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Country Fried Apples

Source of Recipe

From "A Real Southern Cook" by Dora Charles


Recipe Introduction

"These spiced apple slices are great with sausage for breakfast, and they're also good with ham or roast pork for dinner. While they're cooking, they give off a wonderful apple pie aroma. The buttery spices are just irresistible. The number of servings you get depends on the size of the apples, whatever else you have on the table, and, of course, everyone's appetite. It's best to cook these in a single layer in a skillet, so be sure to pull out your largest one. If you have too many apples for a single layer, putting the lid on the skillet will help the apples shrink down, but I think they taste best when they cook without a cover. You can use butter or bacon drippings or a combination, as you like. I like all three versions, so it just depends what I have on hand."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 3 crisp apples, such as Granny Smith
â—¦ 3 Tbsp butter or bacon grease, or a mixture of the two
â—¦ About ¼ cup light brown sugar
â—¦ A sprinkle each of ground cinnamon and grated nutmeg
â—¦ A squeeze or two of fresh lemon juice


Recipe

Cut the apples into quarters and cut out the cores, but don't peel them. Slice the quarters the long way, so you get 3 or 4 thick slices out of each one.

Melt the butter (or bacon grease, or butter and grease) in a large skillet over medium heat. When it's bubbling, add the apple slices and turn them with a spatula to coat with the butter. If you cover them with a lid for a couple of minutes, they'll steam and cook a bit faster. Uncovered, they'll cook more slowly but they'll turn a lovely golden brown; that's how I do it.

Once the apples are soft, about 10 minutes, sprinkle the sugar over them, as little or as much as you'd like, and turn them again to be sure they have a little sugar on both sides. Sprinkle the spices on top and stir them up a bit. When the apples are smelling really good and looking almost caramelized, they're done. Give them a good squeeze or two of fresh lemon juice and serve hot.


Serves 3 to 6