Apples, apples, apples

Delicious (we hope!) recipes from you the reader!

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Alison
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I have bottled so many jars of apples, I am running out of bottles but not of apples.
Has anyone tried freezing apple slices for use in pies etc? If so, I'd be grateful to know how you do it. We have a massive crop this year, of mixed dessert and cider apples, and it seems poor husbandry not to store them as in as many ways as possible! But I have never tried freezing them, and would be grateful for tips both on freezing and then using them.
Alison.
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Chantal
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I freeze them as apple sauce if that's any help. :D
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Gilly C
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In my Freezer book it says 'you can cut the apples into rings or slices and blanch for 1 minute cool and dry, pack into bags or boxes will keep for upto 8-12 months' or as a puree and will keep upto 8 months I have never tried as never had that large a quantity of apples. Good Luck
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I gentley cook sliced apples till they still have some 'bite' in them then freeze in small quanities enough to fill a pie. 500 gm. margarine tubs are ideal for this as they hold just enough for one pie.
Not enough tubs - then empty the apple when frozen into a poly bag. Will keep for 12 months or more.

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Wellie
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I have a GORGEOUS book that I gave to Les Piglets as a prezzie, and I think I shall be getting it for you too !!

APPLES.

Any apples suitable for cooking can be frozen. Select fruit free from bruises or other damage. Avoid any with wrinkled or discoloured skin.

To prepare:
Peel, core, slice and place in a bowl of water with 15ml lemon juice added to prevent browning.

To freeze:
DRY-FREEZING, unsweetened: Drain and blanch in boiling water for 1 min. Drain, plunge immediately in a bowl of iced water to cool, then drain again and pat dry on kitchen paper. Pack into rigid containers or polythene bags. Remove the air. Seal, label and freeze.
Storage time: 9 months.
DRY-FREEZING, sweetened: Drain and blanch in boiling water for 1 min. Drain, plunge immediately in a bowl of iced water to cool, then drain again and pat dry on kitchen paper. Mix with caster (superfine) sugar, using 100g to 450g fruit. Pack into rigid containers or polythene bags. Remove the air. Seal, label and freeze.
Storage Time: 10 months.

PUREE-FREEZING: Stew the fruit in a pan with just enough water to cover the base, until pulpy. Sweeten to taste. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth, puree in a blender or food processor or rub it through a sieve (strainer). Leave to cool. Place in polythene bags, remover the air, seal, label and freeze.
Storae Time: 12 months.

SYRUP-FREEZING:
Make a light syrup: for every 450g fruit, dissolve 100g granulated sugar in 300ml boiling water. Allow to cool. Prepare the apples, place in rigid containers and pour just enough syrup over to cover. Cover, seal, label and freeze. Alternatively, poach the apple slices in the syrup for 2-3 minutes until just tender but still holding their shape, then cool, pack and store as before.
Storage Time: 12 months

TO THAW AND SERVE:
Allow to defrost at room temperature for 2 hours before use. Apple puree can be reheated from frozen for apple sauce.

Hope of some use for you !
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peter
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Wellie, what an excellent and informative post. :P
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Wellie
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Peter,
Believe me, that lipstick looks AWFUL on you....
I'll send you some for Christmas.
It's at times like this GROCK, that I wished I'D thought of 'love you like jelly tots' !!
Bless you Peter. Flattery will of course get you everywhere, as any decent bloke worth his salt knows...!
X
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peter
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:? Its called Razz and is meant to be a ttthhhrrrrpppp
in best Phantom of Old London Town (Two Ronnies and Spike Milligan), so :P and :P
Do not put off thanking people when they have helped you, as they may not be there to thank later.

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Wellie
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I take it that that is your very best AUTUMN BLISS impersonation for this evening ??? Phhhhwww.....!
So, til tomorrow Peter !
What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. The good they do is inconceivable....
Alison
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Thanks so much to everyone. I will definitely try the dry-freezing of slices and the margarine tubs. I do already freeze small quantities of apple puree for apple sauce, but otherwise I prefer to bottle stewed apples. I do it the lazy way, which a friend showed me: you cook the apples (I add sultanas and demerara sugar, or you can cook them with blackberries) till they are cooked and boiling all through. Then you quickly put them in a Kilner-type jar, which has been heated in the oven, fill it really full, and immediately seal it up. Because everything is so hot, it seals without the need for further processing in a water bath. Once it is cold you can test the seal, but I have only ever had a couple of jars where the seal didn't take, and then you just eat it at once.
It makes a really useful instant pudding, with cream or ice-cream, or you can use it as the base for Eve's pudding, apple crumble, brown betty, or Norwegian apple pudding. It's a bit sloppy for putting in a double-crust pie, which is why I was wondering about freezing slices, as I like apple pie!
Alison.
Jennifer
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I had a glut of pears and the freezer was full so I tried drying some. I just cut them in thin slices, dipped in lemon juice, and laid on baking parchment on trays and put into a very slow oven (E setting on my gas cooker) with the door ajar. They take a very long time to dry but are absolutely delicious.In fact I think I prefer them that way. I am sure that this would work just as well with apples when your freezer is full!

Jennifer
Alison
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Hi, Jennifer, right, great idea, I will go and try that as well! I have just put seven one-pound bags of blanched slices in the freezer, which took around 2 hours or so to do. Now I've got 7 pounds of crabapples cooking, to drip overnight. My hands are all wrinkly from all the juice and water! :cry:
How do you use your dried pears?
Alison.
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Wellie
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You're completely KNEE-DEEP Darling, I can tell by the words you're using !
And the mental picture of you in your beautiful kitchen, with plastic bags, bottles and jars, spent saucepans, bowls and trays of produce, ladles, cats and seed catalogues is a treasured moment and a smile on my lips as I type !...
What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. The good they do is inconceivable....
Jennifer
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Hi Alison,
It's the first time I've dried them this year. My husband suggested baking with them but they are so nice to eat that I have some every time I go past.I don't think I'm going to have enough left to do very much else with. I think that they would be nice rehydrated in fruit juice and put into a winter fruit salad. They are dried in the senese that a sultana is a dried grape ie not completely dried all the way through - perfect for lunch boxes just as they are. I did have a slight accident with some that actually came out quite crispy and they are not nearly as nice.But be warned - a very big bag of pears comes out as a very small bag of dried fruit.
Alison
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Dried apple rings: I cored and thinly sliced apples last night, and - acting on the advice of the Penguin Book of Jams, Jellies and Chutneys, which is quite one of my favourites - put them in a bowl of salted water to stop them going brown (which it did). Then I strung them all along the handle of a wooden spoon and balanced it on the edges of a roasting tin and left them in the lower Aga oven overnight.
This morning I can't stop eating them, they are very yummy crisps except that there is the delicious feeling that these are actually good for you. I gave some to the men currently re-roofing our decrepit barn, and they were very appreciative and wolfed the lot, suggesting that I should bag them up and sell them at a car boot sale!
The rings did stick a bit to the handle of the wooden spoon, so next time I will wrap it in clingfilm! But very delicious. Thank you very much for the idea.
Alison.
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