Apple Strudel — Layers of Warmth on a Week Worth Remembering

A good week. I am documenting a good week because good weeks matter. Good weeks are the weeks where nothing dramatic happens and everything works and the family is healthy and the company is running and the toddler eats her dinner and the husband makes tea and the Sunday call with Kevin is long and lazy and full of nothing important. Good weeks are the substrate. Good weeks are the soil. Good weeks are where the roots grow.

Hana is at Korean school every Saturday and her vocabulary is blossoming. She sings Korean nursery rhymes in the car — imperfect, missing words, filling gaps with humming, the humming that James says I do too, the humming that is apparently genetic or learned or both. She sings about a bear and a rabbit and a moon. She sings the songs I did not know until I was twenty-five, the songs that were always waiting for me in a language I was always supposed to speak. She sings them at two. She sings them in a car seat in Seattle. The songs are hers. The songs were always hers. I gave them to her the only way I could: by finding them first, by learning them late, by making sure she learned them early.

Karen came on Saturday. She was tired — the Parkinson's fatigue is increasing, a side effect of the medication that manages the tremor but steals energy. She sat in the armchair and Hana brought her a book — a Korean picture book about a rabbit — and said, "Ka-Ka, read." Karen said, "Sweetheart, I can't read Korean." Hana said, "I read." And she did. She "read" the book to Karen — not reading, of course, but narrating the pictures in her mix of Korean and English: "Rabbit jump. Halmoni rabbit cook bap. Baby rabbit eat." Karen listened. Karen listened to her granddaughter narrate a Korean picture book in a kitchen in Wallingford and she held the book with both shaking hands and she listened and the listening was all the Korean she needed. The listening was enough.

The recipe this week is a simple Korean egg rice bowl — gyeran-bap — Hana's current favorite. Steamed rice in a bowl. Soy sauce, a drizzle. Sesame oil, a drizzle. A fried egg on top, runny yolk. Seaweed flakes. Sesame seeds. Mix everything together. The yolk breaks and coats the rice in gold. Hana eats this with her spoon — the silver spoon from Jisoo — and she says "bap" and she says "more" and the egg is golden and the rice is warm and the week is good. The good week is the recipe. The recipe is the good week. May there be many more.

The gyeran-bap is Hana’s — and it will keep being hers — but for the adults at the end of a week this full, I wanted something that took a little longer, something that felt like effort made visible, layers folded over something sweet and warm. Apple strudel is that kind of recipe for me: unhurried, fragrant, the kind of thing you make when you have the time and you’re grateful for it. Karen sat in the armchair and listened to Hana narrate a rabbit story, and later I made this, and the whole house smelled like cinnamon, and James made tea, and that was the end of a very good week.

Apple Strudel

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 6 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided
• 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 4 medium apples (Granny Smith or Honeycrisp), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup raisins (optional)
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Make the filling. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and raisins (if using). Set aside.
3. Toast the breadcrumbs. In a small skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add breadcrumbs and stir constantly until golden and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Layer the phyllo. Place one sheet of phyllo on a clean, lightly damp kitchen towel. Brush lightly with melted butter. Lay the next sheet on top and brush again. Repeat with remaining sheets, brushing each with butter.
5. Add breadcrumbs and filling. Sprinkle the toasted breadcrumbs evenly over the phyllo, leaving a 2-inch border on all sides. Arrange the apple filling in a log shape along the long edge nearest to you, leaving a 2-inch border at the ends.
6. Roll the strudel. Using the towel to help, fold the short ends of the phyllo over the filling, then roll the strudel away from you into a tight log. Transfer seam-side down to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the top and sides with remaining melted butter.
7. Bake. Bake for 30—35 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden brown and crisp.
8. Cool and serve. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Dust generously with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 275 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 43g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 165mg