Or, also filed under flavor combinations that surprise and delight.
I am a lover of apples. They are one of my desert island foods, ranking almost up there with my cup of strong black tea with milk. If you offered me a choice between a good apple (I’m also a terrible apple snob) and tea and cake, I might choose the apple. And that’s saying something.
Because of the aforementioned snobbery, I can no longer eat apples year round. They are unreliable – they don’t taste right, like strawberries at Christmas. Also: though some varieties are bred for year round storage and consumption, and we eat them year-round, apples do have a season. And early summer is not it.
So what do I do when I have some apples to use, and the apples don’t meet the cut? I do what Judy Rogers, of the Zuni Cafe and it’s wonderful cookbook, does. If I’m being completely honest, I found this recipe in Food52’s Genius Recipes, which I bought a while ago and am finally working through. The genius in this recipe is roasting the apples with a bit of salt and butter, allowing them to caramelize a bit, and then upping the sharpness with a dash of apple cider vinegar at the end. The final result is not like your stovetop or lunch cup applesauce. It is more textually varied, with deeper and more complicated flavor. I would serve this with savory food, and I will do so soon. But at this point in time, what I wanted was a non-cake, non-pie dessert (weird, I know), and the coconut/roasted apple combo was shocking and grown-up and made me very, very happy. I would serve this at a formal dinner. Really, I would. It is light and elegant. Or, you could just eat it on the sofa while watching the Alien movie and having excellent conversations about film, philosophy, and motherhood.
- 2 lbs apples (Rogers recommends crisp eating apples. I used my beloved Jazz variety.)
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 teaspoons sugar, as needed (I didn't use any)
- a splash of apple cider vinegar
- coconut yogurt - about ⅓ cup per person, or a couple of good spoonfuls
- Preheat oven to 375 F/190 C
- Peel, core, and quarter the apples. Nestle them in a baking dish and add sugar if your apples are very tart or you want something very sweet. Remember that the sugars will concentrate when baking. Rogers says, and I love this, to "drape" the apples with slivers of butter. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the apples soften.
- Uncover the dish and raise the oven to 500 F/ 260 C. Return the apples to the oven and roast until they dry out and color a bit - about 10 minutes.
- When the apples are slightly browned and the fruit is tender, remove from the oven and stir with a fork into a chunky mash. Taste, and season with sugar and/or salt to taste (I didn't add either). Add a tiny splash of apple cider vinegar to brighten up the flavor.
- Spoon coconut yogurt into small bowls, and top with the warm apple mash.