Fried Apples - Old Fashioned Cooking

After reading the Little House books I was interested in trying out the idea of fried apples.  This was an accompaniment to dinners and breakfasts in the book Farmer Boy.  So I looked it up on the net and then added my own tweaks. Fried apples are really delicious and are perfect for cold evenings.  This is really good with pork or chicken or with a hearty breakfast.  Easy to do too, as long as you have lots of apples.  I buy my apples in bulk from an orchard for 50 cents a lb. and got 125 lbs. so I have lots of apples to play with.  The cooking time varies depending on how many apples you use and what variety. You want to use a cooking or baking apple like galas, granny smith, etc..  I use a mixture of them.  Here's the recipe

Take 10 large apples or less if your feeding less but this reheats well

Peel

Then slice into 1/4 in slices

In your skillet melt 1 stick of butter and add apples and then cook over medium high heat adjusting if apples are burning

When apples start to get soft grate over some nutmeg if you like and add one teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 cup brown sugar.  Mix up well.  When the apples start to caramelize and get brown they are done.  Serve with breakfast or a dinner of chicken or pork.  Serve warm or hot.

Getting up our apple supply for winter

Every fall I buy about 175 lbs of apples to get us through the winter for fresh eating, apple pies (I personally don't like apple pie but make it for Husband because he loves them) , fried apples, and applesauce.  I buy directly from the growers and this year found a great deal on Brayburns and Fuji's at 30 cents a pound.  Way cheaper than the dollar or more I'm paying at the store.  Both the apple varieties I chose are excellent keepers so as long as I keep them cool they should last well into next spring.

As to why I do it?  First is because we love apples and my five apple trees haven't started bearing yet. And well hey after all I live in Washington state right?  The apple state. Buying in bulk is cheaper than at the store, might as well take advantage of it.  There are in fact many orchards here in Washington of different fruits, so in season you can find fabulous deals on cherries, peaches, plums, and apricots as well as apples.  It is still however cheaper to grow your own which is why I currently have my five apple trees, two peach trees and a passel of assorted berry's growing.  My goal has always been to grow all my own fruit and veggies, but it is a goal that takes time.

The place I store them is in the unheated back enclosed porch which keeps them extremely cold without freezing them.  This worked out well last year even when temperatures dipped down below zero.

Having a cold room is definitely helpful when it comes to storing produce from the garden that requires cold and slightly humid conditions to keep.  People mostly would use a root cellar or unheated basement.  I have the basement but it stays just a little to warm and way to dry to properly store apples.  It is much more suited to storing onions.  Someday I'm going to build nice looking wooden boxes for storing my apples, carrots, and other root crops in the back porch.  For now though they are simply stored in cardboard boxes with a layer of newspaper on top to keep off dust and keep them a little more humid.  Worked fine last year.

Canning Applesauce

 

I know the end of the canning year has arrived when I make the applesauce.  This is my last big effort of canning before I retire the kettles and jars until spring and start getting ready for the holidays.  The apples I used this year were Golden Delicious and Rome's.  I generally use a half and half mix of Golden's and Red Delicious but this year could only get the Rome's at a great price.  I paid 25 cents a pound for over 150 lbs of apples.  Half of these were Galas for winter storage in our cold room for fresh eating. Believe it or not you do not have to add sugar to most canned fruits to preserve them.  They already have enough natural sugar, but they will be insipid and tasteless without the sugar.  This is why you are better off making applesauce with sweet eating apples like Golden's or red Delicious.  you can then use very little sugar saving tons of money and making the sauce healthier.  Using a mix of two or more apples will also give the sauce a better flavor.

 

Golden Delicious Apples

 You can see why I am so impatient for my apple trees to start producing and why I planted them in the first place.  If I had an unlimited free supply of apples I would also dry them, can apple pie filling, apple butter, and make apple pies/tarts/bread/fried apples all the time!  And maybe just for fun make cider.  I can expect plenty of fruit from my five trees, but deep down I long for more.

I have now pretty much got canning down to a system.  Each fruit or veggie requires a little bit different processing method so to really get into a rhythm you have to adapt to each food item.  My applesauce system is as follows.

First I put all my jars into the dishwasher with two tablespoons of bleach thrown in for extra sterilizing power and start it.  As long as the jars stay hot after washing they are considered sterile.  Then I fill my big water bath canning kettles and start them heating because they take awhile to get to boiling.

Next I start peeling the apples.  After I get one extra-large full bowl I pour the apples into my big stock pot with two cups water and boil till tender.  Then they go into the blender.  This gives them an extra smooth texture unlike anything you have tried in the store.  Back into the stockpot the sauce goes with one cup organic cane sugar and Cinnamon and nutmeg. Once it boils the sauce is ladled into quart jars, sealed, and then immersed in the now boiling water canner for 20 minutes.  Now the system starts in earnest.

 

 

While one batch is in the water bath I am cooking another batch which takes about 15 minutes to reach tender.  While all that is boiling I am peeling more apples.  In that 20 minutes I am able to fill my big bowl for another batch.  On it goes until I'm done!

 

This morning I canned 27 quarts of applesauce