Apples, Cooked

Preparation

1. Bland

   Step 1

   Sprinkle on some powdered ginger, mace, coriander, cinnamon, and/or add a clove bag (a few whole cloves tied in cheesecloth) to an apple dish and cook it a little longer. Or dump some caraway seeds (mixed with sugar), some fennel, or some grated lemon or orange peel down the hole of a blah baked apple and cook it ten minutes more. Or simply squirt a bit of lemon juice over your apples. If your cooked apples aren’t overly sweet, brown sugar can also add a nice flavor.

2. Burned

   Step 2

   See Appendix A.

3. Not enough

   Step 3

   If the apples are going to be served with meat, augment them with quartered onions sautéed in a covered saucepan until soft (about 10 minutes) in a tablespoon of butter per medium-size onion. If you like, you can also add a handful of raisins that you have plumped in a cup of boiling water and then drained.

   Step 4

   If the apples are for dessert, combine them with cranberries or any other kind of berries (yet another reason to make sure you have frozen berries!), pitted cherries, or canned pineapple. Or you can add fresh sliced pears when the apples are about half cooked, and vanilla extract and cinnamon to taste. (If you use underripe pears, you may have to add more sugar.) You can add canned apricots if you’re desperate, but be sure to drain them well, pit them, and then rename your dessert, for the apricots will now be the dominant taste.