Cooking with the Pfister’s Robert Ash

Wisconsin’s apple harvest is in and the holidays are near. Chef Robert Ash, executive chef at the Pfister Hotel, knows just what to do with those red and green fruits that until lately ornamented trees around the state.

We caught up with chef Ash at the Pfister’s Mason Street Grill. He showed us how to make his Wisconsin Apple Salad, which is available in some form in the fall and winter throughout the Pfister Hotel’s dining rooms, features apples from Elegant Farmer, Apple Holler and some orchards Up North.

“We go for local growers and sustainability,” Ash said. “We use a mix of apples, like Honeycrisp and Granny Smiths, to balance sweet/tart. We see which growers have what. For this salad, we stay away from softer, mealier apples, like Delicious. We also use local honey and maple syrup.”

All apples discolor quickly when cut. Ash recommends cutting the apples last and serving the salad immediately. If you must wait, cover the cut apple with a solution of six parts water to one part lemon juice.

He uses a creamy, Danish-style blue cheese for this recipe.

“A lot of classic flavors are in this salad — nuts and fruits and honey,” he said. “They work well together, and the tartness of the vinaigrette balances the sweetness.”

Ash dressed the salad by pouring the vinaigrette in a ring near the perimeter of the bowl.

“Don’t dump it right in the middle,” he said. “That makes it soggy. Many people overdress salads. You want a light coating.”

Like most chefs these days, Ash is not dogmatic about his recipes. He noted that the apple salad becomes vegan when you take out the cheese. And that is becomes nut-free when take out the nuts. (But you knew that, right?) And it works with less specific mixes of greens, too, as long as some bitter greens are in the mix.

Wisconsin Apple Salad
by Chef Robert Ash

Ingredients
3 cups watercress lettuce
6 oz. Maytag or Danish blue cheese
Candied walnuts (per recipe below)
Spiced maple vinaigrette (per recipe below)
1 each Wisconsin apple
1 head red Belgian endive, julienne

Method

• Cut and wash watercress lettuce and then toss with the blue cheese crumbles, candied walnuts, Belgian endive and vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper.

Candied Walnuts
3 each egg whites room temp
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ cup powdered sugar
12 oz walnuts

Method

• Whip egg whites to a soft peak add the cinnamon, nutmeg, and powder sugar, add nuts and shake off any excess.
• Place on a silpat mat to dry, bake in an 275° oven for 1-2 hour or until dry.
• Remove and cool completely.

Maple Vinaigrette

½ cup apple cider
½ cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/8 cup honey
1/8 cup dijon mustard
1 small shallot finely diced
Salt & pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup grapeseed oil

Method

• Mix all ingredients except the grapeseed oil in a blender. Then add the oil slowly at the end with the blender running.

What to Drink?

The vinegar in salad dressings always makes wine pairing tricky. I usually give up and recommend sparkling water to accompany salads. But Ash has some ideas for this one.

“A pinot noir, or a French Rhone would work,” he said. “So would a wine cocktail.”

This one, for example, courtesy of bartender Jason Schmieding, of the Pfister’s Blu.

Vignette Martini
by Jason Schmieding
3 oz Ciroc vodka
¾ oz lemon juice
¾ oz simple syrup
1 oz Vignette pinot noir wine country soda
½ oz red verjus
Lemon twist garnish
Martini glass

Method

Shake the vodka, verjus, lemon juice and simple syrup in a shaker with ice, strain into martini glass, top with the soda and rim glass with lemon twist and garnish.
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