Our orchards provide a bounty of apples within the autumn. Last yr, I went apple selecting and returned dwelling with luggage full of various varieties, every with their very own nuanced flavour, texture and distinctive historical past, and I made industrial quantities of apple compote, which I froze to eat all year long. And I can’t resist contemporary apples sliced into crunchy matchsticks and thrown right into a salad, particularly with one thing earthy similar to kohlrabi. I’ve additionally found that tart fruit, similar to bramley apples, are a superb foil for a spicy dal, too. No apologies for yet one more apple pudding – you merely can’t beat cooked apples, sponge and custard.
Granny smith and kohlrabi som tam with peanuts
This is a tackle my favorite Thai papaya salad. Kohlrabi provides you an identical texture to inexperienced papaya, whereas the granny smiths lend sharpness. Both are far more cost effective and, in fact, simpler to seek out.
Prep 40 min
Serves 4
Salt
50g inexperienced beanstopped and lower into thirds
2 fats garlic clovespeeled
2-4 purple birds-eye chillies (relying in your warmth tolerance)
12 cherry tomatoesthe more severe
3 tbsp salted peanutsroughly chopped, plus 1 tbsp additional to garnish
250g kohlrabi (about 2 bulbs)
2 granny smith apples
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp palm sugaror gentle brown sugar
Bring a pan of salted water to a boil, then blanch the beans for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh in ice-cold water, then drain once more.
Pound the garlic in a big mortar with a pinch of salt, then add the chilli and pound once more gently to bruise it – the extra you pound the chilli, the warmer the combination can be. Add the tomatoes, blanched beans and peanuts to the mortar, and roughly crush with the pestle.
Peel the kohlrabi, and peel and core the apples, then lower each into effective matchsticks, ideally utilizing a julienne peeler or mandoline (in any other case, a pointy knife and a few endurance will do the job). Working in batches, if mandatory, add the kohlrabi to the mortar, flippantly bruise it, then scoop all the pieces out into a big bowl.
Mix the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar within the mortar, till the sugar dissolves, then style – it must be a stability of bitter, salty and candy, so modify as mandatory.
Put the dressing, apple and all of the remaining salad substances within the bowl, then toss to verify the dressing is nicely distributed. Sprinkle on the remaining peanuts and serve.
Sweet-and-sour apple dal
An exquisite Bengali prepare dinner as soon as made me a uncooked mango dal that I beloved, and right here I’ve changed the mouth-puckering mango with sharp bramley apples.
Prep 10 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4
250g purple lentilswashed totally
For the tempering
1 tbsp gheeor coconut oil
1 heaped tsp brown mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 dried purple chilli
1-2 inexperienced chicken’s eye chilliesfinely chopped (I hold the seeds in for warmth)
1 thumb gingerpeeled and finely grated
1 bramley applepeeled, cored and lower into 1cm cubes
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp caster sugar
Sea saltto style
Basmati riceto serve
Put the washed lentils in a saucepan and add 1.2 litres of chilly water. Bring to a boil, then partially cowl and depart to prepare dinner for 30-40 minutes, till the lentils are very gentle. Once cooked, go in with a whisk and blend totally, so the lentils get damaged up.
Meanwhile, make the mood. Put the ghee in a small frying pan on a medium-high warmth, then add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once they splutter and pop, add the dried and contemporary chillies and the ginger, and prepare dinner briefly.
Stir within the apple, sprinkle within the turmeric and sugar, and prepare dinner on a low warmth for about 5 minutes. Add the spiced apple combination to the cooked lentils, season to style and prepare dinner for 5 minutes extra. Serve sizzling with freshly cooked basmati rice.
Apple and blackberry pudding
Prep 10 min
Cook 1 HR 20 min
Serves 6
4 sharp applessimilar to granny smith, peeled, cored and lower into eighths
100g caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
500g good-quality vanilla custard
100g blackberries
For the sponge
225g butter, plus additional for greasing
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
225g self-raising flour
Salt
125ml milk
50g demerara sugar
Put the apple, sugar, lemon zest and a tablespoon of chilly water in a medium saucepan Cover, put over a medium-high warmth and prepare dinner, stirring sometimes, for 5 minutes, till the fruit is simply tender.
To make the sponge, warmth the oven to 180C (160C fan) /350F/fuel 4, and grease a 157mm x 50mm x 232mm (1.8 litre) ceramic baking dish with butter.
In a stand mixer, whisk the butter and caster sugar till gentle and fluffy, then add the eggs one by one, beating totally between every addition; if the combination begins to curdle, stir in a spoonful of flour. Sift within the remaining flour with a fats pinch of salt and fold in with a steel spoon. Pour within the milk and blend gently.
Pour half the batter into the greased dish and use the again of enormous spoon to make a shallow nicely within the centre. Pour the custard into the nicely, prime with the apples and blackberries, then cowl with the remainder of the batter. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar, then bake for an hour, till golden however nonetheless a bit wobbly within the centre.
Serve heat or, in order for you extra of a cake, chill in a single day and portion into squares.
