Apple Cookbook

Oh Joy! Oh rapture! The sweet smell of success and I mean that quite literally.  I love apples and believe it or not September is only weeks away.  September means the start of Autumn and that means apples.  Up until now I made very few things with apples.  I make apple butter and baked apples.  Oh yes I cut up a fresh apple and put it in my salad for lunch. Not a big repertoire.

But then I found the Apple Cookbook  and I have a whole new view of apples.  Last night I came home from work with a fair amount of energy and the creative spirit running through my blood.  I had seen the recipe entitled Chicken and Sour Cream and I decided to make it.  Let me just say that this a very misleading title because there are so many great ingredients other then sour cream and chicken in it.  First I would like to talk about  the spices.  I am completely incompetent when it comes to mixing spices so I was skeptical when I saw ginger, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper and garlic.  I mean I thought cinnamon was for pies and cake.  Not so.  Then there was the fresh onions, celery and apples.  The sauce consisted of white wine and tomato juice topped off with  sour cream added at the very end.  I served it on pasta. 

 I always worry when I make something new.  My family is not very adventurous.  Actually that isn't true, my husband is open to try anything my daughter not so much.  But they gave the dish high marks.  That alone is a miracle.

This is not the only great recipe in this book. Others look good and I can't wait to try some like the beef and apple pie or the sausage and apple appetizer balls.  I haven't even gotten to the desserts in the book but all I can say is YUM.

Another thing I love about this cook book is the author uses a wide variety of apples.  There are so many of them out there other then red delicious and he/she gives two or three possibilities to be used in most dishes.  Olwen also talks about the differences in the apples. So you get a mini lesson that is really interesting.  Oh and one of my favorite sections is the author's suggestions on pairing wine, apples and cheese so that you have the perfect combinations for a wine and cheese party.  I love wine and cheese parties!

The recipes look so good in this book, I can't wait to try more of them.  I will keep you posted.  If you are interested in the book just click on the apple above for more info.  Happy eating!