a little more.

Drop them right down the chute there.

And we'll crank this guy up.

Oops.

Simple emulsification with neutral oil again.

I'm not using... oh, no, wait.

We're not using neutral oil for this.

We have something special.

MING: We do?

Let me tell you about it, yes.

MING: Oh, you got this puppy.

We're going to use curry oil.

MING: Explain-- what is it?

So this is curry oil that I make simply by putting curry powder in some hot water, right from the teapot, about a tablespoon of each.

MING: Got it.

And then I pour vegetable oil over it, and I let it sit.

And within a day or two, your oil has this beautiful aromatic curry flavor.

So now, crank it up.

And we're going to introduce it in a slow, steady stream, classic vinaigrette method, making an emulsification.

And the ratio should be, with most vinaigrettes, about three parts fat to one part acid.

So there we go.

MING: It looks awesome.

All right.

We should be just about there.

A little more.

Now, when you make these curry oils or any other spice oil, you throw out the sludge at the end.

You let it kind of sit for a few days, get the flavor.

What do you got?

MING: Oh, it's delicious.

Poppin'?

Good.

Good, good, good.

MING: Okay.

So now we put it together.

MING: Here you go, chef.

So we have this beautiful kale.

I'm using two types of kale.

I'm using Lacinato or dinosaur kale.

And I'm using red Russian kale, which is much more delicate, simpler to digest, easy on the system.

We're going to add some of these curry cashews right into the salad.

I like my salads to have everything kind of together when I'm eating it.

I like to encounter my stuff as I go, right?

The last thing we're going to add to this is... well, first we're going to add some apple chutney right to the salad.

Put it right in the salad.

It's a little warm, it's going to help wilt it.

Put about two ounces of dressing in there.

That should be plenty.

And now.... MING: Is that enough?

Maybe a little more, a little more.

Maybe me three ounces, that's good.

That looks good.

Now let's add some of this goat cheese right here.

This is beautiful Hudson Valley goat cheese.

And I'm going to put it in, but I want it tossed in the salad.

I don't want it sitting on top.

It's going to add a consistency.

It's going to work with that chutney.

MING: So you're actually creaming it, so to speak?

Almost-- loosely, roughly, kind of rustically.

And you want to get in there, and you want to be... you want to be kind of cruel to the kale.

You want to beat it up a little bit, help break it down, and make it more digestible, and actually more delicious to eat.

And if you have some cool plates, I have some cool salad.

Let me just taste, hold on.

MING: We do.

Oh, I'm on the money.

I'm good at this.

Good salad.

MING: I would hope so, chef.

All right, so let's go.

MING: And what a great house, right?

What's the history of this place?

This is 7M2K, 7 Miles to Kingston.

This is a 300-year-old farmhouse.

MING: Fantastic.

South of Kingston.

And my good friend Konstanze's turned it into a fabulous place to hang out, to play, to eat.

MING: It's fantastic.

We'll be doing some dinners here.

So you see, you've got a nice consistency here.

MING: Dude, that looks so good.

Right?

And that's the bottom line, man.

Food, it can look sexy, but if it looks like you want to just dive in and eat it, that's what it's all about.

MING: Oh, dude, that looks so good.

Now, unfortunately, we can't eat this yet, because we're going to be civilized and sit down at a table?

Oh, really?

MING: Yeah, really, I know.

Chefs don't do that.

MING: I know.

Chefs do not do that.

MING: I know, but we're in an 18th-century home, right?

You're right, you're right.

MING: But I'm going to make a quick pork and wonton soup.

Can you help me out with that?

I'll be your sous chef, you bet.

MING: And then we need to sit down and maybe drink some cider and eat some food.

You bet, I'm in.

MING: Stick around.

I'm in.

MING: Chef, I can't wait to eat your salad, dude.

Looks so good.

What are you making?

MING: So I'm doing a pork and fennel wonton that's going to be in this ginger scallion broth deglazed with rosé cider.

Okay.

Sounds great.

MING: And chicken stock added.

So in here, as you can see, I've already caramelized some scallions and ginger.

A little bit of rosé.

Nice.

MING: Just to deglaze.

Nice.

MING: Right?

Yeah.

Who needs Chinese cooking wine when you have rosé cider?

MING: Exactly.

By the way, do me some... give me half of this brunoise that goes in with the pork.

My pork's in the fridge.

And then separate white and green for me, thinly sliced.

You want the pork now?

I'll get it for you.

Hold on a second.

Get that out of the way.

MING: So, just letting this reduce by 50%, which is about now.

Then just low sodium chicken stock.

So, chef, this is going to be the broth that we're serving it in.

And it's also going to be the broth we're actually going to boil the wontons in.

Oh, great.

MING: I actually want to... One pot cooking, I like that.

MING: One pot cooking.

And I actually like the starch coming off the wonton skins.

They're going to give it a little bit of, you know, thickness to it.

No, I agree.

MING: A little naturally brewed soy sauce, right?

Just a touch.

Of course, beautiful.

MING: You don't need salt when you have naturally brewed soy sauce.

All right, so we're going to let this simmer, come down about 20%.

Fantastic.

So here we have...

I'm going to add your fennel.

I have a little bit of minced ginger and minced garlic.

Going into the bowl with the pork?

MING: That goes into the bowl with the pork.

That's where your flavor is.

I'll take... yeah.

More?

MING: No, that's perfect.

So some scallion whites, please, chef.

Literally, like, a third of a teaspoon.

This is a tablespoon in my hand, right?

That's it.

That's all you need of soy sauce.

Mix that up.

Nice.

MING: So the fennel, what you did will, of course, will add moisture to the pork, right?

Mm-hmm.

MING: So just a touch of salt and pepper.

Scallion whites in?

MING: Please.

All right, you ever make wontons?

All the time.

MING: Really?

Oh, yeah.

MING: I thought you were from southern Italy.

I cook global food.

MING: That's right, you call them rav... You call them tortellinis, or tortellonos.

No, I cook food from all over the world.

I love everything.

My whole restaurant brand is new world.

It's the cuisine of the immigrants.

Whatever they... whatever I try in a little mom and pop restaurant, I want to cook myself.

MING: Awesome.

I'm going to add just a touch of sambal, sambal oelek.

Yes, there it is, my favorite.

MING: Spicy, delicious.

But it has so much umami, so much flavor.

MING: I love it.

And this will give... this is going to give it a good little kick, all right?

So we're going to go ahead and make some wontons.

I'll show you how I make them.

Show me show me your demonstration.

MING: I'm sure yours is just as good.

MING: Wonton skins.

Okay, show me your wonton... you're the king of wontons.

You show me.

MING: Buy these, guys, right?

I mean, they cost a dollar for a pack of 100.

Why make them yourself?

It's fresh pasta.

So you take about a heaping teaspoon, right?

I take egg wash.

This is just water and egg on the half, okay?

Then fold it over, make a triangle.

Like that.

Right?

Then with the same glue, just on one end...

I guess they call these a Pope's cap.

I don't know what they call them.

Give them the flip, right?

MING: Right, give them that little flip, not that hard.

You have two skins there, chef.

Oh, do I?

MING: Yeah, you're doing like the tacos.

So we're going to make about... let's see, you look... you look like you're hungry.

We're going to make six of these, all right?

And what are you going to eat?

MING: (laughs) That's pretty good, chef.

Well, I already have my two done.

How many do you have done?

I don't know-- I can't get them apart.

There you go.

You gave me the glued ones.

MING: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Wonton parties.

MING: All right, so this is good.

That looks great.

MING: I'll get our broth.

I'm going to turn it just down when simmering, because guess what?

We're going to cook the wonton in the broth and get the broth a little bit thicker, all right?

So like that.

All right, boom.

Boom.

MING: One, two, three.

All right, chef.

Yeah, chef.

MING: Four, five.

All right, we'll get the sixth one in there.

Fantastic.

We're going to get six wontons, and it's going to take about... One more-- it's going to be seven.

One for good luck, all right?

MING: It's going to take about four minutes to cook, and then we get to plate up the dish.

Stick around-- we've got some apple noodles, too.

Apple noodles?

MING: Yeah.

All right, chef, check this out.

Look at that, look at that.

MING: So this is a Zoodle or a spiralizer.

These are my apple noodles.

So grab my bowls in the oven, please.

So we're going to do a noodle wonton, or wonton noodle soup, right, as we call them.

Thank you.

So my noodles, obviously gluten free, my noodles are apple, right?

That's pretty cool.

MING: All right.

Yo, that's very cool actually, right?

MING: All right, chef, get that big ladle.

Give me three wontons and some broth.

Oh, that's not that hot.

Oh, no, this is not even close to chef hot.

MING: Exactly.

I'm liking that.

I'm liking the looks of this.

That looks awesome.

What a great way to use the apples, huh?

MING: A little watercress, a little scallions.

I think we're in business, Chef.

Yeah, we're looking good, man.

Good, because I'm getting hungry.

MING: I am starving.

Yeah, there you go.

A little watercress, a little of your scallion.

A little bit of lemon juice.

Chef.

The lemon juice just pops that watercress-- beautiful.

Nice dish.

MING: We are going to eat.

Come on, buddy.

Let's go.

MING: Drink some cider, eat some food.

Chef.

Ming.

MING: We've worked hard for this.

Cheers.

That was a party today.

MING: Yes.

I loved it.

I love that.

MING: I can't wait to eat your food.

And what a beautiful dining room-- I love it.

That's what the Hudson Valley is all about-- great modern sensibility, and old real estate, perfect.

MING: Oh, my God.

Chef, this is spot on.

I love it, because you melted the goat cheese.

You creamed it.

Right.

MING: Kind of.

Sort of.

I left some chunks, I left some surprises.

MING: Right-- usually it's just chunks, but here...

I actually like it because your chutney's a little warm, so I can kind of draw it down.

But the three levels of curry?

I use it.

Appreciate it, thank you.

And this...

The cider, the way it picks up in this broth, delicious.

Normally, you resort to sherry or Chinese cooking wine.

The apple cider is really delicious in there.

Let me try the dumplings.

MING: Delicious.

And the anise in the fennel... Spot on.

Perfect.

MING: We should do this for a living.

You know, one of these days.

MING: Chef, cheers to you, man.

Thank you so much.

Love the Hudson Valley.

Thanks for coming to my neighborhood.

MING: I'm going to check you out at your restaurant in Albany next time I'm there.

I'm looking forward to it.

MING: And all of out there, come to the Hudson Valley.

It is remarkable.

And, as always, peace and good eating.