Guide for selecting the best apple for your use

It’s fall and apple season is upon us.  You will find quite a few varieties of apples are currently available.  You may not have realized, though, that choosing the correct variety of apple can make or break your dish.  Apples are a very versatile fruit and are available year-round.  Some varieties are better for one purpose over another.  

Did you ever wonder what apple you should buy when you were going to make a pie or applesauce?  Which apple variety is best when you just wanted a nice crunchy apple to eat?  It can be confusing, especially when faced with trays of wonderful looking apples. 

 

When making an apple pie or tart, it is always nice to mix a few varieties of apples for great flavor and texture.  A mix of apples that hold their shape and apples that go soft will give your pie a chucky, but thick texture.  If you are looking for an apple that holds its shape during cooking, try braeburn, golden delicious, granny smith, jonagold, Rome beauty or winesap.   

If you want to make applesauce, for example, look for apples that do not hold their shape and go soft during cooking.  Some examples are cortland and McIntosh.  

 

The following chart shows popular apples found in the Phoenix area.   

 

Variety	Description	Fresh	Salads	Pies	Baked	Sauce
Braeburn	Flavor blends sweetness and Tartness just right for snacks and salads.	x	x	x	x	x
Cortland	Crisp, juicy, sweet-tart and resists browning. Great all-purpose apple.	x	x	x	x	x
Crispin	Sweet, firm and crisp.	x	x	x	x	x
Fuji	Flesh is spicy, crisp, sweet and firm.  Stores well with improved flavor.	x	x	x	x	x
Gala	Gala is a favorite for fresh eating.	x	x	x	x	x
Golden delicious	Sweet, firm with sweet, crisp flavor.  It is the preferred ‘all purpose’ apple and freezes well.	x	x	x	x	x
Granny smith	Crisp mouth-watering tartness that comes through when baked or sautéed.	x	x	x	x
Jonagold	A blend of Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples with a unique tangy-sweet flavor and firm flesh.	x	x	x	x	X
Jonathan	A spicy fragrance and a juicy, sweet-tart flavor.	x	x	x	x	x
McIntosh	A semi-crisp tart-sweet multi-purpose apple.  Not great for baked goods.	x	x	x		x
Red delicious	These sweet, soft apples are good for eating.  Avoid buying them in the summer; they sometimes get mushy.	x	x
Rome beauty	A baker’s apple with a mild flavor and sweet, slightly juicy flesh.  It gets richer when baked or sautéed.	x	x	x	x
Winesap	Has a spicy almost wine-like flavor that makes it the cider maker's first choice.	x	x	x	x	x

 

·       Braeburn-- Flavor blends sweetness and Tartness just right for snacks and salads. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh

 

·       Cortland--Crisp, juicy, sweet-tart and resists browning. Great all-purpose apple. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh

·       Crispin--Sweet, firm and crisp.  Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh                                                        

·       Fuji--Flesh is spicy, crisp, sweet and firm.  Stores well with improved flavor. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh

·       Gala--Gala is a favorite for fresh eating. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh

·       Golden delicious--Sweet, firm with sweet, crisp flavor.  It is the preferred ‘all purpose’ apple and freezes well.  Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh

·       Granny smith--Crisp mouth-watering tartness that comes through when baked or sautéed.  Use for salads, pies, baked and eating fresh.

 

·       Jonagold--A blend of Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples with a unique tangy-sweet flavor and firm flesh. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh.

·       Jonathan--A spicy fragrance and a juicy, sweet-tart flavor. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh.

·       McIntosh--A semi-crisp tart-sweet multi-purpose apple.  Not great for baked goods.  Use for salads, pies, sauce and eating fresh.

·       Red delicious--These sweet, soft apples are good for eating.  Avoid buying them in the summer; they sometimes get mushy. Use in salads and eating fresh.

·       Rome beauty--A baker’s apple with a mild flavor and sweet, slightly juicy flesh.  It gets richer when baked or sautéed. Use for salads, pies, baked and eating fresh

·       Winesap--Has a spicy almost wine-like flavor that makes it the cider maker's first choice. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh.

So grab some apples while they are at their peak and have some fun baking.  If you do not bake, try making caramel apples.  Homemade caramel apples are so much better than those from the grocery store.

 Apple pie using a mix of granny smith, honey crisp and gala.

 

Special K Pumpkin Spice Mini Wheats Review

We recently received a few samples of Special K limited edition cereals to try.  We already reviewed Special K Cinnamon Crunch and now it’s time to review Special K Pumpkin Spice Mini Wheats. 

As we always do, we sampled some straight out of the box.  I expected to be hit over the head with the pumpkin flavor…but I was not.  It was good, but not really as ‘pumpkiny’ as I had hoped for.  When we added milk, we released a little more of the pumpkin flavor.  However, it was still a more subdued pumpkin flavor…good, but not fabulous.   

The stats on this cereal are 190 calories for each 25 biscuits with 5 grams of protein…even before adding milk.  It also has 12 grams of sugar and 6 grams of fiber and is made with whole grains.   

If you like mini wheats, you will enjoy this limited edition cereal.  I might buy it again as a special treat, but if I had to choose between the two I just reviewed, the Special K Cinnamon Crunch would win out.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Cook once and eat twice - transforming leftover pork tenderloin

We love to cook once and eat twice, but aren't a huge fan of eating the same thing every day.  We did not want to eat 'leftovers', so I did my magic and transformed my previously-cooked, Mexican-seasoned pork tenderloin into something completely different.

For today's tip, we want you to grill (or cook however you like it) additional pork tenderloin or chops when you are going to have it for dinner.  Then....

Look through your refrigerator to see what you have that will complement your pre-cooked pork so you can have a completely different meal.  This time I used a pork tenderloin, apples, Trader Joe's honey apple butter (yum) and whipped up a fabulous meal. 

Check out our honey apple pork tenderloin recipe.  It only took about 15 minutes from start to finish and was deeelish!!

Today's Kitchen Tip: No more opening caramel squares for melting

It's caramel apple time and I just love making them.  I usually save some homemade caramel for making apples, but sometimes there just isn't any around, so I purchase caramel in the bag.

Unfortunately those caramel squares are usually wrapped in cellophane and opening them can take forever.  There is another product around that eliminates opening the caramels.  It's made by Kraft and it's called caramel bits.  You just open the bag and use the amount you want.  There are no caramels to unwrap.  These bits save so much time that I always keep a bag around 'just in case'.

I have also used these caramel bits as a mix-in for cookies.  When it gets closer to Christmas, I'll post a recipe I made with these bits.  While they're not as good as homemade, they take 10 seconds, rather than an hour to prepare.  Seems worth it to me.

Apples are abundant now that Fall is near

I know it doesn't seem like fall yet, but it is just around the corner.  Apples are one of my favorite fall fruits and I love to look at ways to use them.  Standing in front of apple displays in the store, it can be difficult to figure out which one to choose.  Some apples are best for eating plain, while others are better suited for pies.  Some of our favorites are: 

• Braeburn--Flavor blends sweetness and Tartness just right for snacks and salads. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh.
• Cortland--Crisp, juicy, sweet-tart and resists browning. Great all-purpose apple. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh.
• Crispin--Sweet, firm and crisp. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh
• Fuji--Flesh is spicy, crisp, sweet and firm. Stores well with improved flavor. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh.
• Gala--Gala is a favorite for fresh eating. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh
• Golden delicious--Sweet, firm with sweet, crisp flavor. It is the preferred‘all purpose’ apple and freezes well. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh.
• Granny smith--Crisp mouth-watering tartness that comes through when baked or sautéed. Use for salads, pies, baked and eating fresh.
• Jonagold--A blend of Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples with a unique tangy-sweet flavor and firm flesh. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh.
• Jonathan--A spicy fragrance and a juicy, sweet-tart flavor. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh.
• McIntosh--A semi-crisp tart-sweet multipurpose apple. Not great for baked goods. Use for salads, pies, sauce and eating fresh.
• Red delicious--These sweet, soft apples are good for eating. Avoid buying them in the summer; they sometimes get mushy. Use in salads and eating fresh.
• Rome beauty--A baker’s apple with a mild flavor and sweet, slightly juicy flesh. It gets richer when baked or sautéed. Use for salads, pies, baked and eating fresh
• Winesap--Has a spicy almost wine-like flavor that makes it the cider maker's first choice. Use for salads, pies, baked, sauce and eating fresh. 

So now that you know which apples to use, go make an apple pie or some applesauce and enjoy the seasonal bounty.

Roast your own chiles

Hatch chiles ready to be roasted

Living in Phoenix, I tend to make a lot of dishes using chiles.  You can buy several types in cans, but they are often not that flavorful and truth be told, a teeny tiny can can be $1 or more.  What I like to do is buy them at the grocery store or favorite Mexican market.  I wash them, then either throw them under the broiler until the skin blisters or put them on the grill.  Once they are blistered, I put them in a bowl, cover with plastic.  As they steam, the skin separates and becomes very easy to remove.

So what do I do with them?  I freeze them so I always have roasted chiles available when I need them.



Roasted chiles with blistered skin

Don't forget to use gloves if you are sensitive, and for heaven sakes, don't touch your eyes before washing your hands really well with soap.  Hmmm, these might be separate tips.  Oh well, today's a 3-fer.