The NYTimes had some recipes up related to Rosh Hashana that I emailed along to Gayle. One is a beef dish that she and I talked about how to make vegan. I haven’t tried that yet, but with the gorgeous bounty of apples from Kiyokawa Orchards I was prompted to make the Apple Preserves with Cardamon… with a twist. I made up a batch as described below to give to Lev & Gayle for Rosh Hashana.
Here’s the recipe that appears with that link above:
2 tart apples, like Granny Smiths, cored, peeled and quartered
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom or 3 whole pods, smashed.
Place apples in a medium heavy pan and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons water, plus other remaining ingredients. Bring to a slow simmer for about a half hour or until apples are soft.
Remove from heat and cover pan for 20 minutes. Serve immediately or transfer to a jar with a lid. Refrigerated, apples will keep for at least a week.
A few distinct changes I made in this recipe:
Well, first isn’t a change so much as an “oops”. I forgot to smash the cardamom pods. This meant I ended up adding the ground cardamom as well as having some whole pieces in there. I rather like cardamom, so I didn’t mind the whole pieces and think the black specks are rather dramatic, but Christie found them hot.
The cardamom was nice, but I also added about a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon too.
I used 1 Honeycrisp and 1 Pink Pearl apple instead of two Granny Smiths. The varieties I used both are quite tart apples and I think far tastier than a Granny Smith. What happened was that the Pink Pearl cooked away into sauce. I ended up cooking it for a bit longer that suggested so the Honeycrisp would cook down a bit more. I also needed to reduce some of the water because…
Christie and I had picked fresh raspberries at a u-pick on Sauvie Island just before I made this so I was moved to throw about 1/4 cup of those into the mix. This added an additional tartness, but that wonderful summer berry note. It also turned the batch brilliant red — beautiful!
I haven’t talked to Lev & Gayle to ask if they enjoyed it. Not sure if the same issue with the cardamom seeds will surface. I must say that I liked it very much, ate it all up on toasted, sprouted wheat English muffins (and forgot a picture).