We’re on the doorstep of Apple Season! And I know what you’re going to say: “Apples are available year-round. So what’s the big deal?” The deal is, apples never taste better than when they’ve just been picked. And that goes for Apple Dishes…
We all have our favourite apple recipes. And those gems often reside in our cherished family cook books. But there are also some really exciting new ones popping up online these days, in honour of our annual apple harvest.
Relevant experience
I have experience of special relevance t0 this issue. I lived for several years in Belleville, Ontario. It’s on the north shore of Lake Ontario, In a mainly agricultural region which also has lots of shoreline that’s beloved by vacationers.
The region’s signature crop is apples. The towns of Brighton and Colborne, a short drive west, down the shore, are considered the Apple Co-Capitals of the province. And I took full advantage of my proximity to really fresh apples while I was there.
Buying my apples directly from the growers, I learned a lot about the business. And what cold storage does to a really good apple. As Churchill said about democracy, it’s, “the worst [option] except all those other[s].”
What’s lost
Even under what are traditionally considered ideal conditions, your average apple not only loses the tart, bright nuances of it’s natural flavour, but some of it’s peak-of-freshness nutritional goodness. Nevertheless, it remains a really good daily fruit and veg option. The same could be said any locally-grown fruit or veg you can get your hands on soon after it’s harvested.
And even if it has been in cold storage all winter, last-year’s crop retails enough of the good stuff to preform beautifully in cooked dishes. The application of heat amplifies the flavours that remain after ‘aging’, and brings out th brightness that’s been hibernating.
My old fave of faves
No apple dish can compete, in my nostalgia museum, with Apple Crisp. Not Cobbler or Crumble. But Crisp. It’s a North-of-England specialty which is also beloved in Scotland.
Classic Cobblers get their identity from their sweet, biscuit-like dough topping. Crumble topping is made with flour, sugar and butter. It forms a fine-textured crumbly layer atop a moist filling. But Crisp is different from both it’s aforementioned cousins.
Crisp topping is strongly differentiated from Cobbler and Crumble by it’s main ingredient. Rolled oats. There’s a little flour to help it hold together. And a generous amount of brown sugar makes it much sweeter than the other toppings. But the secret is the interaction of the flour, sugar and oats during baking. The result is s superb crispy, crumbly sweet treat that complements perfectly most fresh fruits – particularly apples. And especially when making Apple Crisp: Don’t forget a dash of cinnamon!
Any recipe will do…
If you are already an Apple Crisp aficionado, you’ll have your own fave recipe. I have mine, handed down from my auld Scottish great-grandmother.
But I can recommend, as a starting point, this excellent example of the art, which includes some history, explanation of how the Crisp process works, and some cool tips.
Something new
As a balance to the classic, I also want to suggest a nouveau classic (in my book, anyway): The Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Deceptively simple
Slice a fresh, crisp apple thinly. But not too thin: we don’t want it to melt in the pan or sandwich press. I recommend 1/2 cm / 3/8 in. thickness. Choose a wholegrain bread for rich, nutty flavour contrast to the apple and a complement to the cheese.
The cheese can be any kind you like. I often default to white cheddar for grilled sandwich applications. And cheddar is a traditional accompaniment to apple pie, after all. But the purists would recommend Gruyere or Edam (‘Swiss’) cheese for superior flavour.Though not a purist (read: snob), I agree. But let’s be realistic. We all have tight food budgets to fight with these days…
Assembly tips
One key to the perfect Apple Grilled Cheese is how you stack it. Allow for 2 layers of cheese, with the apple slices in between. Just grill the sandwich the way you usually do. Don’t give it longer on the heat to try and cook the apple. You don’t want to kill its crunch.
Once you have the technique down pat, consider adding some crumbled bacon or bacon bits to the apple layer, to round out what I consider the supreme handheld sweet-savoury-cheesy experience…
My take
You can, of course, enjoy these dishes any day of the year, Apples are never unavailable. But remember: for a superior dining experience, you have to get them ‘in season’!
~ Maggie J.