jel@digi-g.UUCP (John Lind) (10/17/84)
The easiest apple recipe that I know of (other than polishing and eating)
is my mother's way of baking apples. Select 1 or two apples per person
(one is the traditional serving, but that seldom satisfies in my house,
and they're good cold, too). Apples that are short and plump are best.
Wash the apples and core them. Coring is trivial with an apple corer
(a little tool with a single, twisted, serrated blade on a handle), but
care must be taken with a paring knife or you will break or slice
the apple. Select a glass baking pan only a little larger than the apples
when laid out almost touching. You may wish to lightly grease the pan
for easy cleanup. Place the apples in the pan, and funnel sugar into
the holes in the middles so they are full or nearly so. Place one or two
whole cloves in the sugar and dust with cinnamon and/or nutmeg. Bake
at 350 for 45 minutes or so. Wealthies are excellent for this.
The next easiest recipe is good if you have some stale bread is apple
bread pudding. This is a real seat-of-the-pants recipe, so bear with
me. Select and lightly grease a high-sided baking dish. Cut stale
bread into cubes to fill the dish (leave the crusts on -- fresh will
work OK -- if your family doesn't like the heals, this is a good
use for them, but don't use more than half heals -- ww is good as well
as white). Moisten bread slightly with water. Add one egg for a small
dish, two for a medium dish. Wash and chop apples and add them (I don't
peel them, my mother does). Use as many as you feel like, typically
3 to 5 for a medium dish. Mix gently and cover thoroughly with cinnamon
and/or nutmeg. Bake for one hour, or until is springs back with
pushed in the middle. Depending on the desired degree of crustiness,
whether you are using a drafty or close oven, gas or electric, you may
wish to cover it with aluminum foil for part of the time it bakes.
Almost any apple is a good candidate for this recipe. You can't really
do it "wrong," so don't worry about it, just do it.
An interesting variation on this which my mother loves and I dislike
(I don't like raisins IN things) is to substitue raisins for apples
AND milk for water. I don't recommend using milk with apples or
water with raisins.
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John Lind, DSC, 10273 Yellow Circle Drive, Mpls MN 55343
mail : { ihnp4 | stolaf }!umn-cs!digi-g!jel
USnail: Starfire Consulting Services, PO Box 13001, Minneapolis, MN 55414