It’s that wonderful time of year and one of my favourite seasons – autumn!  And with it, brings an abundance of apples and pears.  We are lucky enough to have 5 beautiful apple trees and 2 pears in our garden that produce a mixture of cooking and several varieties of eating, although we still don’t know what variety!  One is green, one is pink stripes and another looks and tastes like a braeburn.

 

It is amazing how much fruit these little trees can produce, so if you have one tree or an orchard, I am guessing you are a little like us – with boxes, bags and any type of receptacle filled to the brim!  So this weekend, I did some experimenting in the kitchen with apples and here are my results!

 

Scroll down to find the recipes and verdict for:

• Green Apple Goddess Juice
• Apple and raspberry compote and overnight oats
• Apple and squash Soup
• Apple and pork tenderloin for a special treat
• Apple and almond cake – gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free
• Spiced apple ice cream

Green Apple Goddess Juice

• 1 bag of leafy greens (spinach / kale)
• 2 -3 apples
• 1-2 cucumbers (peeled if not organic)
• 3 sticks of celery
• 1 lime
• thumb of ginger

Wash all the ingredients, take the stalks out of the apples and then pass through the juicer.

This juice is full of hydrating electrolytes from the celery and the cucumber, iron from the leafy greens and lime and ginger are great for digestion.  This juice is packed full of nutrients, minerals, anti-oxidents and polyphenols.

If you need a pick me up, this is great!  And if you struggle to get veggies in to your little ones, give them the choice of a shot!

Apple and raspberry compote for your overnight oats

This is a recipe adapted from Deliciously Ella’s new book ‘The Plant Based Cook Book’.  She adds maple syrup – I don’t feel that our apples need sweetening.

• 2-3 apples
• 100 grams frozen raspberries
• sprinkle of cinnamon

Peel the apples, core and chop and put in a pan over a medium heat.  Add the raspberries and stir until the apples until they are soft.  Sprinkle in some cinnamon to taste.  Eat warm or let cool and put in an airtight box and keep in the fridge.

This is yummy with just full fat probiotic yoghurt or I love for breakfast on my overnight oats.

Apple and squash Soup

This is a recipe adapted from one I found in Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook (I love this book – so many fab recipes) and so seasonal for autumn with both apples and squash in the mix.

• 1 butternut or any squash (12.kg)
• 3 apples
• 1 onion
• 1-2 fresh chillies
• 4 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• 1 pinch coriander seeds
• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
• a few fresh rosemary sticks or a teaspoon of dried rosemary
• 1 litre of chicken or veg stock (kalo or knorr)
• pumpkin seeds to sprinkle

Start by peeling, deseeding and chopping up the squash into 2-3cm pieces.  Core and quarter the apples.  Chop the onions and peel the garlic.  Deseed and de-stalk the chilli and chop in half.  Put everything in a roasting tin and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over the coriander seeds, cayenne pepper and season.  Roast until the squash is soft – about 45 minutes.

Put the stock in to a big pan and then add in the contents of the roasting pan, give it a stir and then let it simmer for about 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and then blitz with a handheld blender until smooth.

Serve with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.  Just delicious!!!  And enjoyed by the family, especially the children as it is naturally sweet.

Apples and pork tenderloin for a special treat

This is an adaptation of a very old, very favourite Delia recipe from her ‘how to cook’ books – with a few tweaks to make it healthier. It is one of my go to dishes when I want to ensure everyone enjoys a meal;  great for family but also great for a dinner party!

• 2 pork tenderloin, fat and sinew removed
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 – 5 apples cored and cut in to sixths
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• Tablespoon of fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons of dried
• 30g butter
• 1 1/2 apple cider vinegar
• 225ml freshly juiced apples
• 1 (or2) tablespoons full fat creme fraiche

Place the  tenderloins in a large roasting tin, scatter over the apples, onions and garlic.  Melt the butter and stir in the apple cider vinegar and then poor over the pork, apples and onions.  Sprinkle over the rosemary and put in a hot oven and roast for 30 minutes until the pork is cooked, with no pink juices.

Remove the pork and apples in to a warm dish, cover with foil.  Either put the roasting tin on a hot plate or decant the juices and onions in to a saucepan.  Add in the apple juice and then whisk in the creme fraiche, let it bubble up and add some seasoning before pouring over the pork and apples.

I served with roasted cauliflower and broccolli, lots of leafy greens.  I used to serve with mash, but it is also delicious with a lower GI mash of celeriac.

Apple and almond cake (DF,GF)

I made this for a gorgeous little 2 year old with a gluten and dairy intolerance and it was such a delight to see him smiling as he doesn’t often get cake!  It really is a delicious cake and I adapted it from Nigella Lawson’s ‘Feast’ to also be free from refined sugar too!  So it is as healthy as a cake can be and still be delicious.

Apple puree:

• 3-6 apples cored, peeled and sliced
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 tsp of organic maple syrup.

Put all the ingredients in to a pan over a medium heat, pop on a lid and stir occassionally until the apples are very soft.  Mush the apples with a fork and leave to cool.  You need around 285g of puree which is why I say 3-6 apples!  The recipe said 3 apples, but I had to double up!

Apple cake:

• 8 eggs
• 325 ground almonds
• 275g organic coconut palm sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• flaked almonds

Heat the oven to 180.  Line a spring form round tin with parchment and coconut oil.  Put the eggs, almonds, sugar, cooled puree and lemon juice into a blender or mixer until smooth and then poor in to the tin.  Sprinkle over the flaked almonds.

Pop in the oven for 45 minutes, but check from about 35 minutes.

I cooked mine in the aga;  top aga for 15 minutes, then cold shelf above it for 15 and finished in the baking over for 15.  But my aga is odd!!  Anyone who has an aga will know …

It is really great warm and served with the ice cream below or your ice cream of choice.  It was loved by everyone and we are still enjoying it cold a couple of days on.

Spiced Apple Ice Cream (DF and can be NF)

This is from ‘The Yoga Kitchen’ cook book – which I love and should be a must in every house hold!  I don’t have an ice cream maker, so this turned out to be more of a granita… but just as yummy!

• 650g apples, peeled and cored
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tblsp melted coconut oil
• 1 tblsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp gound ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground star anise / 2 star anise
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 whole vanilla pod, seeds scraped out  or 1 tsp vanilla seed paste
• 90g pure maple syrup
• 800ml (2 tins) coconut milk
• hazel nuts roughly chopped to sprinkle (optional)

Put the olive oil in a big pan and melt;  add in the apples, the spices, vanilla pod and half the maple syrup and put over a medium heat until the apples are soft.  Then let cool completely.  Remove the vanilla pod and the star anise (I forgot!) and add in the coconut milk and the remaining maple syrup.  Put in a blender or use a handheld and blitz until smooth.

If you have an ice cream maker, pour in and churn til frozen.  Happy DAys.

If you don’t, line a bread tin or glass dish with cling film, leaving enough to cover the whole of the top of the tin / dish.  Pour in the mixture and after a few hours or just before fully frozen, fork it through to break up the ice.  Recover and refreeze.

You will need to get this out of the freezer at least 15 minutes before you want to eat it.  It really is so delicious and full of soft spice even as a granita as mine turned out to be without an ice cream maker.  It was perfect with the apple cake… or just sprinkled with nuts.

 

 

Any leftover apples still?  how about some Halloween apple bobbing!!!