One thing I really like about apple season is how we're still able to buy them at great prices, even at the start. Cherries, berries and some other fruits start off their season with price tags equivalent to a family SUV before tapering off to a decent level.
Apples just seem to be in it for the recipes. And it's like an apple's destiny to be in a pie...or, for that matter, a galette, which was the apple of my eye today.
I'm a green apple lover. The Gala's, Red Delicious or Braeburn's just seem too chewy and waxy to me, and there's something about that cracking noise and the tiny fireworks of juice exploding when you bite into a Golden Delicious or a Granny Smith.
She was a real lady, ol' Granny. Her real name was Maria Ann Smith, and she owned a small orchard in Australia.
The story goes, as she threw crab apple cores from her kitchen window, not good enough to cook with, they started to take on a new sprout and the Granny Smith was born. A tart (the apple, not the granny) and very unsweetened variety, it holds up well for pies and crumbles.
You can always compensate the tartness by adding sugar, brown being my choice over regular white sugar. I like using brown sugar, because when it's mixed with melted butter, you're only a few steps away from caramel and that means caramel apple!
I'm not the only green apple fan in my house. On more than one occasion I've taken my eye away from Quinn at the store, only to find him gnawing on an apple. (My apologies to all checkout assistants for placing half-eaten produce on the belt).
Galettes are super friendly to make - in fact, the more rustic the better. Usually baking is such a precise exercise, but galettes are so willy-nilly. Just plop the apples in the center of the dough and pull up the edges, glaze it and throw it in the oven.
Sometimes the best tasting food is not the best looking food.
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