Recipes

Quick Ideas for Autumn Fruits

BAKED APPLES - There are several ways to approach baked apples. Here are a few suggestions:

Core some apples. To the center of the apple, where the core was removed, add brown sugar mixed with spices such as cinnamon, clove, ginger and nutmeg. You can add nutmeats and raisins, currants, prunes or apricots (soaking the dried fruit in brandy or a sweet fortified wine such as sherry or Marsala perfumes the apple and keeps the dried fruit moist).

Or add fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme and bay leaf to the apple’s center and bake. Alternatively, add a cinnamon stick and vanilla bean. Add a little sweet wine or brandy to the baking dish if you wish. Baste baking apples as they cook.

Bake the apples on their own or add them to the pan with a pork roast.
Serve apples as a sweet or savory course – they make a fine dessert with ice cream or caramel sauce, or a savory side with pork chops.

POACHED PEARS - Poach pears in red or white wine with sugar added to taste. Add aromatics of your choosing – star anise, cinnamon, vanilla bean, peppercorns, rosemary, clove (to name a few). Or poach them in a simple syrup of equal parts water and sugar.

Like apples, poached pears pair well with either sweet or savory courses. Use them in a salad of chicory or frissee with walnuts and goat cheese. Garnish roast duck or game birds. Drain the poached pears and bake them in a tart shell with a custard. Add poached pears to a cheese plate or serve simply with vanilla ice cream.

PLUM SKEWERS - Thread halved Italian prune plums onto skewers and grill or bake. Sprinkle with sugar before grilling and serve with ice cream, or add squares of bacon or small partially cooked onions to the skewers between the fruit. Serve as an appetizer or as a side to grilled or roasted meat.

Sprinkle sugar over red or purple plum halves and roast in the oven. Serve with pound cake and vanilla sauce.

GRAPES - Sauté or grill sausages. When the sautéed sausages are cooked, add some stemmed grapes to the sauté pan and heat through. If grilling sausages, sauté the grapes in a pan on the stovetop. Serve the sausages and grapes over polenta.

Spread Gorgonzola or another blue cheese on grapes and roll them in finely chopped walnuts. Serve as an hors d’oeuvre.

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