Apples Galore!
Photo: Anna Pusack
We’re deep into the apple season now in the Northeast, and with all the delicious varieties available at the farmers markets, we need a few ideas of what to do with them besides just eating the doctor’s prescribed one-a-day. Pies, sauce, crumble, muffins, breads, salads…the possibilities are endless! The first thing to know before you start cutting up your pomes is that certain apples are better for specific recipes than others.
For example, Red Delicious are excellent for eating, but a poor choice for a pie, whereas a Stayman is a good pick for pies, but not so great on their own. It has to do with the texture, as well as the taste of the apples. For baking, you want a firm texture that will withstand the long and intense heat of an oven, like an Ida Red or Gala. For sauces, a tangy flavor tends to produce the best results, like Golden Delicious or McIntosh. For a salad, you might want something sweeter and crisp like a Jonathan. I’ve found that Mutsu (a.k.a. Crispin) apples with their full flavor and crisp, firm texture are perfect for pretty much anything you’d want to make—I always make my apple pies with them. Here are two charts that should help with all your apple needs: from Tuttle Orchards and Pickyourown.org.
Here’s my applesauce (and apple syrup) recipe to help get you started in these autumnal days:
Applesauce and Apple Syrup
(Makes a little over a quart of sauce, depending on the size of the apples, and a ½ cup of syrup)
- 3 Jonagold
- 3 Golden Delicious
- 3 c. cider, plus 2 c. water
- 1 Tbl cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- Juice from 1 small lemon
- 3 tsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Peel and cut the apples into 1 inch pieces. Coat with the lemon juice to prevent browning.
- In a medium or large sauce pan, put in half of cider and water, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Bring to a simmer on medium heat.
- Add apples to the pan. Fill the pan, but don’t overcrowd the apples. Make sure they are all in the liquid.
- Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are quite soft.
- Remove apples with a slotted spoon to a food mill with a coarse setting, or into a bowl with a potato masher. Process cooked apples to desired consistency.
- Repeat steps 3-5, adding more cider and water as needed. You may add more cinnamon as well according to your preference. Continue until all the apples are cooked and processed. Can be served warm or cold.
- With the liquid remaining in the pan, leave the heat on medium and whisk in the honey and vanilla. Allow to reduce for 5-7 minutes. Drizzle on ice cream and enjoy!
We are loving are apples here in California. We just processed 40 pounds and are about to get another 40.
We have a small orchard but it has been a bit of a bust in the apple department.
Amanda @ Traditional Foods´s last [type] ..Apple Peeler, Corer, Slicer Review
There is nothing that says Fall like a nice warm apple pie. I have found a great way to make this all time favorite even better. Personal peices of pie:) All you do is make your pie as normal but instead of it getting put into a pan to bake, you simply put the shell and stuffing into a cupcake pan. Only 6 are allowed at a time for spill over. This way there is no cutting and everyone gets just the right size/hand held peice of apple pie:)
Thank you for your post, I was sad that my family was not able to make it to the apple orchard this year. Instead I ended up buying one of the bags and using that to do some baking. This years apple treat was apple /oatmeal cookies..I think they would have done better if I put in some walnuts though. Either way they were a good treat to add to the pile of recipies:)
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