I really like apples. I have fond childhood memories of going to orchards to pick our own machintosh apples. We'd climb the apple trees, and pick the ripest ones from the very top, their deep red skin and white flesh almost hot from the sun. Crisp and juicy they were, and we'd gorge ourselves on the drive home. Pesticides? What pesticides ;) Not that we didn't care about eating toxins, we were just joyfully oblivious.
Now I stick to organic apples, and often can find lovely organic royal gala at the Indian market up the street. When the apples are a little past their crisp prime, and have edged towards slightly mealy, the time for baking them is upon us.
This baked apple dish is practically an apple crisp without the crisp, an apple pie without the crust. For me, the best part of pie or crisp was always the apple filling, so it just makes it better having the apples with nothing else ;)
ingredients:
6 large royal gala apples (or medium if you prefer)
1/2 - 3/4 cup organic thompson raisins (depends on how much you like raisins)
1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
1 tbsp cinnamon
pinch sea salt
a little freshly grated ginger
1 tsp ground vanilla
directions:
1. combine all the ingredients in an oven-proof casserole. I like to use my magnificent cast iron 'Nemesis' for this. It bakes fruit and vegetables beautifully.
2. bake at 345 for 60 minutes with the lid on
3. turn the heat off and leave in the oven (if desired) for another 30 minutes
Please note that cooking times will vary with the type of casserole used, and if you are using glass, the cooking time might well be shorter, and you should probably just remove it at the end of cooking, instead of leaving it in. I doubled this recipe, and it worked very well.
This is lovely on it's own, or topped with a little whole milk yogurt.
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