Columnists

According to an Ipsos Reid and Dietitians of Canada survey, which polled 2201 Canadians, local food preferences vary across the country.

British Columbia: fresh vegetables
Alberta: beef
Saskatchewan & Manitoba: corn
Ontario: apples
Quebec: cheese
Atlantic Region: lobster

Although I’m an Ontarian and do like apples, for me Niagara peaches are the local food that makes me weak in the knees. Ditto for wonderful Fifth Town and Monforte cheeses. What local food do you love most?

Who wouldn’t like to be swept off her feet by a charming, polite prince?  If you answered ‘me’ think again. I can tell you first hand that it’s a good experience since  it happened to me late last week when one came through the door at the test kitchen.

Since I’m a married woman, it’s very lucky that my royal swoon was the result of a new apple variety and not the result of a tryst with a royal (after all, as a commoner a real prince would likely break my heart in the long run anyway – I’ve seen the Tudors).

Far from being like Wilhelm von Habsburg, the historical red prince,  red prince apples are very consistent (von Habsburg  constantly changed his politics and sexual orientation) which makes them pretty easy to like. Red on the outside with a crunchy texture and pale white flesh that would charm even Snow White, these apples are newly on the market here in Ontario. (The variety came to Canada nine years ago and is being grown exclusively in southern Ontario in a manner that the grower assures us is sustainable and innovative at the same time.)

Personally, I think I’d rather get a basket of these yummy apples instead of chocolates for Valentine’s Day. What about you?

Baked apple recipes that combine sweet and savoury elements are popping up in recipe books and on menus more often. Served as either a side dish for dishes such as pork chops or ham or as a combination dessert and cheese course, these identity challenged little morsels add an interesting twist to home entertaining menus, too.

Here’s a “trendy” recipe you can try out on your friends and family:

Cheesy Stuffed Baked Apples

4 Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup (50 mL) softened butter
1/3 cup (75 mL) lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) each dried cranberries and chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) shredded aged Cheddar cheese
Sauce:
1 cup (250 mL) cranberry or apple juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp (15 mL) brandy
1 tsp (5 mL) butter

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Core each apple, leaving the bottom intact. Cream the butter with the brown sugar and stir in the cranberries, walnuts and 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the cheese. Divide the mixture evenly between each apple, packing it gently into the cavities.

2. Arrange the apples in a 9-in (23-cm) round cake pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until tender. Transfer the hot apples to a deep serving platter and sprinkle tops evenly with remaining cheese.

3. Set the hot baking pan on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the juice, cinnamon stick and brandy and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes or until the pan juices are reduced and slightly thickened. Discard cinnamon sticks. Whisk in butter. Drizzle sauce over the apples on the platter. Makes 4 servings.

How do you feel about sweet and savoury baked apples? Hit or miss?

I don’t have my own apple trees but I do live a short drive away from Pine Orchard Farms, a wonderful orchard in King City, Ontario where row after row of wonderful apples grow in abundance. Although home gardeners will never plant trees on this scale, the same rules apply whether you have to tend to two trees or 200.

• Choose a location that offers 8 hours of sun per day (trees in shady areas won’t produce ample fruit).
• For pollination to occur, you need to plant at least two trees within 3 o 4 m of one another.
• Well-drained soil is very important since too much moisture will harm the roots of both new and established trees.
• Likewise, the soil needs to be rich; abundant nutrients are essential for a bountiful crop, so when planting, work compost, bonemeal or bloodmeal into the planting holes dug for each sapling.
• To maintain richness in the soil, add compost each fall or spring around the base of the trees as far out as the drip line; top up with mulch except near the trunk where excessive moisture can cause rot.
• Each fall clear fallen fruits from around the base of the trees to minimize the occurrence of apple maggots and other pests that can ruin the next crop of fruit

The heady, sweet smell of freshly baked apple desserts always reminds me of mothers. My own mother loves apples and for years one of her signature fall and winter weekend treats was a wonderful apple upside down cake served with warm caramel sauce. In fact, whenever we moved while I was growing up, one of my mom’s first gardening projects was to plant a couple of Cortland apple trees so that she could have a ready supply of fruit both for snacks and for making into this dessert.

Although my mother-in-law Lise Kouprie doesn’t grow her own apples, she is quite famous in her own circles for her excellent Dutch apple tart. Made with tangy, firm Granny Smith apples, she serves large wedges of this not-too-sweet pie with mugs of café au lait as a dessert but also for breakfast and as an afternoon snack, too.

On my own dinner table, apples turn up cooked not only in desserts like these ones, but in many savoury recipes where these delicious fruits add just the right texture, depth and sweetness that make other ingredients such as onions or cabbage taste even better than they do on their own.

Sausages with Onions, Apples and Swiss Cheese

2 tbsp (30 mL)         melted butter

1                               very thinly sliced Vidalia or Spanish onion, about 12 oz (375 g)

1 tbsp (15 mL)          brown sugar or maple syrup

1/2 tsp (2 mL)          dried thyme leaves and pepper

1/4 tsp (1 mL)          salt

1                                clove garlic, minced

2                                apples, peeled and sliced

2 tbsp (30 mL)         chopped fresh parsley

Sausages:

6                               bratwurst or other sweet pork sausages, about 1 1/2 lb (750 g) total

3/4 cup (175 mL)     apple juice or chicken broth

3                                slices Swiss cheese, halved diagonally

Melt the butter in a skillet set over medium heat.  Add the onions.  Cook, stirring often for 8 minutes or until softened.  Stir in the brown sugar, thyme, pepper, salt and garlic.  Increase the heat to medium high.  Add the apple and sauté for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden.  Scrape the apple mixture from the pan to a bowl. Stir in the parsley and reserve, covered.

Slash sausages a couple of times on each side. Return the skillet over medium-high heat. Transfer sausages, cut-side-down into the skillet. Cook, turning as needed for 4 to 5 minutes or until browned all over.

Add the apple juice to the pan and reduce the heat to medium.  Cook, partially covered, for 12 to 15 minutes longer or until sausages are cooked all the way through. Drape a slice of cheese over each sausage.  Cover the pan and cook for 1 minute or until the cheese is melted. Serve the sausages topped with the apple mixture. Makes 6 servings.

Note: this photo and recipe appear in my book, Dana’s Top Ten Table (Random House 2007).

The wonderful autumn tradition of caramel apples brings out the kid in all of us. After all, who hasn’t sunk their teeth into a sticky, gooey, messy caramel apple at least once in their life?

I created the following recipe years ago for Gardening Life magazine and it’s still a favourite I pull out and use once every autumn, usually right after Oliver and I get back from Pine Orchard Farms where we pick apples every year.

Caramel Apples

6 unwaxed small granny smith, royal gala, Macintosh or other apples
Popsicle or lolli sticks
1 cup (250 mL) each granulated sugar and light brown sugar
3/4 cup (175 mL) 35 % whipping cream
1/4 cup (60 mL) corn syrup
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
pinch salt
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
Chopped nuts such as pecans, almonds or peanuts, chocolate sprinkles, etc

Polish the clean apples with a clean, dry dishtowel until completely dry and smooth. Insert a popsicle or candy stick into the stem end of each apple. Place a parchment lined baking pan in the refrigerator.

In a medium, deep, dry saucepan combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, whipping cream, butter, corn syrup and salt. Place pan over medium heat and stir often until sugar is dissolved and caramel is bubbling. If necessary, brush down the sides of the pan once or twice with water to dissolve any sugar crystals clinging to the sides.

Place a candy thermometer into the saucepan and increase the heat to medium-high. Boil caramel, without stirring, until the temperature reaches 240 F (115 C).

Remove the pan from the heat. Shielding hands with oven mitts, stir in vanilla. Let caramel stand with the thermometer in the mixture until the temperature falls to 200 F (100 C), from 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, remove the baking sheet from the fridge. Place over a baking pan filled with ice cubes.

Dip and slowly turn the apples in caramel until coated all over. Transfer to the chilled baking sheet. Let stand while you dip remaining apples. Fold any caramel that pools under the apples. Dip coated apples into chopped nuts or candy sprinkles, pressing the garnished lightly into the bottom and up the sides of the apples; chill until set. Makes 6 servings.

When’s the last time you had a caramel or candy apple?

Photo credit: Sea Cider Farm

One of my fondest memories of my first trip to France was the excellent artisan hard ciders served in champagne-style bottles in Normandy. Although often cloudy and not as pretty as the sparklingly clear apple cider drinks I’d had in Scotland before that time, Norman ciders were more nuanced and really fantastic served with a big bowl of mussels meuniere.

Today, apple cider is a growing category in the liquor store. It’s not the Scottish-style pub cider that’s taken off or the Norman-style cider that we’re seeing more of but the sweet, sparkling ice ciders from Quebec and the wonderful range of still and sparkling quaffing ciders from British Columbian growers like Sea Cider Farm.
Do you ever serve cider when you entertain? If not, would you consider it?

Welcome to apple week! I don’t usually write about one topic five days in a row, but I’m making an exception for this wonderful fruit – after all, who doesn’t like apples? Seriously, after all the debate caused by Friday’s post, I’m looking for a bit of consensus building!  So, let’s see if we can all agree that apples are delicious and share our tips, recipes and stories. Enjoy!

Of the seven thousand plus known and catalogued apple species, only a couple of dozen are well known, widely cultivated and sold in significant numbers in Canada. And, of this small number of apples, only a handful has the right texture and consistency to be good for use in recipes. Although many people define a cooking apple as one that’s used primarily for cooking rather than eating fresh, many of my favourite cooking apples are also my favourite eating apples. For instance, I treat apples such as the Granny Smith, Cortland, Spartan and McIntosh as dual purpose fruits.

In a nutshell, by my definitions, an apple qualifies as good for cooking if it has a tangy flavour and a firm flesh that softens but doesn’t break down too much when cooked. For applesauce and apple butter, I have another category that I call sauce apples; apples in this category have great flavour and cook down to a pulpy consistency.

To ensure that you have the right apple for the right usage, simply cut a wedge of apple and place it in a small saucepan. Cover the fruit with water and simmer it until the apple is tender. If the piece stays intact when pierced with a fork and still has a true, desirable apple flavour, then it’s good for skillet cooking and apple desserts where firm pieces of apple are desirable. Use this chart to help you to choose the best apples I’ve found for each type of culinary use: