Now that the soft fruit season is over, peaches, plums, cherries and nectarines, it’s time to make way for some delicious, crunchy apples. With over 7,500 different varieties to chews from, (he he he) deciding which apple to eat can be a little overwhelming.

The three most popular varieties grown in Canada are, McIntosh, Red Delicious and Spartan. But when I asked Mr. Kim, from my local fruit market, what his best selling apples are, he stated it depended on the time of year. The current favourites are Gala and Ambrosia. While Gala apples originated in New Zealand, the Ambrosias were developed in Cawston, B.C.

The Fuji, is Japan’s most popular apple, and the American’s prefer the Red Delicious. It seems people’s tastes are changing as the Fuji and the Gala are becoming increasingly popular.

Regardless of what kind of apple you prefer, that old adage, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” does contain some truth . Apples are very high in vitamin C and antioxidant compounds, which may reduce the risk of cancer by preventing DNA damage.

Apple Facts

• To keep apples crisp, store them in a refrigerator
• Apple sauce can be substituted for butter in a recipe. Substitute half of the butter with the same amount of apple sauce.
• To keep potatoes fresh and prevent sprouting, put an apple in the bag
• Most apples are great for baking, but avoid the Red Delicious.
• Apples should be eaten unpeeled, as the valuable acids and salt are in and just below the skin.
• One gallon of apple cider takes approximately 36 apples
• An apple contains roughly 80 - 85% water

My favourite way to eat apples, other than on its own, is in apple crisp, hot from the oven, with a little dollop of vanilla ice cream. Listed below is a great apple crisp recipe. If you would like more information on apple varieties visit the BC Fruit Growers Website at www.bcfga.com or the Ontario Apple Growers site at www.onapples.com.

I’m going to have an Ambrosia for lunch today.

Cheers,

Julie

Apple Crisp Recipe

Ingredients

• 9 Granny Smith apples about 3 pounds

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1 1/3 teaspoon of lemon juice

• 1 1/3 teaspoon of flour

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Ingredients for Topping:

• 3/4 cup of old-fashioned oats

• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

• 1/2 cup flour

• 1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Dash of salt

• 1/2 cup of butter

• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter an 9 x 13 inch baking dish (use glass or stainless steel for best results). Combine apples, sugar, lemon juice, flour and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix well to blend .Transfer to baking dish. Mix old-fashioned oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and rub into mixture until coarse crumbs form Mix in walnuts.Spread topping onto apple mixture. Place in oven and bake until topping is golden brown and apples are tender (about 35-40 minutes). Serve with vanilla ice cream.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 6:18 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.