The Best Homemade Apple Crisp
Recipe by Jonathan Guerin.
a cook's life
Patience, Practice, Preparation: Jonathan Guerin
On most Sunday mornings, Jonathan Guerin, an Indiana native who has called Columbus home for more than a decade, enjoys a leisurely coffee while poring over recipes, books or websites on gastronomic how-to. Sometimes this hobby takes him to the Book Loft, near his German Village apartment, where he spends hours “lost” in the cookbook section, he says.
Often, Jonathan is preparing for that evening’s dinner club—a gathering of a small group of friends in a Mohawk Street home to cook and dine together. Each Sunday, they “show up, pour a few drinks, make dinner and talk about life,” he tells me. The dinner club’s sample menu is mouthwatering: often a flank steak carved on a salt block, Jonathan says, served alongside peppers, grilled pineapple with cinnamon, squash, or grilled corn with feta and balsamic. Sometimes they have sausage, salmon or shrimp. One time they tried octopus. “We cook a lot of what’s in season,” Jonathan says.
On the day that I meet Jonathan, his apartment is cozy, filled with the smell of an autumnal apple crisp on the first really cold day of the season. The dish is a staple at the dinner club, where Jonathan has earned a reputation for his homemade rustic desserts. The apple crisp is layered in a rich brown sugar, butter and oatmeal crumble with seasoned Granny Smiths at the heart of the dish. Jonathan drizzles scratch-made caramel sauce on top and adds several scoops of homemade Madagascan vanilla bean ice cream, accented by a handful of walnuts.
Nearby, amongst the usual countertop staples, sits a framed photo of a smiling elderly woman. “That’s my grandmother, Sally,” Jonathan says. In addition to his mother, Sally served as Jonathan’s kitchen mentor. “For me, cooking is about spending time with someone I can’t be with anymore,” he says, gazing at Sally’s photo.
Sally was raised with a slew of siblings. “There was never enough food on the table,” Jonathan reflects on her upbringing in Youngstown, Ohio. Sally became a great home cook with fromscratch cooking that “always made everyone feel welcome,” Jonathan tells me. “Food was how she took care of people,” he says with a smile. This translated to Jonathan. “For me, food has always been about taking care of others.” He lights up as he tells me about Sally’s epic tomato sauce, cooked all day—a recipe he’s still trying to replicate that went with her to the grave.
A cook since his youth, Jonathan believes that investing in the best ingredients makes all the difference. “Never use imitation vanilla,” the dessert expert says. “I know the real thing is expensive but it’s worth it.” Jonathan also recommends patience, preparation and practice in the kitchen.
The busy advertising professional finds time in his kitchen both comforting and refreshing. “I know I’m not going to be interrupted by emails or phone calls. I can play music or have a glass of wine and just focus on cooking,” he says. “It’s something that you can fully control in a world where there’s so much that you can’t.”
Communities Near You
Related Stories & Recipes