Apple Goodness

"Your mother... could peel an apple in one long, curly strip."

[Sleepless in Seattle]

Happy Thursday! In honor of apple season (and our huge box of apples that need to get used), today will feature two different apple recipes. Both of these are featured in the Gooseberry Patch cookbook, Celebrate Autumn. My apples are honeycrisps, which let me tell you, worked JUST fine for baking.


First up is....


Apple-Cheddar Triple Loaves
These delicious little loaves are super easy to make. I got these in the oven first, because they do have to bake for 40 minutes and then cool for another 10 before they're edible. If you're going to make these, this would be something good to make in the afternoon so they're almost completely cool at dinnertime.


Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cooking oil
3/4 cup apples, diced
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded


Directions:
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Combine the whole egg, egg yolk, milk and oil in a medium bowl; add to flour mixture and stir just until moistened.

Gently fold in the apples and cheese. Divide batter among three greased 7 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 2" loaf pans. (Note: I didn't have this size, so I wound up making four slightly smaller loaves.) 

Bake at 350 degrees about 40 minutes, until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans. When completely cool, wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Mmm... delicious!

A little crumbly, but only because I'm impatient and
didn't let it cool enough.

I am definitely marking this recipe to save for later. In hindsight and in my opinion, this would actually be a better breakfast bread than a dinner bread. Between the apples and the sugar, it's a moist, sweet bread, almost reminiscent of the flavor of cornbread but with the texture of a muffin. Still delicious though - I HIGHLY recommend it!


Next recipe up to bat...


Pork Cutlets with Spiced Apples


This was definitely a quick and easy dinner to make - which was perfect considering Wednesday was my second day in a row working more than 10 hours. As usual, I tweaked the recipe a bit - check for my comments as it goes along. The main change is that I halved the recipe, so that should explain any differences you see when you compare the ingredients list (original) to my photos (halved).


Ingredients:
3 apples, cored and sliced
1/3 cup lemon juice
12 boneless pork loin cutlets, 1/4" thick (I only had bone-in chops that were more like 3/4" thick, so I'll show my alterations with the cooking directions.)
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 oz. fresh ginger, cut into julienne strips (I was being lazy, so I just used ground ginger and sprinkled a bit over the meat and apples. I'm sure it would have been a lot better with fresh ginger.)
1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

I always love apple slices. So pretty! I cut mine fairly thick, so
that they stood a chance of not turning into applesauce
after being cooked.

Mmm... pork chops and apples. One of
my favorite combinations!

Directions:
Toss apples with lemon juice. Cook pork in hot butter and oil for 5 minutes. (This is where I compensated for the cuts of meat being thicker. I cooked it the same length of time, but covered, and that seemed to do the trick.)

Add apples, ginger, and thyme. Turn pork and cook 4 minutes longer.

Add 1 tbsp water, cover and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.


And presto chango...dinner! I'll leave it to you to choose a side and a veggie like you're supposed to. This was another tasty recipe, and a good way to use up a few apples! Maybe if you are all nice, I'll share the secret to my apple pie. ... Maybe.