Christine Patrick, Senior County EFNEP Agent
Fall is the highlight of the year for America’s apple lovers. That’s when domestic production peaks and apples are at their best. This means extra flavor for fresh snacking, pies, or applesauce. For a light dessert, raw apples combine well with cheddar cheese. For a kid-pleaser, pair apple slices with peanut butter. Another suggestion is to add extra flavor to poultry or pork stuffing by adding chopped apples.
You may be pleasantly surprised that coleslaw and tuna salad taste better when you add chopped apple. Many people enjoy baked apples for dessert, as well as for breakfast. A possibility for a side dish for dinner could be a sauté of apples and onions with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.
Let’s now look at some basic tips for selecting apples. Pick fresh-looking, firm apples with good color. Farmers markets and roadside markets around South Carolina are well stocked with good locally grown apples right now. As far as handling apples, do so carefully. Keep in mind that they bruise easily. Store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. The reason for this is that warm temperatures cause apples to rapidly lose crispness and flavor.
Apples supply dietary fiber, potassium, and other vitamins and minerals to the diet. One medium apple has about 80 calories and is free of fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Everyone has his or her favorite apple for snacking. It could be the Red Delicious, which is America’s most popular apple, or other varieties such as Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Rome, Jonathan, Winesap, Gala, McIntosh, or Pippin.
Despite being America’s most popular apple, Red Delicious is only fair for making pies or apple sauce, and it is a downright poor choice for baking. McIntosh also suffers when baked, but it does produce a good sauce. Better choices for baking are Rome, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Jonathan, Winesap, Criterion, Gala, and Pippin.
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