Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Apple Whiz

Any recipe with the word "whiz" in the title obviously predates the Food Network. My mom Jane scribbled this recipe when CFPL's Bill Brady recited it over the radio one morning when she was yet a stay-at-home-mom---decades before anyone coined the acronym SAHM---and she has relied on it ever since.

A family staple, as children, my brothers and I would excitedly call out our favorite accompaniment when she served it warm from the oven: I liked a scoop of vanilla ice cream. My father insisted on grating cheddar cheese over it, but mom now suggests drizzled butterscotch sauce. (Funny, that was never offered when we were little.) Good baking apples can be found nearly year-round, and this recipe's tried-and-true flavors win favor as a warm brunch dish, or apres-leaf-raking or snowball fight treat. (See Food Fact below for apple variety suggestions.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a greased pie plate, mix together:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar (turbinado would work well; Or, substitute 1/2 cup agave)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2 apples, sliced (might I recommend this!)

Pop in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.
p.s. If you're looking for a great off-the-shelf butterscotch sauce, I came across a good one while visiting Camden, Maine last Fall. It's Stonewall Kitchen Spiced Rum Butterscotch Sauce.

Food Fact! The very best choices for baking apples include Cameo, Pink Lady, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Jonathan, and Rome. Pippin, Gala, Braeburn, Northern Spy, Gravenstein, Rhode Island Greening, York Imperial, and Winesap. Taste and texture are the two most important qualities to consider in a baking apple. The best varieties offer a little bit of resistance (maintaining hint of crunch) and are not too sweet, since most baked-apple recipes call for sugar, which both flavors and helps thicken the juices of the apples as they cook.
Granny Smith is a reliable, easy-to-find choice which holds up during baking and can take a lot of extra flavor from sugar and spices. Gravenstein, Braeburn, Fuji and Pink Lady Apples are all crisp and sturdy, as well. Red Delicious and Golden Delicious, despite their promising names, are not good choices for baking, and neither are Gala and Cortland, since they tend to become mealy.

Stonewall Kitchen, LLC

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