More apples!

I’d done a little too much experimenting with apples to contain everything in one post, so here’s part 2.  This one is inspired by central European cooking, although I didn’t know that when I got started.

During the fall and winter I use a lot of root vegetables.  Turnips, potatoes, carrots, Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, rutabagas, celeriac, kohlrabi – you name it, I’ll cook it.  I usually rely on one of three techniques, although there are exceptions for some of these veggies.  Usually, I either use them as flavoring/bulk in soups, roast them, or mash them.  The mashing technique is where we’re going and it is pretty straightforward.  Cut the vegetable into manageably small pieces and boil them until a knife can easily cut through the softened pieces.  Toss the pieces in a blender and puree, adding some butter, seasoning, herbs, and spices and desired.  If it’s too thick, add a liquid (which is milk most of the time).

A couple of weeks ago, I had a rutabaga and decided I wanted mashed rutabagas for dinner.  I went through the first step and as I started assembling my mis en place for the last steps, I saw I didn’t have any milk.  I did have a bottle of cider and an apple and decided to improvise.  I peeled, cored, and diced the apple and then threw it in the pot with the boiling rutabagas.  In the blender, I added some of the cider, some nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and skipped the butter.  It turned out to be wonderful.  The rutabagas are naturally sweet and were complemented beautifully by the different type of sweetness and the tartness of the apple and cider.  Flavoring with apples is definitely now in my toolkit for handling root vegetables. I think they’d work particularly well with parsnips and turnips and maybe in a slaw with kohlrabi or celeriac.

It turns out that, unbeknownst to me at the time, this is a standard central European approach. I was looking at one of my favorite cookbooks, Jack Bishop’s Vegetables Every Day, and I saw a recipe for flavoring rutabagas with apples.  Who knew?

I probably should have known because flavoring cabbage with apples is something I’ve seen often and done myself in the past.  Cabbage by itself can be a little boring, but it can be pumped up in any number of ways, including tart apples.

My typical way of cooking cabbage is to slice it thinly and then blanch it for 4-5 minutes.  I then drain it and set it aside and then sweat some onions and garlic in butter.  When the onions are ready, I put the cabbage back in and cook until the cabbage is soft.  Then I’ll add whatever flavoring I’m using (fennel seeds, caraway seeds, cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, etc.) and keep it all simmering until ready to serve.

With the apples, I stayed pretty true to that approach.  I skipped the garlic, added the apples at the same time as the cabbage and used cider vinegar, fennel seeds, and a little nutmeg for flavoring.  The apples really added a big shot of flavor to the cabbage, making a great accompaniment for the garlicky kielbasa.

Recipe – Rutabagas with apple

Ingredients

1 medium sized rutabaga, peeled and chopped

1 tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced

1 tbl apple cider (not apple juice and not cider vinegar)

salt and pepper to taste

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Directions

Boil the rutabaga until soft, 12-15 minutes.  About halfway through, add the apples. Drain the rutabagas and apples and add to a blender (you can also hand-mash in a bowl).  Add the nutmeg and cider and puree.  If the puree looks too thick, add additional cider until you achieve the desired consistency.  Taste for salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Recipe – Cabbage with apples

Ingredients

1/2 head purple cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

2 tart apples, peeled, cored, diced

2 tbl butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tbl cider vinegar

1 tsp fennel seeds

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large stockpot, boil cabbage for 4-5 minutes then drain and set aside.  In the same pot, melt the butter over medium heat and add the onions, stirring frequently until the onions are soft, about 8 minutes.  Add the cabbage and apples and mix thoroughly with the onions and butter.  Turn the heat down to low, cover, and let cook for 20 minutes or until the cabbage and apples are soft.  When they are done, add the fennel seeds and cider vinegar and continue to cook over low heat for another ten minutes.  Check for seasoning before serving.