Now We're Cooking... With Apples

Ahhh, the humble apple... isn't really humble. Did you know that it is a cousin of the rose? That's very exotic, to my mind. Downright romantic. Apples are crisp, sweet and come in a wide variety of subtle flavors from very sour to floral - some even have a distinctively rich wine flavor.

There's nothing quite as autumnal as a bushel of apples. Here is my offering to you with my hope that you'll take your children out to the orchard for a lovely afternoon and come home to preserve your bounty together. Many of these recipes can be easily doubles or trebled, depending upon the size of the crowd you're feeding. I haven't included an apple pie recipe since I figure that's one you have already. If not, let me know - I'd be glad to share mine! Enjoy! And join me again next week for EGGS!




Bread Pudding – Nissa’s Mum

This is a traditional fall-time treat in our little family. It’s one of those foods that really qualifies as Comfort Food. It’s dead easy to make and is delicious with heavy (double) cream, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream. This will serve our family of 7 twice over.

4-1/2c (20floz) milk
4 eggs, slightly beaten
16 slices bread, diced (leave it out overnight, or use stale bread)
1c. organic brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. raisins (golden, black or combination)
6 apples, pared, cored and diced (Mum always used MacIntosh)

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine milk and eggs. Pour over bread; add remaining ingredients. Pour into a large (really large), greased baking dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes until custard is well set. Serve warm.


Applesauce

From Jack’s preschool teacher Miss Marie, who was born and raised in France. She took special care to teach him (and us) to speak good French considering we rejoice in the surname Gadbois! Every good French housewife is supposed to have two apple trees in the garden. I’m not a good French housewife at the moment. We like this recipe so well that I no longer buy store bought applesauce. Served warm with dinner, it’s gorgeous. My mother-in-law Irene served homemade applesauce to convalescents – as a nurse, who can argue with that remedy?

3 lb MacIntosh apples (I also like Cortlands, they both break down nicely), peeled, cored and sliced
¼ -1/3 c. brown sugar (depending on sweetness of your apples)
1 tsp lemon juice (more if you apples are really sweet)
1 cinnamon stick
Water

Place all ingredients into a heavy pot over med-high heat. The water should be just enough to cover the bottom of the pan, not cover the fruit. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 8-10 minutes, or until apples are quite soft and almost translucent. Remove from heat, remove cinnamon stick. Using a potato masher, mash fruit to desired consistency, or put through a food mill. If you like pink applesauce, leave the skins on while cooking and run mashed fruit through a sieve to remove skins.


German Apple Pancakes (also called Dutch Baby apparently)

My family loves this for breakfast served with bacon or sausage (a rare treat). This makes a batch large enough for a family of 8. You can (if you’re feeling particularly ambitious) make these in mini pans to serve individually. For those of British descent, you’ll recognize this batter as being the same as for Yorkshire pudding. If you made this recipe with ‘bangers’ or sausage instead of apples – you’d have Toad in the Hole, which is a good teatime recipe. Serve with cream if you wish and for sure remember the homemade cocoa!

8 eggs
1.5 c. flour
1.5 c. milk
1 tsp salt
½ c. butter
4 medium apples, thinly sliced
½ c. sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400F. Place two large baking dishes (glass/Pyrex) in oven with ½ stick butter in each. Beat eggs, flour, milk and salt together for 1 minute – some folks like to use a blender for this part. When the butter is completely melted and HOT, add equal amounts of batter to each dish. Bake for 10 minutes. Combine cinnamon and sugar, set aside. Divide the apples evenly between both dishes, sprinkle on cinnamon sugar and bake for and additional 10-15 minutes. The batter will have puffed way up the sides – very impressive! When you bring it to the table, it’ll still be sizzling – that’s the panache!


Hot Mulled Cider

This is so delicious after a football game – or during the football game if you’ve brought a Thermos! You can make the cider in your home juicer if you don’t own a press. Alternatively, if you are very lucky, you can find fresh, unpasteurised cider at some farms. A little brandy or whisky is nice for the grown-ups!

1/2 c. organic brown sugar
1 tsp allspice (whole)
1 tsp cloves (whole)
1/4 tsp salt
Dash ground nutmeg
3 inch stick cinnamon
2 qt fresh apple cider
Orange wedges

Combine sugar, allspice, cloves, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cider in large saucepan. Slowly bring to boiling; cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove spices. Serve in warmed mugs with a clove-studded orange wedge in each. Serves 8.


Apple Pumpkin Dessert

Oh this recipe is so good. Make a big ole batch of it and serve with a nice drizzle of heavy cream. If you don’t put up pie fillings, store bought fillings would also be fine. I like them packaged in glass jars for the flavor. You could also substitute mincemeat filling for the apple if you like it!

1 qt homemade pumpkin pie filling
1 qt homemade apple pie filling
1 box graham crackers, crushed
¼ c organic sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted
1 c. finely chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, pecans and butter. Blend well (should still be crumbly), reserve 1 cup crumbs. Press remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Bake crust blind for 8-10 minutes. Pour apple filling over crumb crust and spread evenly. Spoon pumpkin filling over apples and spread evenly. Sprinkle remaining graham cracker crumbs over all. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until pumpkin pie filling is set and crumbs are golden brown.

***NOTE: You can also make these individually in ramekins for a special buffet dinner.


Apple Seventh Heaven

This recipe is from Julie G. – one of my best friends for 20 years! She says it is “to die for!” I say it’s a great reason to add a little more vanilla ice cream to my diet! My husband Brian loves apple crisp – this is a variation on his fave.

½ c. butter
1 c brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
1/3 c. flour
1 c chopped walnuts
7-12 apples

Peel and slice apples thinly. Butter the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, place apples evenly in dish. Cream butter and brown sugar together; add nuts, cinnamon and flour. Spread over top of apples. Bake at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes.

Apple Cider Donuts

Available at farmers markets all over in the fall time!

1/2 c. Organic sugar
2 tbsp. butter
2 beaten eggs
2 c. sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. apple cider
1 c organic sugar
1T cinnamon

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside. Mix the sugar and butter together; Add the beaten eggs and mix well. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture. Stir in the apple cider until blended. Heat oil to 350 degrees F Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls into the hot oil. Turn to brown evenly. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Let cool. Meanwhile, combine 1c. sugar and 1T cinnamon in shallow bowl or baking dish. Roll slightly warm donuts in cinnamon sugar and serve! Makes about 3 dozen 1 1/2" donuts.

Please submit your favorite EGG dishes for next Tuesday!