Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of five articles on food profiles. 

Now that the hectic presidential election is finally over (and with a stunning result — for crying out loud, Donald Trump is going to be in office this January!), we can get back to what’s important: cooking.

I know I haven’t posted a food column in a while, what with wearing my ‘Make America Great Again’ T-shirt and walking around school and to write about people’s reactions and what not, but it’s time to stop regressing and move into one of the most important topics any aspiring chef should know about, and that is food profiles.

A food profile, in my definition, is basically having the knowledge of which ingredient combinations can be used to enhance a single food or flavor. You probably hear it all the time on Food Network when chefs say something like “I know every food profile,” or “No, that doesn’t go with that profile.” They basically mean they know which food is best paired with another — thus creating a food profile.

Example: Instead of just having cereal with milk, adding Nutella, blueberries, or brown sugar to make it tastier is a cereal is a food profile — those ingredients are used or associated with cereal to enhance its flavor. You could technically say you know the food profile of cereal.

Now that we know what a food profile is, let’s get into today’s profile: apples.

Apples are most commonly used in various pastries and desserts, but can also be used for savory flavors such as in apple chutney, apple fennel salad, etc. This is the time when we have to ask ourselves, what is apple most commonly used with in desserts? What gives it that delicious flavor?

To find any profile lets first look at recipes that use apple and determine from there what most of these recipes have in common.

• Apple strudel that uses apples, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, pecans, raisins, cornstarch, and sometimes rum.
• Apple pie which use apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, sugar baked in a flaky pie crust.
• Apple turnovers use apple, cinnamon, lemon juice, and brown sugar as a filling.
• Apple fritters- apple, brown sugar, vanilla, powdered sugar, cinnamon, oil.

We can now assume most apple desserts that have that delicious, gooey, and mushy apple filling can be made with cinnamon and brown sugar.

Whenever I make apple strudel, pies, turnovers, tart, or fritters, I no longer need to go through Google and go searching for a decent recipe. By just knowing cinnamon and brown sugar give apple that desired flavor, I can simply mix chopped apples with cinnamon and brown sugar and roll it in Phyllo sheets to make a easy strudel, or fill a pie crust with apples coated with cinnamon and brown sugar and bake it to make a apple pie and get the same fresh and delicious taste any apple pie or strudel a bakery offers.

So the next time you need pull together any apple dessert, remember apples are best paired with cinnamon and sugar. I also recommend mixing cornstarch in with the apples, cinnamon, and brown sugar so when you bake the apples, the cornstarch will thicken all those juices from the apple and give you that gooey delight when you bite into your dessert.

Here’s a simple yet classic recipe for Apple Turnovers:

Apple Turnovers:

• 1 sheet chilled puff pastry dough
• 2 medium (or 1 large) Granny Smith apples
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 egg yolk
• Flour for dusting

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out your puff pastry with a rolling pin into a 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out the puff pastry into 6 equal square pieces.
3. Peel and core your apple or apples, and dice (cut into cubes or squares)
4. In a saute pan, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add diced apple, turn heat to medium-low, and cook down your apple until it has softened and reduced. Once softened, add sugar, cinnamon, brown sugar, cornstarch and stir. Cook for another minutes before taking the pan off of the heat. Let cool for 10 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with a little water (about a teaspoon).
6. Once cooled, scoop about a tablespoon of the apple mixture on one diagonal half of a pastry square, leaving room on the edges to seal it. Bend the opposite corner of the square over the apples. Dip a fork in flour and seal the edges by pressing them together with the fork to form a triangular shaped pastry. Repeat with all 6 turnovers.
7. Place turnovers on a greased cookie tray. Brush the top of each turnover with the egg wash, and slit a hole or x on top of each turnover so the heat can ventilate out of the pastry. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the turnovers are crisp and golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving, and enjoy!