Apple Dishes—Savoury or Sweet

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 786, 13 August 1954, Page 32

Apple Dishes—Savoury or Sweet

| OW that there is a plenty of the best cooking apple of all, the Ballarat, let us make up all the apple dishes we can; for our preserved fruits will keep, and fresh fruit is important, especially for children, Of course, Ballarats make excellent eating, too, so that if you get a case of them you can enjoy their juicy scrunchiness when you like. Make plenty of savoury as well as sweet apple dishes; and it is well to make your Christmas mincemeat now, for apples are scarcer in December; and mince pies really are delicious. Old-fashioned Mincemeat

This always used to be made by hand-chopping all the ingredients, even the suet. Nowadays most people use a hand or electric mincer; and, very often, though not always, use shredded suet. One cup each chopped currants, raisins, apples and suet, 1 lemon (juice and grated rind), 1 oz. chopped candied peel, 1 oz. chopped almonds, a little nutmeg and spice, 1 cup brown sugar. Mix very thoroughly with a little brandy or rum, and keep in airtight jars. Savoury Stuffed Apples Six cooking apples, 4% cup sage and onion stuffing (including breadcrumbs, finely chopped sage and onion, fat, pepper and salt), 2 teaspoons butter. Peel and core apples, which should be of fair size. Have the stuffing ready, and use it to fill each apple. Put butter into rather flat piedish, or glass cooking dish, add 3 tablespoons water, put it in oven for butter to melt, and the water to get hot for 5 minutes, place stuffed apples in carefully; put a small piece of butter on top of each, and bake slowly till cooked, about ¥% hour. Nice with pork chops. Liver Stuffing for Apples One cupful minced liver, 1% Ib. chopped nuts, % cupful raisins, 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Core 6 apples, but do not peel. Mix the minced liver with raisins, nuts and lemon juice. Fill this mixture into centre of the 6 large cored but unpeeled apples, and bake in moderate oven until apples are tender. A es =

_Apple oauce This goes very well indeed with many dishes, and should not only be remembered with roast pork or duck. Even then, one seldom gets a big enough helping of apple sauce-only just a small spoonful, especially in hotel dinners. Serve it generously with fried (or grilled) pork sausages, baked or boiled ham or bacon, and pork chops. Mash it very smooth, Just put the thinly-sliced apples with hardly any water into a saucepan, and cook on low heat until soft. Then mash and beat very smooth with a fork. A very little sugar may be added if liked, Bacon and Candied Apples Fry sufficient rashers of bacon. Core but do not peel 3 apples. Cut in 1% inch slices, brown lightly on both sides in bacon fat. Sprinkle 1-3rd cup sugar over apple slices, baste till candied. Add 1%4 cup water, cover, and cook till apples are tender. Apple and Sausage Roll Skin and roll out 2 Ib. sausages. Spread on this 2 cups diced apple, 1 cup chopped onions, 1 cup breadcrumbs, and 1 teaspoon chopped sage, pepper

and salt. Roll up like roly-poly, dredge with flour, bake in dish with dripping about an hour till brown. Baste frequently.

Apple and Raisin Stuffing This is especially for duck, but is excellent also for stuffing veal or pork. A good idea when you don’t want a joint of meat, is to put a good layer of stuffing (any kind) between pork chops, or slices of veal steak, pile on ‘top of each other, and bake as a joint would be. Half a minced onion, 11 cups diced, peeled cored apples, 3 cups lightly-packed dayold breadcrumbs, 42 cup seeded raisins, ¥%4 teaspoon salt, dash of pepper, 1 tablespoon sugar, just over %4 cup melted butter or margarine or fat. Mix all well, and stuff duck, not too tightly. Apple Pie ! This is a lovely pie. Some people like to add a little lemon or orange juice to the syrup. One cup sugar, 1 cup pineapple juice, 6 to 8 medium apples, 242 teaspoons cornflour, pinch salt, 1 ‘tablespoon butter. Put sugar and pineapple juice on to boil. Add apples, pared, cored and quartered. Cook slowly with the lid off until fruit is tender. Keep apples moved about so that they are covered with syrup. Lift out and lay in piedish lined with uncooked pastry. Dissolve the cornflour in a little water, and thicken syrup. Cook about 5 minutes. Add butter, a little vanilla, if liked, and pour over the apples. Cut strips of pastry 2 inch wide, brush with milk or beaten egg, and put criss-cross over apples. Bake in 450 degrees oven for 10 minutes, then at 350 degrees for about half an hour. Apples and Dumplings Have ready a quantity of stewed apples, boiling in a saucepan, sweetened and fairly wet. Mix up dumpling batter with 1 cup flour, 4% cup of shortening (butter is best), a pinch of salt, one teaspoon baking powder, and 34 cup milk. Drop this by tablespoons into the boiling apples, put on lid and boil 20 minutes without lifting the lid. Apple Fritters

4 wo large appies, | cup flour, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon lemon custard powder, 1% teaspoon salt, '2 teaspoons sugar. Put flour, sugar, salt and custard powder in a basin. Mix to batter with egg and sufficient milk, then add baking powder. Peel apples and quickly grate into batter-use large vegetable grater. Drop in teaspoons on to hot greased pan, and cook golden brown. Pile on hot dish, sprinkle with sugar, and garnish with lemon slices. Delightful batter also for savouries, Can also be used for frying fish; only use 1 apple and leave out sugar. American Apple Pie Line pieplate with pastry about 4 inches larger than plate. Leave edges overhanging and untrimmed. Blend 1%, cup butter, 1-3rd cup sugar, 4% teaspoon cinnamon, 4% teaspoon nutmeg, 2 teaspoons lemon juice. Mix with 8 cups thinly-sliced cooking apples. Heap them in lined pieplate. Bring overhanging pastry over apples, folding where’ necessary. Should be 3 inch uncovered opening in centre. Bake hot oven 425 degrees till done. When cooked grated cheese may be sprinkled over.