I picked more early apples this morning and managed to knock several off while doing so. I also found several apples on the ground under the tree that had been there for a couple of days. These apples were bruised but still mostly okay. I picked them up, washed, cut off bruises, and cut into chunks. I freeze the good chunks to use in sautéed apples. Today, since I was roasting a whole chicken, and it was a cool and cloudy day, I thought sautéed, spiced apples would be a nice side dish. So I used about half of the apple chunks tonight and froze the rest.
To serve 4 adults, I use the chunks from about 5 or 6 fist-sized apples (small compared to grocery store apples). As you can see, I leave the skins on.
To make, heat a skillet with about 2 to 3 teaspoons of butter. Drop the apples in and sauté while stirring periodically. When soft but still hold their shape add some cinnamon and a teaspoon or two of sweetening, sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, whatever you like. The sweetening should just bring out the natural sweetness of the apples, not make them apple pie-like sweet.
I like to serve these warm. So if I make them early in the day, I will add a couple of tablespoons of water while I reheat them.
Each year I have enough apple chunks in the freezer from fallen or knocked apples to last us the winter. Bruised apples simply wouldn't keep in the fridge. But freezing the good parts (which is most of the apple) keeps them for many months.
While it's still summer, here in the northern hemisphere, our cool and cloudy week brought to mind our family's fall festivities. I usually make sautéed apples using maple syrup to go with Thanksgiving dinner. They're always a big hit with our family.
An easy-peasy side dish that salvages fruit which might otherwise be tossed out.
Your apples look pretty good and that's a good way to use up the chunks. We used to have three apple trees. One went down in a storm last year, another has never produced more than a handful of apples the whole time we've lived here, and one tree we planted that is just starting to produce. However, they are buggy and the deer are having their fair share. All disappointing, but they sure are beautiful in the spring.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteI'm sorry about your disappointments with your apple trees. I hope your luck improves with the newer of the two trees. I agree, an apple tree in bloom is very pretty and valuable for its beauty alone.
Those look delicious! We do the same thing and they are super good on oatmeal for breakfast. Sometimes I add a splash of cream or milk when sauteeing them after the cinnamon and sugar are added. Makes almost a caramel like consistency!
ReplyDeleteAlice
Hi Alice,
DeleteI love your use for apple chunks on top of oatmeal. I'm going to do that this fall and winter. Thank you for the suggestion!
Yes, such an easy way to deal with homegrown apple bounty! I call it fruit "compote", and I just myself this past weekend pulled out a bag of frozen homegrown apple chunks from last fall to use up (ahead of the next round soon to come) -- stewing them with garden rhubarb and blackberries (using chopped dates and a splash of maple syrup to sweeten instead of sugar (plus adding cinnamon!)). I mean it hardly gets easier -- so tasty and so, so simple! :-D
ReplyDeleteOh yum, that sounds delicious! Great idea to stew some of the chunks with garden rhubarb. I still have rhubarb in the garden that I'd like to use. The dates and maple syrup addition sound yummy. Thank you for sharing!
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