How ‘Bout Them Apples With Harvest Here, Let’S Count The Ways To Enjoy Versatile Fruit
The old saying “one bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch” has never been more true than it is today.
Not gaga over Gala? Maybe you’ll fall for Fuji.
Jonagold leaves you cold? Try warming up to Braeburn.
A whole bunch of new apple varieties have hit the market in recent years, offering something for practically every taste, with more arriving all the time.
Jewel Timpe, communications coordinator for the Washington State Apple Commission in Wenatchee, won’t even hazard a guess at how many dozens of strains are being cultivated throughout the state.
“People are always growing different ones, trying different things,” she says. “We had a grower in today with a new apple he had just started growing.”
The top seller remains an old standby, Red Delicious, many of which are exported overseas. But today’s version is a pale imitation of what it used to be, says Green Bluff grower Rod Hansen — redder in color, perhaps, but fainter in flavor.
“It’s not much of an apple,” he says. “The old Red Delicious, before they bred it for size and color, was a really good apple. But they went strictly for looks.”
Hansen, who grows 37 apple varieties at his U-pick orchard, keeps a few Red Delicious trees around for diehards.
But he’s higher on such fresher faces in the apple world as Jonagold (an all-purpose cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious), Gala, Liberty and Criterion.
“I bought my first Gala, the first one I ever saw, at a grocery store five or six years ago,” Hansen says. Now it’s his most popular product.
“It seems to do well here,” he says. “It’s a good, versatile apple. It’s wonderful to eat, and we use it in the apple butter and the cider we make.”
Fuji is another fast climber, nipping at Granny Smith’s tart heels for third place in popularity statewide behind the classic eating apple, Red Delicious, and the classic pie apple, Golden Delicious.
The initial increase in Fuji sales was spurred by demand from the Japanese market, Timpe says, although the apple also has been catching on in the United States.
“It has a nice sweetness, but it’s not overly sweet,” she says. “It has some of the attributes of Red Delicious. It’s good for fresh eating, but also for recipes, and it makes great applesauce.”
New recruits like Fuji and Gala gradually have been replacing such grizzled veterans as Jonathan, McIntosh and Spartan in the state’s orchards.
Growers can make more money off the specialty breeds, but they also can be harder to grow. To get a good, uniform blush color on Fujis, says Timpe, workers have to hand-wrap them in layers of paper bags to protect them from the sun, then peel off layers as the apples mature.
“A lot of the newer varieties aren’t grower-friendly,” says Hansen. “They’re more work, harder to get the size up, and some are more susceptible to disease.”
Friendly weather - a mild winter, followed by warm summer nights - sparked a record apple crop in Washington this year. The forecast of 103 million boxes (42 pounds each) is an increase of about 30 percent over 1997.
On Green Bluff, which begins its annual six-week apple festival this weekend, the heat took more of a toll because most growers don’t irrigate, Hansen says. He calls this year’s crop about average.
Visitors to the bluff will find some of their old favorite apple varieties that have become more scarce in stores, such as Spartan, McIntosh and Empire.
“They’re very good apples, the type people come back for year after year,” Hansen says.
But the newer varieties have come out on top in industry taste tests, he says, and also tend to be more adaptable.
“Most of the apples that are being accepted now are the ones that are very versatile - good for eating, salads, pies, anything you want to do with them,” Hansen says.
Labeling any apple as a cooking apple or an eating apple is “purely subjective,” says Timpe, with the exception of Red Delicious.
“Red Delicious, it’s really better to pick it off the tree, wash it up and eat it,” she says. “But most, with the exception of Red Delicious, are very good to excellent for baking.”
The only way for consumers to tell what’s right for their taste is to get some of the newer apple varieties and experiment a little, like Hansen does every year with his crop.
“I always have a new apple I can sink my teeth into,” he says. “Sometimes it’s kind of disappointing. Sometimes I’m amazed how good they are. That’s the fun of being in the apple business.”
Apple Melt
Recipe from the Washington Apple Commission.
1 Granny Smith apple, halved and cored
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons finely chopped green onion
Salsa (optional)
Trim a small slice off the round base of each apple half so they will sit flat. Place on a microwave-safe plate and spread honey on cut sides; microwave on HIGH power 2 to 2-1/2 minutes, or until apples are just tender but still hold their shape.
Toss cheese with onion and sprinkle over apple halves; microwave on HIGH power 15 to 20 seconds to melt cheese. Let stand 2 minutes before serving. Top with salsa, if desired.
Yield: 2 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 120 calories, 4 grams protein, 5 grams fat (38 percent fat calories), 16 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams fiber, 89 milligrams sodium, 15 milligrams cholesterol.
Granola Apple Wedges
Recipe from the Washington Apple Commission.
2 tablespoons peanut butter (preferably natural)
1 teaspoon honey
1 Braeburn or Red Delicious apple, quartered and cored
1/3 cup low-fat granola
In a small bowl, mix together the peanut butter and honey. Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on cut sides of each apple wedge. Roll wedges in granola, pressing gently so it will stick to peanut butter.
Yield: 2 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 154 calories, 3 grams protein, 4 grams fat (23 percent fat calories), 28 grams carbohydrate, 2.5 grams fiber, 97 milligrams sodium, no cholesterol.
Ham and Apple Corn Muffins
Recipe from the Washington Apple Commission. Because these muffins contain meat, refrigerate any leftovers (they also freeze well); the ham also may be omitted.
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Gala or Golden Delicious apple, cored and grated
1/2 cup finely chopped baked ham
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 10 (3-inch) muffin pan cups or line with paper liners.
In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt until blended. Add apple, ham and green onion, stirring briefly to mix.
In a small bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, buttermilk, butter and vanilla. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Divide batter among muffin cups and bake 12 to 15 minutes or until cake tester or toothpick inserted into middle of muffins comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then finish cooling on wire racks.
Yield: 10 muffins.
Nutrition information per muffin: 190 calories, 6 grams protein, 9 grams fat (43 percent fat calories), 22 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams fiber, 406 milligrams sodium, 65 milligrams cholesterol.
Washington Apple Praline Pie
This creation from Spokane’s Kathy Brown was one of 50 winning recipes in the recent Reddi-wip Fifty Fruit Salute recipe contest.
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 unbaked 9-inch pastry shell
4 cups chopped, peeled and cored Golden Delicious or other cooking apples
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Whipped topping
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter or margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in chopped pecans. Place 1/3 of the pecan mixture in the bottom of the unbaked pastry shell; set aside.
In another bowl, combine the chopped apples, granulated sugar, tapioca and lemon juice. Let stand 20 minutes. Spoon apple mixture into pie plate, and top with remaining pecan mixture.
Bake for 10 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden. Serve warm with whipped topping, if desired.
Yield: 8 servings.
Graphic: Washington’s apples
Fun to the core The annual Green Bluff Apple Festival begins Saturday and continues each weekend through October. Along with apples, cider and other produce, attractions include music, food, crafts, corn mazes and bus tours. Participating farms are marked with big red apple signs; maps are available there and at area libraries, or visit www.greenbluffgrowers.com.