‘Apple Harvest Recipes’ explores all things apple

‘A hidden gem in western Ohio’
10:46 a.m.
Tipp City offers quaint shops, cozy dining
5/25/12
How to make inexpensive, fresh flower arrangements
5/25/12
How to help the poor the 'right way'
5/25/12
Better treat soon to combat emerald ash borer
5/25/12
> More lifestyle headlines

By Vick Mickunas, Contributing writer Updated 5:59 PM Friday, August 27, 2010

“An Apple Harvest-Recipes & Orchard Lore” by Frank Browning and Sharon Silva (Ten Speed Press, 151 pages, $16.99)

My neighbors just down the road have an apple orchard. Whenever I pass by their place I take a peek to see how the fruit is looking. This time of year I find it rather hard to resist the impulse to sample some. But I do resist. I do battle with this mighty temptation.

These local apples are now ripening as we are preparing to flip the calendar page over to September. In preparation for this sweet annual bounty I have been turning the pages of “An Apple Harvest-Recipes & Orchard Lore” by Frank Browning and Sharon Silva.

This tasteful book opens with the statement that “apples are, quite simply, the preeminent fruit of temptation.” True indeed. Didn’t you always assume that it was probably an apple that caused the temptation which resulted in Adam and Eve’s legendary eviction from the Garden of Eden?

“An Apple Harvest” begins with a short history of the apple. The authors trace back the origins of this noble fruit to “the slopes of the Tien Shan, or Heavenly Mountains, of modern Kazakhstan probably about ten thousand years ago.”

The authors relate their own personal histories with apples. Browning’s family operated an orchard on a ridgetop in eastern Kentucky. He describes how “the names of the apples...were as evocative as the dishes my mother concocted from them. Maiden Blush. Stayman Winesap. Winter Banana. King David. Rome Beauty. Black Twig. Transparent.”

With so many apple varieties to choose from, how do we pick out the right apples for our purposes? The book details how to select apples and how to store them. This is followed by a handy section that includes photos and descriptions of “some of the ones we like best, with notes on their qualities, primary growing areas, and uses.”

Following this 40 page introduction we reach the tastiest section of the book, the recipes. Apples can be utilized in a wide array of dishes. The authors offer recipes here for some first courses like “Winter Salad with Apples and White Cheddar” and “Sea Scallops in Cider Sauce.”

Next you can peruse some tantalizing main course recipe suggestions like “Chicken Breasts with Cider, Spices, and Caramelized Apples,” “Atlantic Salmon Fillets in Cider-Mustard Sauce,” “Pork Loin Stuffed with Fresh and Dried Apples,” “Pork and Apple Pie with Horseradish Sauce,” and “Italian Sausage Stuffed Apples.”

Some side dish offerings include “Appalachian Cider-Baked Beans,” and what the authors describe as “Real Applesauce.” All you will need for making that is “8 good saucing apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon or nutmeg.”

Which brings us to dessert. There are recipes here for apple dumplings, bourbon apple pie, Kentucky apple stack cake, apple sorbet with ginger, baked apples with port, and something they call “Witches’ Froth.” This simple dish calls for 5 baking apples, vanilla extract, egg whites, sugar, and Kentucky bourbon. Bake it in the oven for 45 minutes then chill.

Following dessert we might refresh our palates with apple cider or with a nightcap of hard apple cider, or even the American apple brandy known as applejack. On special occasions we might consider the French apple brandy known as Calvados.

Contact book reviewer Vick Mickunas at vick@vickmickunas.com.

Share this article