The celebrated chef Alex Hitz knows a thing or two about creating a great Thanksgiving menu. But even he’s open to taking tips sometimes—especially when it comes from two other legends: Connie Wald and Audrey Hepburn.
Wald, the late, great Hollywood hostess, and Hepburn were close friends. It comes as no surprise that their time spent in the kitchen would also be creative—and voila, an apple confit recipe was born. Wald passed away in 2012, but not before sharing her confit recipe with Hitz (also a dear friend), who put his own spin on it. “Connie always said she ‘stole’ this recipe from Audrey,” he writes. “I added the onion, but the foundation was theirs.”
Check out the recipe for yourself, below.
Connie’s and Audrey’s and Alex’s Apple Confit
(Serves 12)
10 Red Delicious or Granny Smith apples, whichever look better
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thinly into half-moons
3 ½ cups sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup brandy
Peel, core, and cut each apple into 8 wedges. In a large heavy stockpot over medium-low heat, melt the butter. When the foaming has subsided, add the onions and cook them until they are translucent and softened but not colored, for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Add the apples, sugar, salt, lemon juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and brandy, and turn the heat all the way up until the mixture just starts to bubble. Turn it down to a very low simmer, and let the apples cook for 2½ hours until they are completely soft and there is only a very syrupy mixture still in the pan that has become very dark brown in color. Remove the mixture from the heat, let it cool, and refrigerate it overnight.
The following day, or up to 4 days later, reheat the confit very slowly on low before serving it alongside your turkey, or over vanilla ice cream.