Apple Days

With a sigh I pass by most of autumn's fruit offerings at the farmer's market each year. You see, at home I have an apple tree groaning with fruit.  I happily snack on Pink Ladies until nearly May, and gladly support the endangered local Gravenstein in July, but by October I'm on a monogamous diet of Granny Smith.  Eating a fresh apple a day is a must from October through December, but that's not nearly enough to assuage my guilt over wasting a single apple.  My grandmother instilled in me the belief that it is nearly a crime not to use this abundance, which she lovingly did each fall with her apples, from an unknown and delicious heirloom tree most similar to the delicate Ginger Gold, which, like my Granny Smith, is both a great out-of-hand and a wonderful cooking apple, keeping its texture like a champ when baked.

It's a happy burden, this tree, and I am thankful the humble local apple, said to "strengthen the heart, tonify the qi, alleviate thirst, lubricate the lungs and resolve mucous" in Chinese medicine, is as rich in nutrition as it is in culinary versatility.  Most of the nutritional goodies, such as vitamin C, quercetin, Ellagic acid and pectin (all important detoxifiers) are lost when apples are peeled, cooked or commercially processed, and pasteurized apple juice, one of the most commonly consumed "fruit servings" in America, is virtually devoid of nutrition, except calories.   Apple consumption has been shown to be consistently associated with reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, asthma and diabetes (The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, Murray, 2005).  For a lot more detail on the health benefits of apples, including the exciting news that they promote the growth of friendly intestinal flora, click here. All bets are off for conventionally grown apples, however, which appear at #4 on the Environmental Working Group's dirty dozen list of produce likely to be contaminated with pesticides (techies check out their iPhone app). 

Apple salad, fresh grated apples in muffins and waffle batter, braised cabbage with apples, apple cider, baked apples, roasted apples with root vegetables, apples sauteed in butter as a side dish, apple cabbage slaw, curried chicken apple salad, sauerkraut with apples and juniper berries...we've had them all this fall and have another month of appleness to go.  Most exciting was this year's unprocessed Halloween offering, caramel apples--made from scratch without the nasty corn syrup--from this recipe.

On the theory that fermentation makes everything better, my best apple creation yet is a batch of apple chutney.  Chutney is another food which was traditionally fermented and now is usually soured with vinegar. 

Fermented Apple-Raisin Chutney
Makes about 1 quart.  Adapted from a recipe in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, who warns to eat it within two months. Think of it as a kind of fruit sauerkraut, or fruit kimchi.

3 cups apples, diced
1 Meyer lemon, seeded and diced (with peel)
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup red onion, diced

Mix all of the above in a large bowl.  Cover and let sit at room temperature for a few hours, to allow the salt to draw out some of the fruit juices.  Stuff into a Mason jar, and find a smaller jar or bottle that will fit inside, allowing you to compact the contents until the liquid rises above the level of the chutney, protecting the fermenting mass from exposure to air.  Cover the whole thing with a tea towel, or t-shirt, and secure with a rubber band.  Place the jar on a saucer and allow to ferment at room temperature for 2-6 days.  I like to taste it each day and see if it has achieved a sourness I like.  If you need more liquid, mix a 1/4 tsp of salt in a 1/4 cup of water and add this brine to cover.  When you like the taste, you may refrigerate to slow down further fermentation.  Serve with curries, rice, lentil dahl, or mix into salmon, tuna, chicken or tempeh salads for a refreshing, and probiotic, kick!