Moonshine conjures a myriad of metaphors; pottery jugs with XXX etched into it, Appalachian mountain folk pickin' and fiddlin', supped up prohibition era cars and most of all (if you watched a lot of TV in the 70's) the sardonic king of primetime hooch - Hawkeye Pierce. The charisma of moonshine is compelling; it symbolizes Americas rugged past, our taxation disputes and most appreciably – good ole entrepreneurial American spirit. Nowadays this once relatively endangered species is enjoying a resurgence making its way back (legally) as a hand crafted purely American artisan spirit. Through our newly found fixation with all things local – 'shiners have become legit contributors to that fixation.

I visited Belmont Farms last month, a husband and wife owned distillery located in Culpeper. As farmers, the Millers take great pride in growing their crops and are totally vested in the time-honored method of copper pot, still fresh whiskey production. I took home a few bottles of the "hillbilly pop", legal since 1988. I shared it with my husband, and it was bottoms up for a few humorous nights. We tasted through the Virginia Lightning, Kopper Kettle and Apple Pie the latter being my favorite, its even bottled in the enduring Mason jar.

I thought I'd utilize the whiskey IN my dish but quickly found myself creating a recipe to pair with the Apple Pie's sweet high-octane character and carried on nipping it straight up. Continuing the fun, I thought an ideal dish would be a seasonal fruit dessert, and bonus with Thanksgiving around the corner I have a sweet course to bring to a party.

It seemed obvious to use apples; however, I added pears to this recipe because they provided another element of texture and mixed the level of sweetness. Apples being both sweet and slightly tart match the whiskey clearly, but pears are denser and bit sweeter than the apples. Together the two succeed in a spirited equilibrium with each other. Nicely paired, the Apple Pie whiskey tastes like pie in a glass with a hint of cinnamon.

Serve this dish warm with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream. Its nice to drink the whiskey from a brandy snifter with two ice cubes. Allow it to open in the glass and show off its full potential for three minutes before enjoying. It's ideal for sipping between small bites of warm strudel accompanied by chilly ice cream.

The distillery will be featured this month on the History Channel's "10 Things You Don't Know About: Prohibition." The episode begins airing on History 2(H2) November 23rd @9pm

Apple Pear Strudel

8 servings

3 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples (about 1 ½ lbs)
3 cups peeled, cored and sliced pears (about 1 ½ lbs)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 sheets phyllo dough (14 by 18 inches), more if needed
Melted butter for brushing (about 4 tablespoons)
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Prep the filling: Set a large colander over a large bowl. Place the apples and pears in the colander and add the butter, lemon juice, graham crackers crumbs, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and salt; toss to mix. Set aside to infuse the fruits and seasoning for 1 hour.

Complete the filling. Lift the colander from the bowl. Pour the accumulated juices back on to the fruit and toss well.

Make a cinnamon-sugar Graham Cracker sprinkling mix. Whisk together the remaining cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.

Layer the pastry: Preheat the oven to 375°F. One at a time, unfold 5 phyllo dough sheets and stack on top of each other. Lay a slightly dampened (not wet) cloth over the top to keep them from drying out while you work. Unfold the 6th sheet and lay it flat, with a long edge facing you. Carefully brush the sheet with some melted butter, sprinkle it liberally with the sprinkling mix. Lift the damp cloth; separate the top dough sheet from the stack and lay it directly on top of the sugar-sprinkled sheet (put the damp cloth back on the stack). Brush with butter and sprinkle mix as before. In this manner continue layering, buttering, and sugaring the dough sheets until you have a 6-layer rectangle. Don't worry about minor breakage of the dough, this is almost inevitable; try to orient the sheets so that unbroken areas support broken ones.

Fill the strudel. Spread the fruit filling over the phyllo, leaving a 3-inch margin along the edges. Fold up the dough over the filling. Roll the dough all the way up. Carefully lift the strudel and place it seam down on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the strudel. Brush the top of the strudel with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining mix. Bake until golden and filling is bubbly—35 to 45 minutes.

Serve warm.