High Country: In The Kitchen With Kitchen Toke

Legal cannabis has created a media boom with a bounty of new print publications arriving on newsstands (and online) for enthusiasts of every kind every year. Among my personal favorites is Kitchen Toke, which debuted its inaugural issue in 2017. Founded by Joline Rivera — a renowned Chicago-based creative director whose clients have included the Food Network, U.S. Foods and Meredith Publishing — the quarterly, design-driven magazine is the first internationally distributed food journal dedicated to cooking with cannabis for health and wellness.

After an obligatory October day trip to Big B’s Delicious Orchards, Kitchen Toke’s weekly e-newsletter fortuitously landed in my inbox instructing me with “What to do with those apples you just picked.” As I continue to learn my way around the complex, cannabis-infused culinary world, I wanted to tap Kitchen Toke directly to bring ATW readers practical pro tips. Here’s the first festive recipe for fall (along with how to make a cannabutter base) of our seasonal series, which High Country will continue to bring you in celebration with each new issue release.

KITCHEN TOKE MEDICATED APPLE BARS

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Ingredients:

• 4 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced*

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• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1¼ teaspoons cinnamon, divided use

• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

• 1 cup oat flour

• ¼ cup quick-cooking oats, ground

• ¼ cup almond flour

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ¾ cup organic cane sugar, divided use

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 6 tablespoons cannabutter

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

* Our favorite apples are crispy, providing a pleasant balance of tartness and sweetness. Think Honeycrisp, Fuji or Braeburn.

Instructions:

• Combine the apples with lemon juice and toss with ¾ teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg. Let the ingredients macerate for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

• Meanwhile, combine oat flour, ground oats, almond flour, remaining cinnamon, baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat the sugar and butters together and mix in the egg and vanilla to incorporate; refrigerate and preheat the oven to 375 F.

• Toss the apples with cornstarch and gently simmer in a saute pan for 3 to 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick. Adjust flavors if necessary with more lemon or sugar.

• Press half the dough into a greased 8-inch square pan. Spread the apples on top and place the remaining dough on top by pressing it with your palms to flatten. The dough will spread as it cooks.

• Bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is golden brown and the thickened juices from the apples are bubbling.

• Remove from the oven to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely. Cut into rectangles. Makes 12 servings, each about 23 mg THC based on a 20% strain.

Yield: 12 bars

KITCHEN TOKE CANNABUTTER FROM JEFF THE 420 CHEF

Ingredients:

• ¼ ounce cannabis flower

• 10½ tablespoons high-quality butter

• Distilled water

Equipment:

• A French press

• A tea strainer

• A deep pan or pot.

Instructions:

• Clean and soak: Fill a French press with distilled water and add the cannabis. Soak for 24 hours.

• Plunge: Depress the plunger to separate weed from water.

• Rinse: Add distilled water to the drained weed, stir and strain into a large tea infuser.

• Blanch: Place the cannabis-filled tea strainer in simmering water for 5 minutes.

• Cool: Place cannabis into cold water and squeeze out excess water.

• Sort and dry: Remove any debris and break up larger pieces. Dry on a sheet tray overnight.

• Decarboxylate: Place sheet tray of cannabis into a preheated 300 F oven for 20 minutes.

• Cool and cover: Allow cannabis to cool under a sheet of foil so residual oils can settle.

• Simmer: Add cannabis and butter to the French press, lower the plunger to butter level and place in a pot filled with enough

water to meet that line. Gently simmer for 3 hours.

• Strain: Press plunger to separate butter from cannabis.

• Use or store: Pour into a rectangular mold or store in a jar and keep refrigerated. Use within a month.

Yield:

• 8 tablespoons, about 34 mg THC per 1 tablespoon based on a 15 percent THC strain.