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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Apples
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Someone nearby cut down their apple tree last week. It used to produce a lot of windfalls on the pavement each year (which is probably why): small dark red apples which, when you bit into them, had a real, delicious old-fashioned apple flavour, and the colour of the skins had leached into the flesh so that they were distinctly pink inside.
I never did find out what they were (and will miss the windfalls) but it set me thinking about what a variety of apples we get these days, so here's a thread for you to enthuse about your favourite kind.
There aren't that many native British ones in the shops these days as a lot of imports seem to have become quite popular. Understandably: there's nothing like a large, crisp, beautiful Fuji or a juicy Jonagold. But you can still get russets, Worcester Pearmains and a few other kinds.
So: what's your favourite sort? Are you a fan of crunchy green Granny Smiths, or the yellow Golden Delicious, or do you like a nice Pink Lady? Got your own apple tree? Tell us about it here.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Jante
Shipmate
# 9163
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Posted
We have our own apple tree- which this year has produced a wonderful crop. not sure what sort it is- but the skins are yellow and red and the red leeches into the flesh giving it a definite pink hue. they are sweet and great for both eating and cooking with. this year I've made 17 jars of chutney ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Posts: 535 | From: deepest derbyshire | Registered: Mar 2005
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
So: what's your favourite sort? Are you a fan of crunchy green Granny Smiths, or the yellow Golden Delicious, or do you like a nice Pink Lady? Got your own apple tree? Tell us about it here.
At this time of year - none of the above, thought these varieties can be available all year round, so I may be caught with my mouth around the juicy bits of a Pink Lady (stop sniggering at the back) in Summer months. Autumn is the time for the more rustic sort of apple. Often the ones with the unapetisng colours (brownish grey etc) have the best flavour. You can even find Russets in the supermarket.
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Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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ExclamationMark
Shipmate
# 14715
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Posted
Newton Wonder
Yellow with red stripes
Cooks now eats later. Stores brilliantly real apple flavour
Posts: 3845 | From: A new Jerusalem | Registered: Apr 2009
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Apples are quite pricey here and all that seems to be generally available are Golden Delicious [YUK!] but occasionally Granny Smiths are in the supermarket.
My favourite when I lived in UK were Russets.
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Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
I may be caught with my mouth around the juicy bits of a Pink Lady (stop sniggering at the back) in Summer months.
They had a whole lot of loose Pink Ladies in the supermarket this morning.
I bought an Egremont Russet and a Jonagold for the pleasure of it. I want to try a Delbarestivale some time, having read a description that goes: "The flavour is quite perfumed, some say with a hint of anise and fennel, others of strawberry and pear." Apple flavour would be nice, but I'm curious.
There is also one apple whose name I can't remember, which apparently tastes like a pineapple if you keep it long enough.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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tessaB
Shipmate
# 8533
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Posted
It depends how you want to eat it. Nothing beats a crisp, tart Granny Smith with a piece of mature cheddar cheese.
On it's own, Jazz or Pink Lady, for cooking it has to be a Bramley.
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tessaB
eating chocolate to the glory of God
Holiday cottage near Rye
Posts: 1068 | From: U.K. | Registered: Sep 2004
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BessLane
Shipmate
# 15176
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Posted
When I was a child, a dear friend of the family was a rather larger apple grower in northern New York. He grew Macs mostly, but had a passion for tinkering with his tree stock and developed a unique apple all his own. The flesh was a deep golden color and had a taste unlike any apples I'd eaten before, or ever eaten since.
Sadly, when he died, his family sold off all his orchard land which was promptly cleared and re-sold as house lots ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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Posts: 1388 | From: Yorkville, TN | Registered: Sep 2009
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Carex
Shipmate
# 9643
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Posted
We just moved from our hectare in the country where we had apple trees. We started with at least 5, and a couple other places in the middle of the lawn where the old rootstock was still trying to sprout. No idea what type they were - at least one tree had a pink flesh, but nobody was able to identify them, probably because they were actually from rootstock rather than grafted varieties.
Then I was introduced to the concept of grafting, and had access to ~250 varieties from the local Home Orchard Society. We ended up with ~30 varieties on each of the 4 main trees, while the 5th (smaller) one got the types that were more prone to disease, etc. Unfortunately, when I got carried away with grafting I hadn't yet learned that the best place for a graft was not on the end of a branch, and we had some odd-shaped trees when we pruned them to keep some of the grafted wood.
We had all sorts - Russian, Japanese, European, American, crab apples, etc. We had to generate a database to keep track of where each graft was on each tree, when the apples were ripe, how long to store them, etc.
But in the end we really didn't eat a lot of apples, and over the years we took out a couple of trees and pruned back grafts that didn't seem to produce well, or varieties that we didn't like.
Our favorites were Priscilla, Liberty, and Discovery. Some of the others might have good flavor, but if they didn't produce well, or were prone to diseases, we didn't bother to keep them.
Now we're free of all the work involved: we canned them, made apple sauce, and dried them initially, but found we really didn't eat that much of what we were putting up. In the end I gave away what I could to folks who fed them to their horses.
Posts: 1425 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
James Grieve is a Scottish variety which is reasonably extant - in that you can buy saplings of it in the garden centre, even if you don't see the fruit in the supermarket. It is a lateish ripener, golden with streaks of pink.
After our big cherry blew down, we got a couple of tiny saplings from a chap up in Perthshire who cultivates old varieties - a Hawthornden and a Lemon Queen (though I would have liked a Bloody Ploughman). The Hawthornden produced half a dozen apples this year - quite large and quite green. I made them into a tart, and sauce for pork. The flavour can best be described as very, well, appley.
[ 03. November 2013, 16:53: Message edited by: Firenze ]
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
I love apples and grew up with a variety of trees, partly grown to have a chance to conserve the rarer breeds, partly to give a long season of apples to eat and keep. I have eaten Discovery, Worcester Pearmain, Beauty of Bath, Blenheim Orange, one of the russets and lots of other varieties I can't remember now from the tree. I will look out for the traditional varieties, particularly the russet apples at this time of year.
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Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
Charles Ross
We used to grow a Charles Ross, and the fruit is delicious - very similar to a cox (from which it was bred), but larger. I found Charles Ross apples for sale on a 'local' produce stall in a nearby town recently. What a treat!
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Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Someone nearby cut down their apple tree last week. It used to produce a lot of windfalls on the pavement each year (which is probably why): small dark red apples which, when you bit into them, had a real, delicious old-fashioned apple flavour, and the colour of the skins had leached into the flesh so that they were distinctly pink inside.
Are you sure that wasn't a crab apple?
Laura is very like the apple you described - another one we used to have, until the honey fungus killed it off. They were quite big fruit for a crab, and I found them perfectly edible raw, although I mostly used them to make a gorgeous pink apple jelly
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Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
Early Worcester is good, and proper old-fashioned Cox's Orange Pippin - not the huge, over-sweet nasty examples from the supermarket but the type of 40+ years ago: nice and crisp, not too hard and just the right size to fit into the hand of a small child.
Its not just apples that we're losing: anyone having trouble finding greengages?
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Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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Diomedes
Shipmate
# 13482
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Posted
My parents were apple growers and our orchard was planted with all the old varieties, Beauty of Bath was my favourite, the apples were the earliest to ripen and the tree was perfect for climbing. We grew Newtons and Bramleys for Covent Garden Market and they were very popular.
We even had apple jokes in our house!
Why did James Grieve?
Because he saw Charles Ross with Annie Elizabeth. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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Posts: 129 | From: Essex England | Registered: Mar 2008
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Stercus Tauri
Shipmate
# 16668
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Posted
I used to think that one of life's basic necessities was Bramley cooking apples for making pies. I may be wrong, but nobody in North America except for British exiles seems to have heard of them, and so far as I know, there isn't any local equivalent. The Northern Spy is very good - it's a sharp eating apple and good for pies too, though still not like the Bramley. We are in good apple growing country here and are spoilt for choice. So are the deer, who feed well off our old crab apple tree. When they run out of windfalls they'll jump to pick the lower branches - fun to watch.
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Posts: 905 | From: On the traditional lands of the Six Nations. | Registered: Sep 2011
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Kyzyl
Ship's dog
# 374
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Posted
Honeycrisp and Sweet Tango, both created by the University of Minnesota and neither of which taste worth a damn when grown outside of this area.
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Posts: 668 | From: Wapasha's Prairie | Registered: Jun 2001
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
It's strange for us to read the praise for Bramleys. They're not a variety we've ever seen at the greengrocer here, but Elizabeth David once wrote an article which a sub-editor entitled Big Bad Bramleys. That caused a furore, as you can imagine.
Golden Delicious are dreadful, and ordinary Delicious no better. Our favourites are Pink Lady and Fuji, with Granny Smiths for cooking.
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Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Emma Louise
Storm in a teapot
# 3571
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Posted
I was surprised our Australian family hadn't had Bramleys. I think they used Granny Smiths to cook with. Sadly not the same!
Posts: 12719 | From: Enid Blyton territory. | Registered: Nov 2002
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
Maybe this is a good place to ask this- I have four or five Fuji apples that are good now, but just about to turn. I can either gobble them down or make applesauce. Do Fujis make good applesauce?
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Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Kyzyl
Ship's dog
# 374
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Maybe this is a good place to ask this- I have four or five Fuji apples that are good now, but just about to turn. I can either gobble them down or make applesauce. Do Fujis make good applesauce?
I've made applesauce with Fujis. Not my first choice but it was good.
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Posts: 668 | From: Wapasha's Prairie | Registered: Jun 2001
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
I can't remember exactly what Ms David said about Bramleys, but it was along the lines that they collapsed and turned mushy if they were baked whole; if sliced into a pie, they were watery.
Easy baked apples - halve Granny Smiths, carefully cut out the core into a hollow. Fill with dark brown sugar, then a dob of butter. Scatter some lemon zest over the top if you like, place in a dish and pour cream around them. Bake in a moderate oven until cooked. Serve with statins. Works well with pears also.
[ 03. November 2013, 20:14: Message edited by: Gee D ]
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Kyzyl
Ship's dog
# 374
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gee D:
I can't remember exactly what Ms David said about Bramleys, but it was along the lines that they collapsed and turned mushy if they were baked whole; if sliced into a pie, they were watery.
Easy baked apples - halve Granny Smiths, carefully cut out the core into a hollow. Fill with dark brown sugar, then a dob of butter. Scatter some lemon zest over the top if you like, place in a dish and pour cream around them. Bake in a moderate oven until cooked. Serve with statins. Works well with pears also.
Statins? I believe you need a doctor's prescription for those!
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Posts: 668 | From: Wapasha's Prairie | Registered: Jun 2001
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
I am enjoying Stayman apples for the first time since last spring.
When I lived in New Hampshire I ate Cortlands
I think local apples are almost always best.
Moo
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Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Emma Louise
Storm in a teapot
# 3571
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Posted
Not at all Gee!
We have Granny Smiths here but real Bramleys are much better for baked apples. Larger, slightly less sweet and have a lovely fluffy texture.
We have both - so there's a choice but I don't know anyone who wouldn't use a Bramley for baking. A bit more expensive, but worth it
Posts: 12719 | From: Enid Blyton territory. | Registered: Nov 2002
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Emma Louise
Storm in a teapot
# 3571
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Posted
I've never put just sugar in a baked apple. We usually stuff with raisins or similar interspersed with sugar. Sometimes golden syrup and butter on top to create a syrup.
Posts: 12719 | From: Enid Blyton territory. | Registered: Nov 2002
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I went for a walk down to the village orchard today to check out the crop - plenty of windfalls, and some remaining in the trees, but all too high for my long arm picker. They are relatives of Bramleys, apparently, but not so knobbly, and with a red blush to them. There is one eater, but they don't look ready yet. Also too high. It's interesting how little they were damaged by the gales last week.
We had a house in Dover with its own little orchard in the back garden. Between a dozen and twenty trees, maybe, all different varieties which we couldn't identify. My Grandad came over to prune them, as they'd got a bit out of hand (he had been a professional gardener), and we got good crops. Nice small eaters that you could get your mouth round. After we left, they got out of hand again, and were at one time visible over the roof (and since the house was up a slope fromthe road, and the orchard up slope from the house, this was an achievement). The current occupants have had a blitz, but there are some left.
One year the apples were stored on a mezzanine floor in the garage - not checked often enough, the car got anointed with sticky juice from the ones which rotted.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
I tend to like my apples green, much to my wifes frustration. Golden Delicious and Granny Smiths are what I normally eat as apples on their own. Golden Delicious I often find insipid, so Grannys are good.
For cooking, it tends to be whatever comes from next doors tree, or friends tress, or cheap in the shops.
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Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Signaller
Shipmate
# 17495
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Posted
Our old Bramley fell over more than twenty years ago, but still flourishes, though horizontal. This year the late warmth has encouraged the fruit to stay on the tree into November, and even turn red, at which point they become edible if you favour a fairly sharp taste.
Posts: 113 | From: Metroland | Registered: Jan 2013
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mark_in_manchester
not waving, but...
# 15978
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Posted
If it's not too tangential, how do folks store them? I have two sets of friends both with big trees, and so free access to huge numbers of apples. I've only a small freezer, so I've tried wrapping them in paper in previous years, but they shrivelled by Christmas. Now I'm unemployed, with maybe the time and inclination to be inventive.
cheers
Mark
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Posts: 1596 | Registered: Oct 2010
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Sadly, we don't really grow apples here, but I have wonderful memories of enjoying different varieties while I was growing up.
We had a Northern Spy in our backyard which made to-die-for pies. Grandpa had a Yellow Transparent, and we grandkids loved to eat the sweet things. They were the first to get ripe, I believe.
There were a lot of old apple trees growing in the woods near my childhood home. They were on the old homesteads which had gone back to the wild, but left lovely heirloom fruit trees, blackberry bushes and flowers.
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Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Aravis
Shipmate
# 13824
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Posted
Discovery is my absolute favourite, but most supermarkets don't sell them as they are exceptionally early and don't have a long shelf life. They usually appear mid August, have a strong scent, very white flesh with a tinge of pink, and a natural waxy feel to the skin.
We have a Queen Cox in the garden, self-fertilising and a very heavy cropper. It produced around 100 sound apples this year and about another 20 that I cut the good bits out of, cooked and froze for pies.
The Welsh Folk Museum near Cardiff has an annual apple festival, with probably about 100 varieties on display, samples to taste and buy, and quizzes to complete. Missed it this year unfortunately.
Most supermarkets don't sell many varieties, but if you look closely on the top apple shelf in Sainsbury's, there are usually bags labelled "British dessert apples" throughout September and October which include fairly obscure varieties in season.
Posts: 689 | From: S Wales | Registered: Jun 2008
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Niminypiminy
Shipmate
# 15489
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
There is also one apple whose name I can't remember, which apparently tastes like a pineapple if you keep it long enough.
Pitmaston Pineapple. We have a tree in our garden. Small, golden fruits that start off sharp-sweet, and become more perfumed and pineapple-y as they get riper and riper. Sadly, it fruits only every other year -- though this year we have had a bumper crop.
The apple I long to have again is Irish Peach, which we had in my childhood garden. The best apple to eat straight from the tree.
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Posts: 776 | From: Edge of the Fens | Registered: Feb 2010
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
mark-in-manchester - don't now, but grew up sorting out apples for a proper apple loft. All apples were on trays - separated, and checked regularly. Any going off apple gets removed pronto. The room they're stored in needs to be cool and free from rodent or other vermin - outside shed for example or attic, with air circulating. A couple of trays deep stacked in cardboard boxes or drawers.
The only apples that get stored are clean and unblemished - any with blemishes are for immediate eating or cooking and freezing as purée or slices. You can also dry apple rings.
We used to still be eating homegrown apples in February and March stored over winter, and kept going with frozen apple purée until later on than that.
Then the Discovery apples started cropping in August.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
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Posted
Appletise that is all.
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Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
My parents had a Ellison's Orange which would not fruit until my Dad served it notice, whereupon it gave fruit for six years! They were very nice too. My brother has an assortment of cider apples which, praise be, are turned into cider, while s-i-l has Granny Smiths and Bramleys.
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Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
I always look for the MacIntoshes in season. Bestest apple ever. Don't much care for green apples, so that lets out Granny Smith. Although it might be a hangover from the boycott days when most tinned juices made of Granny Smiths came from South Africa.
I always check places of origin.
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Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
They are relatives of Bramleys, apparently, but not so knobbly, and with a red blush to them.
Yet another variety of apple we used to grow.
Bramleys do redden if left on the tree long enough - goodness know why they are sold when they are so green and hard - the ones at the top of the tree were too high to pick, so grew enormous (usually about 14oz), and when rosy and ripe were quite sweet enough for us to eat raw.
We used to cook pounds and pounds of windfalls for the freezer, and filled a huge 'dead' freezer with boxes of sound ones. We were usually still eating them when the next years trees were budding.
Oh, I do miss our little orchard.
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Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
I love tart Granny Smiths - but find it hard to find British ones in the supermarket! Is there a similarly-flavoured British alternative? I like my apples tart and crisp, no sweet mealy ones for me thanks. Pink Lady apples are OK though, if expensive.
Also Bramleys are essential for cooking - can't abide eating apples in hot puddings.
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Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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Graven Image
Shipmate
# 8755
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Posted
Honey Crisps are my all time favorite, but alas in my neck of the woods we get them only a few weeks out of the year. Granny Smith is my basic go to apple for eating and cooking.
Posts: 2641 | From: Third planet from the sun. USA | Registered: Nov 2004
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Dogwalker
Shipmate
# 14135
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Posted
I'm with PeteC on MacIntoshes, but I like them about two weeks before they're officially ripe, when they're rock-hard and really tart.
Apparently I'm weird, though, because I also like Macs for apple pie. The pieces dissolve in your mouth. The apples that are recommended for cooking "because they hold their shape" never taste done to me.
This is probably a result of my upbringing. My uncle had 1000 apple trees, all Macs. Guess where we got our apples?
There's an orchard between home and work where they have a pretty good variety. I'll have to stop tomorrow, see what's available, and buy some.
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Posts: 155 | From: Milford, MA, USA | Registered: Sep 2008
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
I grew up for a few years in a house which had an 80 year old Macintosh. I do love Macintosh as my default eating apple if I can find them. They aren't grown in Washington State that much as a commercial apple but they ship them in from British Columbia.
Harder to find here, but occasionally showing up in the local farmers market is Macoun which is derived from Macintosh but with a spicy taste.
Delicious have a good texture, but no flavor. Unfortunately it's the designated apple of the Washington State Apple Industry. They have a few
better varieties like Newton Pippin and Jonagold, but everything they start promoting starts to get very large and get those distinctive Delicious bumps on the bottom. Granny Smith is a good cooking apple for tarts as it holds up. The local apple used to be Gravenstein, which has flavors
but only shows up in a short season. Honeycrisp has wonderful crunchiness and decent flavor.
Some other apples show up rarely at the farmers market but are tasty. Spitzenberg, Winesap Northern Spy and Winter Bananna and some more modern apples, Empire, Liberty, I'm a sucker for trying apples I've never eaten before. I haven't found any great summer apple in Seattle (and between the cherries and stone fruit I'm too busy) but I remember Opalescent from a from a farmers market in Boston as a wonderful apple.
I don't do that much baking but Thanksgiving is always an excuse for an apple pie or two. I use the rule that a proper apple pie should have at three different kinds of apples in it. Rome used to be the baked apple of my younger days in New England. They're finally showing up here so I may try them again.
Real Apple cider is making a recovery in Washington State and there are some decent alcoholic ciders made locally. This is good because the former distributor of good Norman Dry Cider has stopped bringing it in. The change in law to encourage micro-distilleries has one of the farmers at the farmers market planning an applejack.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
I like most kinds of red apples, but often I have no idea what they're called.
In my parents' garden, I planted a Groninger Kroon apple tree, a local variant.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Bene Gesserit
Shipmate
# 14718
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Posted
Bramleys for cooking, Granny Smiths for eating. Mind you, I do like to eat [uncooked] slices off Bramleys if I'm cooking with them!
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Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Posts: 405 | From: Flatlands of the East | Registered: Apr 2009
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CuppaT
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# 10523
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Posted
My baby apple tree is in its third year and gave us a small crop of green apples for the first time. They tasted wonderful and our whole family celebrated with them as if it were a feast.
I have had good and bad golden delicious, good and bad granny smiths. I generally like Fuji. Honeycrisps are great, but so big and expensive that I don't get them often at all. We have a unique variety here called Arkansas Black. You are not missing anything.
Posts: 919 | From: the edge of the Ozarks | Registered: Oct 2005
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teddybear
Shipmate
# 7842
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Posted
When I was a child in southeast Missouri, my grandma had an old orchard on her farm. All of the trees were an old American variety called the Grimes Golden. It was a wonderful apple and was so good for eating fresh or cooking. It was crisp when first picked, but after it was stored a while, it grew more mellow. It had a very "appley" taste and was kind of sweet tart and spicy. I haven't eaten them since I was a child and keep hoping to find a place to buy some. It is also believed to have been a parent of Golden Delicious, but has a lot more and better flavor that it does.
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My cooking blog: http://inthekitchenwithdon.blogspot.com/
Posts: 480 | From: Topeka, Kansas USA | Registered: Jul 2004
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Penny S
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# 14768
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Posted
I notice people mentioning applesauce, and I am wondering if this is actually the same as apple sauce as served with pork, or something else? (And my family recipe for the latter seems different from other people's anyway, involving butter and onions as well as sugar, salt and pepper.)
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Kyzyl
Ship's dog
# 374
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
I notice people mentioning applesauce, and I am wondering if this is actually the same as apple sauce as served with pork, or something else? (And my family recipe for the latter seems different from other people's anyway, involving butter and onions as well as sugar, salt and pepper.)
Applesauce to me means apples cooked down to a soft pulpy stage. Could be chunky or pureed. With or without the addition of sugar and spices - that really depends on the variety and ripeness of the apples used. However, Penny, your family recipe sounds intriguing!
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I need a quote.
Posts: 668 | From: Wapasha's Prairie | Registered: Jun 2001
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
OK. Melt a lump of salted butter (about an ounce - this is a throw in what seems right type of recipe, and is open to experiment and using what you happen to have about) and add half a large onion, chopped. The chunks should be about a centimetre square. Sweat the onion until translucent, but do not brown. Meanwhile, chop an average sized eating apple into centimetre cubish bits. If feeling posh, peel it first. I quite like it with the peel showing. If feeding more people (this doesn't make a vast amount, suitable for two), and using more apple, you could mix the eater with some of a peeled cooker which would break down more. The target texture should have chunks but in a mushy glossy matrix. Add to the onions and cook gently until the apple is cooked through, with a spoonful of sugar to taste (and give it the gloss). Stir in a grinding of black pepper to taste. Press gently with a masher or similar to slightly break up the apple. Serve hot with roast pork, or grilled pork chops, about a tablespoonful to a serving.
I once investigated a neighbour who had produced the distinctive aroma of this dish to find out what they had been cooking - the neighbour, a short let tenant, was very dismissive. "I don't know," he said shortly, "my wife is Hungarian." Implied, go away and leave us alone! So I did. And still do not know which Magyar dish uses apples and onions.
[ 04. November 2013, 19:33: Message edited by: Penny S ]
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Bob Two-Owls
Shipmate
# 9680
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Posted
Apples are all horrible. They are redeemed from the bucket labelled "sprouts and other poisons" by the fact that cider is wonderful.
Posts: 1262 | Registered: Jul 2005
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