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Apples




Source of Recipe


cooking village


Recipe Link: http://cookingvillage.com


Adam was but human—this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple’s sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden.
—Mark Twain, American author, humorist

TIDBIT Most archaeologists don’t agree with the legend that the apple was the forbidden fruit with which Eve tempted Adam. You see, apples didn’t grow in the Middle East when Genesis is thought to have been written. Indeed the Bible’s words describing the tree of knowledge are not at all specific: “. . . good for food and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.” For all we know, the provocative fruit in question might, as many think, more likely have been a luscious apricot.
PURCHASING
• Buy firm, well-colored apples with a fresh, not musty, fragrance. The skins should be tight, smooth and free of bruises and punctures. A dry, tan- or brown-colored area (called “scald”) on the skin may be slightly tough, but doesn’t usually affect flavor.

• Choose the variety by how it’ll be used—fresh (for eating out-of-hand, in salads, and so on), or cooked (as for applesauce and pies), or for baking whole. All-purpose apples, good for both cooking or eating raw, include Baldwin, Braeburn, Cortland, Criterion, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gravenstein, Jonagold, Jonathan, Lady Apple, Macoun, McIntosh, Newtown Pippin (also simply Pippin), Northern Spy, Pink Lady, Red Delicious, Rhode Island Greening, Stayman Winesap, Winesap and York Imperial. Apples good for cooking: Gravenstein, Rhode Island Greening and York Imperial; firmer varieties that are particularly good for baking whole include Braeburn, Cortland, Gala, Northern Spy, Rome Beauty, Winesap and York Imperial.


EQUIVALENTS
• Fresh: 1 pound = 2 large, 3 medium or 4 small; about 2 3/4 cups chopped or sliced; 1 1/3 cups applesauce
• Dried: 1 pound = 4 1/3 cups, 8 cups cooked

STORING
• Fresh apples: Store in a cool, dark place, or refrigerate in a plastic bag. They’ll keep longer if they don’t touch each other during storage.

• Dried apples: Refrigerate indefinitely sealed tightly in a plastic bag.

PREPARING
• Keep cut apples from browning in one of several ways: (1) Toss or brush with lemon, orange or grapefruit juice; (2) dip in acidulated water; (3) use a “color keeper” product (based on ascorbic acid), available in supermarkets.

• Apples in a salad dressed with a vinaigrette won’t brown because of the acid in the dressing.

• Coring apples: Peel, if desired, then quarter apples from the stem end. Using a paring knife and cutting from the blossom end to the stem end, core each quarter. Or use an apple corer (available in supermarkets) to core and wedge the apple in one motion. For baked apples, use a corer or melon baller to carve out the core, making sure not to cut through to the blossom end (leave a 1/2-inch base to be safe). The more core you cut out, the more room you’ll have to stuff the apples with goodies.

• Apples past their prime lose moisture and flavor. To revive them, chop coarsely, cover with cold apple juice and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

• Apples produce a natural ethylene gas that speeds the ripening of other fruits such as avocados and pears. Put a ripe apple in a paper bag with the fruit to be ripened, pierce the bag in a few places with the tip of a knife, then seal and let stand at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.

COOKING
• Cooked apples pair nicely with meats like chicken, pork or veal and with vegetables like cabbage, onions or potatoes. They also complement many soups and stews.

• To help cooked apples hold their shape, add any sugar called for in the recipe at the beginning of the cooking time. See also APPLESAUCE.

• The skins of baked apples won’t crack or burst if you cut several shallow slits around the sides of the fruit from which the steam can escape during baking.

• Reduce baked apple shrinkage by removing a 1/2-inch horizontal strip of peel from around the middle.

• Provide support for baked apples by setting them in lightly greased muffin tins before baking.