It has been said that apples may be prepared in more than 200 different ways; and following the slogan "Eat an apple a day and keep the doctor away," it should prove easy and interesting to serve them at least once daily in late September menus.
Quinces and crabapples, while not so popular as the apples, may also form the basis of many delicious dishes, and in the way of preserves, a savory catsup, jellies and marmalade they are two of our best fall fruits.
In making quince jelly be sure that not a single seed is cooked with the fruit, as these have a mucilaginous property which will prevent jelling, giving instead a ropy, thick syrup.
Baked and as sauce are the most popular ways of serving apples, and yet these may be varied so that a different style is possible for every day in the week. When cooking apple sauce if it be strained do not core or pare the fruit--merely cut into pieces and add the water. This saves time, gives a larger quantity of sauce and more flavor and color.
If apples are to be cooked in quarters, first cook the skins and cores in cold water, with a few slices of orange or lemon, stick cinnamon and a dusting of nutmeg. Then strain, and in this juice cook the apples. It will give a better flavor to the fruit and a richer syrup. Apples cooked in this way are practically preserved and are delicious served as a compote. Raisins, dates, figs or preserved ginger may be added to suit the individual taste.
This same method of cooking is recommended for stewing crabapples and quinces; these are excellent as compotes.
Never attempt to cook a dry sweet apple, as no matter what the recipe the result will be a flavorless dish. Select rather tart, juicy cooking apples and always add as little water as possible, so as not to dilute the true flavor. Virginia Carter Lee, New York Tribune, September 24, 1922.
New England Baked Apples
For the New England baked apples butter a quart baking dish, fill with peeled, quartered apples, dust lightly with ground cinnamon and a bit of grated lemon peel. Add one cupful of maple syrup, cover and bake in a slow oven until tender. Serve with cream.
Escalloped Quinces
To prepare baked escalloped quinces, pare, core and cut the fruit in halves. Place with the hollow side up in a pan, fill the cavities with sugar, add a few slices of orange and pour in enough quince liquor (made by boiling the skins) to half cover the fruit. Covert he dish or pan and bake for several hours in a slow oven. Then uncover, dust thickly with crushed, dried bread crumbs mixed with melted butter and brown over in a quick oven. Serve with a hard sauce flavored with vanilla.
Apple Toast and Bacon
Apple toast with bacon is a very good breakfast dish. For an individual service stew a peeled and quartered apple in one tablespoon of butter, two of water and one of sugar. When tender arrange on a round of fried bread and lay over the top, two slices of crisp broiled bacon.
More Apple Ideas
In preparing either the apple muffins or cornbread merely add chopped, peeled apples to your usual batter and slightly increase the amount of sugar and baking powder.
The variety of apple salads is almost endless, and this fruit combines admirably with either chopped celery or shredded cabbage. Used with the latter it gives a particularly healthful salad and one especially adapted to serve the children's health and happiness. A few chopped walnuts are a great addition and either a boiled or mayonnaise dressing is recommended.
For the carbapple pie slice the flesh from the cores of the apples but do not peel them. Fill into a deep pie plate lined with pastry and cover with bits of butter, one and a half cupfuls of sugar and a slight dusting of nutmeg. Cover the top with strips of pastry, arranging crisscross fashion and bake in a moderate oven.
Glace Crabapple
The glace crabapples are prepared from an old-fashioned recipe and are especially good; they may be stored as canned fruit or will keep for some time in stone crocks. Select a firm, red variety and for a peck of the fruit allow five pounds of sugar. Put the fruit and sugar in layers into a stone crock or deep casserole and add two broken sticks of cinnamon and a tablespoonful of cassia buds. Cover the jars with a buttered paper and bake in a slow oven for two and a half hours. This dish is very good prepared in a fireless cooker. (Crock Pot, set on low it would take longer than two hours to cook!)
Apples and Sweet Potatoes
A very excellent dish is the escallop of apples and sweet potatoes. Peel and cut boiled sweet potatoes into quarter-inch slices. Butter a baking dish, put in a layer of the potatoes, sprinkle with grated nutmeg and dot with bits of butter. Cover with a layer of thinly sliced apples and dust with ground cinnamon. Continue with alternate layers of apples and potatoes and sprinkle the apples lightly with brown sugar. When the ingredients are used have the top layer of potatoes and cover with buttered crumbs. Bake for one hour in a moderate oven.
Apple Frosting
A delicious filling for a layer cake can be made from apples. Boil one cupful of sugar with one-third of a cupful of water (without stirring) until it threads and pour on the stiffly whipped white of one egg. Continue to beat until thick and fold in one grated tart apple and a half teaspoonful of orange extract. Spread the filling between the cake layers and sprinkle with minced candied orange peel. A cake filled with frosting should be eaten the same day or it becomes soggy.
Apple Betty With Cheese
Mix four tablespoonfuls of melted oleo with two cupfuls of soft bread crumbs. Some people prefer the browness and added flavor of crumbs sauted in butter. Pare, core and slice four apples. Mix together one-third of a cuptul of brown sugar, half a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon, a quarter of a teaspoonful each of the ground cloves and nutmeg and a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt.
Arrange the alternate layers of crumbs and apples in a buttered baking dish, sprinkling the fruit with the seasonal sugar. Continue the layers until the dish is filled and pour over a syrup made from two tablespoonfuls of hot water, the juice of half a lemon and a tablespoonful of sugar.
Cover the top with the crumbs mixed with three tablespoonfuls of grated cheese and bake slowly for forty minutes. Cover the pudding at first, so that it will not brown too quickly.
You know when autumn has arrived when the crab apple trees are sagging
under the weight of fruit. Carb apples are great for making jelly as
they are full of pectin. In this video I therefore show you how to make
crab apple jelly. More about wild foods at
www.self-sufficientinsuburbia.blogspot.c
om
Crabapple Catsup
Cook five pounds of crabapples with one pint of vinegar for eight minutes, or until the fruit is soft. Press through a fine sieve, turn into a preserving kettle and add two and a half pounds of brown sugar, three tablespoonfuls of ground cinnamon and half a tablespoonful each of salt, paprika and ground cloves. Simmer until thick and store in sterilized, self-sealing bottles, as for tomato catsup.
Crabapple Ice Cream
Have ready one pint of sifted, well sweetened apple sauce that has been flavored while cooking with ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg and lemon juice to taste. Have the sauce quite thick and while hot stir in two tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Cool, chill on the ice and fold in the stiffly whipped white of one egg and one pint of double cream that has been whipped solid and sweetened with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Freeze slowly, using three parts of ice to one of rock salt.
Quince Marmalade
Cook the skins of the pared quinces in water to well done. For every quart, cover and add also yellow rind of one large lemon. Cook for forty minutes, then strain and in this liquid cook the cored fruit that has been cut into small pieces. When the fruit is tender press through a fine sieve and allow three-quarters of a cupful of sugar for each cup of the pulp. Let the quince cook for twenty minutes, add the hot water and for a pint of the combined fruit and sugar add the juice of half a lemon and half a cupful of blanched chopped almonds. Cook down quite thick and store as for jelly. (Do not use any of the quince seeds.)
Marlboro Pie
Wipe and cut in quarters three large juicy apples. Steam until tender, rub through a fine sieve and add one-third of a cupful of butter. Add one-third of a cupful of sugar, three lightly beaten eggs, the rind of half an orange, grated, a few grains of salt, four tablespoonfuls of thick cream and a tablespoonful and a half each of grape juice and lemon juice. Have ready a deep pie plate lined with pastry, put on an ornamental rim, turn in the mixture and bake in a moderate oven until firm. Cover the top with sweetened whipped cream arranged in a lattice fashion and garnished cubes of crabapple jelly.
Spiced Apple Jelly
Cut half a peck of juicy cooking apples in three pints of vinegar and one pint of water until soft, adding an ounce of broken stick cinnamon, two slices of lemon, half an ounce of whole cloves and half a teaspoonful of grated nutmeg. When soft drain through a jelly bag, boil the juice for twenty minutes and add three quarters of a cup of sugar for each cupful of the juice. Simmer until it jells, skim well and store as for ordinary jelly. This is delicious served with chicken, duck, roast pork and either cold or hot ham.
Apple Foam
Have all the ingredients thoroughly chilled. Turn into a large bowl, two-thirds of cupful of sweetened, strained apple sauce (flavored with lemon and nutmeg) and add two tablespoonfuls of finely minced preserved ginger, two stiffly whipped egg whites blended with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and half a cupful of thick cream, beaten solid. Turn into parfait glasses lined with strips of sponge cake and top each portion with a maraschino cherry.
Spiced Crabapples
If the crabapples are hard they should be steamed before being added to the syrup. With the softened fruit press two cloves into each crabapple after removing the blossom ends. Prepare syrup from cooking together three and half pounds of brown sugar , three cupfuls of vinegar, about one and half cupfuls of water, one dozen cassia buds and three ounces of broken cinnamon sticks. When this has cooked seven minutes put in the crabapples, a few at a time, and cook until tender, but not broken. Skim out into sterilized jars, simmer down the syrup until quite thick and fill the jars to overflow. Seal as for canned fruit. Divide the spices among the jars.
More Apple Treats:
More Desserts Made With Quince:
