By By Lisa Tindell
Thanksgiving wouldn’t be a holiday without including apples somewhere on the table.
With the big turkey day just a couple of weeks away, I thought I’d give some recipes that include apples. You may find it interesting how versatile apples can be if you just give them a chance.
There are many people who feel like the meal wouldn’t be complete without an apple pie for dessert. I have one friend who puts apples into her stuffing mix. I’ve never had this particular stuffing dish, but I’m told the family raves over it every Thanksgiving.
If you have a few apples in the house and are looking for a way to include them in your meal, I’ve found a few recipes to share just for such a purpose.
Easy Apple Pie
2/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
8 Granny Smith apple – peeled, cored and sliced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and cloves. Place one of the pie shells into a 10 inch pie pan. Put 1/2 of the sliced apples into the shell and sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over them. Top with the remaining apples and the remaining sugar mixture. Cover apples with the top crust. Press edges with the tines of a fork to seal and poke holes in the top with a knife. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
Here’s a quick tip on double crust pies: If you plan on using pre-made, frozen crusts allow them to thaw before using. To prepare a crust to be used as the top there are a couple of steps to take. First, leave the frozen crust in the pan it came in and turn onto waxed paper. Allow the crust to loosen and thaw completely. This makes the crust easier to handle. Cover filling with flattened crust and crimp edges to seal or cut to form a lattice pattern. Bake as directed.
Apple and Nut Stuffing
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
6 cups toasted bread cubes
3 cups diced peeled apples
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saut/ onion and celery until tender, but not browned; transfer to a large bowl. Add bread cubes, chopped apples, walnuts, raisins, and apple cider. Season with sage, salt and pepper. Mix well, and place into a baking dish. Cover, and bake in preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. The directions for this recipe call for cooking outside the turkey. If you choose to stuff your turkey with this mixture, bake according to directions for the turkey.
Happy cooking!
Lisa Tindell is staff reporter for The Atmore Advance. She can be reached at 867-4876 or by email at lisa.tindell@brewtonstandard.com.