10 new ways to cook with apples

Apples may be your get-out-of-jail-free card for the dentist, but serve any of these apple-laden dishes at your next dinner party, and your guests are sure to come back for seconds — maybe even thirds.

1. To make richer-tasting puréed squash soup, add a cut-up apple to the soup and purée along with the other ingredients. Almost invariably, ingredients that grow in the same season make perfect partners in the kitchen. Apples and squash are an excellent example.
2. Add a touch of sweetness to broccoli soup. In a medium pot, cook one small, finely chopped onion in 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) unsalted butter over medium heat until soft. Add 600 grams (20 ounces) chopped broccoli pieces, two large finely chopped, peeled and cored apples, and one litre (four cups) chicken broth. Cook until the apples and broccoli are soft. Season with one millilitre (1/4 teaspoon) salt and 0.5 millilitres (1/8 teaspoon) pepper. Puree in a food processor or blender, then stir in 50 millilitres (1/4 cup) sour cream. Serve hot or cold.
3. To spruce up a chicken salad sandwich, add 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) finely chopped apples and 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) chopped toasted pecans to 175 millilitres (3/4 cup) of your favourite chicken salad.
4. To give grilled cheese sandwiches a new twist, add a few thin slices of apple to each sandwich before toasting on the griddle.
5. To lend a sweet kiss to horseradish sauce, add some diced apple. Mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, prepared horseradish and a handful of finely chopped tart apples.
6. To salvage hardened brown sugar, add a slice of fresh apple to the bag and seal it for two days.
7. To make a better cranberry sauce, add an apple. Combine in a medium pot: 350 grams (12 ounces) fresh cranberries, 175 millilitres (3/4 cup) sugar, 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) water and one cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then simmer, uncovered, until the cranberries pop, about eight minutes. Add a peeled, chopped McIntosh apple to the sauce. Simmer five minutes longer. Taste and add more sugar, if needed. Cool slightly, then cover and refrigerate until cold.
8. Almost any salad will benefit from the gentle sweetness of apples. Combine one thinly sliced fennel bulb, two chopped apples and 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) walnut pieces in a large bowl. Toss with a mixture of 75 millilitres (1/3 cup) olive oil, 75 millilitres (1/3 cup) apple juice, 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) lemon juice, five millilitres (one teaspoon) ground fennel seed, one millilitre (1/4 teaspoon) salt and 1 millilitres (1/8 teaspoon) freshly ground black pepper.
9. Make an apple-cheddar pizza. Sprinkle a pizza pan with cornmeal and pat prepared pizza dough into the pan. Bake at 260°C (500°F) on the lowest rack of the oven until lightly browned, about five minutes. Arrange two cored and thinly sliced apples over the dough and top with four thinly sliced large shallots (or a small, thinly sliced sweet onion). Sprinkle on 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) shredded cheddar cheese and 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown, about eight minutes longer. Cut into wedges and serve.
10. For a warming winter couscous, top it with apples and roasted vegetables. Heat 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add a red onion cut into eight wedges and cook for five minutes. Stir in 750 millilitres (three cups) cubed butternut squash, 300 grams (1 1/2 cups) chopped rutabaga, three sliced carrots, two Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cubed, three chopped garlic cloves, 10 millilitres (two teaspoons) ground cumin, 10 millilitres (two teaspoons) ground coriander, 450 grams (15 ounces) canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained, 425 millilitres (1 3/4 cups) vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer. Cover and roast at 200°C (400°F) until the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes. Stir in 500 millilitres (two cups) sliced Swiss chard and 1/2 millilitre (1/8 teaspoon) hot-pepper sauce. Bake for five minutes longer. Serve over one kilogram (four cups) cooked couscous and top each serving with 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) plain yogurt.

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