For the past several years, along with my usual brown
bagged lunch of various cooked vegetables and my hybrid herbal and black tea,
I’ve also packed an apple for my daily midday meal. Early in my career, my
lunch consisted of a sandwich and some type of vegetable then eventually
morphed into cooked vegetables when the Mrs. felt that overindulgence during
the annual vacations led to unwanted waist expansion and she felt that we
should simply consume vegetables for lunch to balance the excesses over the
past week or two. This eventually led to daily vegetable consumption even if we
weren’t returning from a vacation which meant changing up the usual vegetable
side course. Apples are available all year round so they eventually replaced
those carrot and celery sticks or steamed broccoli.
Does a Daily Apple
Keep the Doctor Away?
A medium sized specimen of the variants of Malus pumila provide about 50 calories,
2 & ½ gm of dietary fiber, mainly the soluble type of fiber that lowers
cholesterol along with riboflavin, pyridoxine, Vitamin C and K and manganese,
phosphorus and potassium so by itself won’t keep the doctor away but along with
other healthy lifestyle habits will definitely contribute to overall wellness.
And along with that pleasing crunch combining both sweet
and tart qualities, also cooks down to superb side dishes and desserts
satisfying both the savory and sweet spectrum of the culinary world.
As Is
Over the years I’ve whittled down the types of apples
carried in my lunch bag. First and foremost usually is that evenly speckled
sweet, fragrant and crisp cross of a Golden Delicious and Kidd’s Orange Red
created down under in New Zealand back in the 1930s. The Gala usually is the perfect
snacking size and when purchased at peak, it’s rare to find a mushy or mealy
specimen. Because it was first created in New Zealand, you can still find ideal
specimens long after Washington’s apple season has passed as New Zealand’s
seasons are the opposite of those experienced Stateside so they’re available at
peak for most of the year.
That is until I sampled the Envy apple, a cross between a
mutation of the Gala apple, the Royal Gala and the Braeburn. And once again, it
was created down under in New Zealand so it’s available almost year round. With
slightly more acidity that the Gala but a rounder flavor profile and just as
crisp the only issue was the size as the initial specimens available at our
local supermarkets were about as huge large Fuji apples. But recently I’ve seen
prepacked bags of Envy miniatures for that perfect snacking size.
Of course if I could, I would still select any apple
freshly picked from Uncle Richard’s apple tree on Whidbey Island over any apple
from the supermarket. You see, Uncle Richard has just one apple tree but he’s
grafted almost a dozen different apples on that one tree so one section may
contain Jonathan apples while another section sprouts Jonagold and another Fuji
an so forth. And the one thing you never have to worry about with a freshly
picked apple is a mealy or mushy texture.
And when Uncle Richard had a bumper crop of apples and
you consumed as many fresh apples as humanely possible and still had several
ziptop bags of sliced frozen apples, what do you do? Make fresh apple cider of
course via a recycled washing machine motor and crude slicing device. Those
sliced apples are then squeezed through a manual press to extract every last
bit of fresh apple juice. Of course, the next time we visit Uncle Richard, I’ll
have my own recipe for brewing some real hard apple cider!
With a Little Heat
It’s a little ironic of that phrase “as American as apple
pie” despite China being the biggest producer in the world growing almost half
of the world’s supply of apples. But once you’ve had your fill of fresh apples,
the next step is to cook the leftovers and apple pie is usually the first dish
created with the overabundance of the season. And though I do enjoy a nice warm
slice of apple pie, the following dessert immediately became my favorite apple
dessert after I first sampled this mixture of fresh apples and an almost
cheesecake like batter but with no guilt as the original rendition called for
fat free cream cheese which no longer is available but the reduced fat version
is almost as guilt free.
Cinnamon Apple
Cake
1 & ½ c sugar
6oz reduced fat cream cheese
½ c butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 & ½ c flour
1 & ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ c sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
3 c peeled, cored, chopped apples (2 large or 3 medium)
Mix first four ingredients until smooth. Add one egg at a
time until thoroughly incorporated. In another bowl mix flour, baking powder
and salt. In a third bowl mix ¼ c sugar and cinnamon. Add 2 tbsp of cinnamon
mixture to apples until well coated. Mix dry ingredients into first bowl until
smooth. Add apple mixture. Pour into 8 inch pre-greased (Pam) springform pan.
Top with rest of cinnamon mixture (may not use all of it). Bake in preheated
350 degree oven for 1 hr 15 minutes or until cake starts to pull away from
sides of the pan. Cool on rack. Cut into 12 wedges with serrated knife. Can be
enjoyed warm, room temperature or even cold.
Or if you’re still in the mood for apple pie, how about
this freeform apple crostata. The pate brisee dough recipe is from the domestic
diva herself, Martha Stewart and is as simple as pie dough gets. The hole in
the middle of the crostata allows moisture to escape during baking but also
functions as a perfect holder for a scoop of ice cream or frozen yogurt.
Apple Crostata
Crust:
2 & 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into
small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and
sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10
seconds. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through
feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be
careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount
together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide
dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic.
Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored,
frozen, up to 1 month.
Filling:
About 3 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
Cornstarch mixed with water
Over medium heat, melt the butter in a medium saucepan
then add all of the ingredients except the cornstarch. Once the apples have
started to soften, stir in the cornstarch until the mixture thickens. Remove
from heat and cool.
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