Some Delicious Ideas for Apples

I just adore the abundance of freshly picked apples at this time of year.  It just screams of fall to me and that sweet juicy crunch is such a treat.  I also love all the many recipes you can find for using those apples and would like to share some of my favourites and some new discoveries with you.

Click on this link to see this gorgeous variety of apples known as “Hidden Rose apples”.

http://www.besthealthmag.ca/blog/post/the-prettiest-apple-youve-ever-seen

This recipe is soooooo delicious:

Pate and Waldorf Baguette Sandwiches

Makes 4 servings

Mmmmmm pate and apples…toss in a baguette…what could be better than that?

Ingredients:

1 fresh baguette

4 oz. pate

2 T, Gruyere cheese, grated

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 T. Dijon mustard

½ cup grapes, sliced

¼ cup sliced or slivered almonds

¼ cup diced celery

¼ cup diced apple (your choice but a nice tart Granny Smith is really tasty with this…I also enjoy Royal Galas on this sandwich)

Directions:  Mix all filling ingredients together and chill until ready to use.  When ready to serve, spread evenly over the baguette and cut into four equal portions.  Add lettuce and tomato if desired (I don’t because I don’t like lettuce and tomato on sandwiches.  Also, if transporting these for a picnic or something, you might want to package the lettuce and tomato separately and add just before serving to avoid it getting soggy.)

Slow Cooker Applesauce Chicken – can’t wait to try this one! MMMMMM!

http://www.5dollardinners.com/2009/10/slow-cooker-applesauce-chicken.html

Caramel apple in a paintcan kit – what a great gift idea!

http://partiesandholidays.blogspot.com/2009/10/caramel-apple-kit.html

My baby girl’s (ok so she’s 21 now, she’s still my baby girl!) favourite apple snacks: No apple post would be complete without sharing with you one of my daughter’s favourite snacks from childhood.  When she would come home from school, I would have “tea time” set up for the two of us…a time for tea (or juice or whatever) and snacks and homework and catching up.  I was always looking for new and different but relatively healthy snack ideas and this certainly fits the bill.  You simply cut an apple into wedges and mix some peanut butter with a little bit of honey.  Obviously the honey adds a bit of sweetness to it but it also helps to make the consistency better for dipping.  Dip the apple slices into the peanut butter/honey mixture and then into wheat germ and eat!  Note:  we experimented with using pretzel sticks as “holders” for the apple slices with varying degrees of success.  Obviously you need apples that are soft enough to allow for this and pretzel sticks that are thick enough not to simply snap from the pressure.  She always preferred Royal Galas for this.

How to make apple cider donuts:

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/11/how-to_apple_cider_donuts.html

How to make apple fries:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTOh4pM8ul4]

Apple Oven Frittata

I got the idea for this recipe from Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray on Twitter.  Martha had made a baked omelet for a luncheon she was serving that day and the next day, Rachael Ray was featuring one of her “Take 5” ideas that was a sandwich with the main ingredients of apple and cheddar cheese.  I took from both of their recipes, adapting the ingredients to my tastes and what I had on hand and adjusting the quantities since unlike Martha, I was not going to be serving a crowd!  I can give you approximate quantities but really for much of it it’s like making an omelet or taco or quesadilla – you add what you want in whatever quantity you like.   I used 6 large eggs.  Honestly, I was only making this for myself and 6 eggs was way more than I needed for a single serving but I was afraid that with a lesser quantity they would cook far too quickly in the oven and instead of being lovely and fluffy, that they would end up rubbery.  I whisked the eggs with cream (because I had some on hand…milk would be just fine and actually if you consult some professional chefs, they will tell you that truly the fluffiest scrambled eggs and omelets are made with water anyway…personally I like the creamier taste that milk/cream adds to it though) as if I were simply making scrambled eggs.  I used an ovenproof skillet first on the stovetop and again I basically proceeded as if I were making scrambled eggs or a typical omelet.  I melted butter in the skillet and added a generous quantity of chopped Vidalia onions.  I let these cook over low to medium heat to slowly caramelize before pouring in the egg/cream mixture.  This is when I added any seasonings.  I limited mine to some Fleur de Sel but of course regular salt works just fine and some fresh cracked pepper.  Some people like to add a pinch of garlic powder but I wasn’t in the mood that day.  As the eggs start to cook in the skillet and begin to set up slightly, I added some slices of Royal Gala apples (again personal choice and what I had on hand…I can picture this being equally delicious with other varieties and next time I will be trying out Granny Smiths), slices of leftover cooked potatoes, and grated sharp Cheddar cheese.  I removed the skillet from the burner and placed it in a 400 degree F oven until the eggs were set and the cheese was melted (will depend on how many eggs you end up using and how big/deep your skillet is but this took about 15 minutes for me).  Let it rest about 5 minutes once you remove it from the oven and then cut into wedges to serve.  I would say that this makes a good sized meal for two people.  If you add 2 more eggs and/or serve with some side dishes like a green salad and/or a fruit ambrosia, perhaps a roll or some crusty bread, you could certainly extend this to 4 servings.

Here is Martha’s original Baked Omelet recipe if you are interested:

Ingredients:

2 large onions, chopped and sautéed

8 new potatoes, peeled, boiled, and sliced

½ cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese

10 eggs, beaten

½ cup sour cream (the whole reason I came up with my own variation of the recipe…I didn’t have any sour cream on hand!)

She combined these ingredients together “omelet-fashion” and baked in a 400 degree F oven until puffed and cooked through.  Delicious served hot or room temperature making it a delightful addition to a brunch buffet.

Caramel apple cupcakes

http://hoosierhomemade.com/caramel-apple-cupcakes/

Caramel apple breakfast casserole

http://www.5dollardinners.com/2009/10/caramel-apple-breakfast-casserole.html

Apple butter tarts

http://food.chatelaine.com/Recipes/View/Apple_Butter_Tarts

I am just hooked on quesadillas these days and this one offered me a different take on one that I found thoroughly scrumptious!

Apple, Sauerkraut, and Cheese Quesadillas

Ingredients:

1 cup sauerkraut

½ cup water

2 flour tortillas (the approximately 10 inch size)

¾ to 1 1/3 cups grated cheese (I love the combination of cheddar cheese…especially an old cheese…but I have tried this with buffalo mozzarella, marble cheese, or havarti cheese and they were all delicious as well!  The latter measurement is what the original recipe called for but I found this to be an awful lot of cheese so I cut back.  I adjusted the measurements according to the type of cheese I was using; for example, I went to the low end of the scale with the buffalo mozzarella as I found with the way it melts and gets so stringy that this was best for my preference.)

1 small apple – Granny Smith if you like the tartness, but I prefer to use a sweeter apple and usually have either Royal Gala or Red Delicious on hand so that’s what I used. I preferred it with a harder apple like the Red Delicious as the Royal Gala got a little too soft for my liking.  The apple should be peeled and sliced thinly.

Directions:  Place the sauerkraut and water into a skillet.  Because of the acid content of the sauerkraut, this should be done in a nonreactive pan.  Heat this over low to medium heat just until the point where the water evaporates.  Adjust the heat as needed to ensure that the sauerkraut doesn’t begin to stick to the bottom of the pan.  Remove this from the heat.  Place a large skillet (they suggested a cast iron one in the original recipe but I never found the necessity for that…I used my largest non-stick frying pan for this.) over medium heat.  Put one of the tortillas into the pan and sprinkle on half the cheese and top with the apple slices and sauerkraut.  Top this with the other half of the cheese and the second tortilla.  Cook this until the bottom tortilla is golden brown and slightly crispy, about 2 minutes.  Flip the quesadilla and repeat.  Cut into wedges and serve.

Want to use apples for making an adorable craft?  Check out my tutorial on making dried applehead dolls over at my new artsy craftsy blog “Cynchronicity”.   http://cynchronicity.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/applehead-dolls/