101 Thursday: What Ingredients for Fall Cooking... Plus Baked Applesauce!!!

So it's been fall for quite a few weeks, I know, but North Carolina seems to be petitioning the season change.  But this weekend is probably my favorite weekend of the year... FALL BACK WEEKEND!!  An extra hour of sleep for free could not have come at a better time... this week has been exhausting!

My favorite tree on Davidson College's campus,
right outside the library

With beautiful leaves changing colors and corn mazes and pumpkin patches and everything else wonderful about fall comes delicious foods only appropriate for autumn.  So after studying my cookbooks for this past weekend full of family food feasts, I discovered Cooking Light's essential autumn produce to make seasonal foods.  Cooking Light follows the philosophy of using the freshest fruits, vegetables, and herbs that you can so you have to do less to make the meal taste good.  Although grocery stores have made traditionally seasonal produce available year round, you'll get better flavor and prices if you buy what's in season.  


Here are a few of the highlights of cooking fresh by using seasonal produce:

Fruits:	Vegetables:	Herbs:
apples	bell peppers	basil
clementines	broccoli	bay leaves
cranberries	brussels sprouts	parsley
figs	cabbage	rosemary
grapefruit	cauliflower	sage
grapes	eggplant	tarragon
kiwi	endive	thyme
kumquat	escarole
mandarin oranges	fennel
pears	frisée
persimmons	leeks
pomegranates	mushrooms
quinces	parsnips
tangerines	pumpkins
	red potatoes
	rutabagas
	sweet potatoes
	winter squash

So there may be a few unfamiliar foods in that list (at least to me)... maybe a quick photo lesson is in order before a quick autumn-appropriate recipe.

Kumquats (tiny citrus fruit)

Persimmons

Quince

Escarole (broad-leaved endive)

Frisée (curly-leaved endive)

Rutabaga (yellow turnip)

Tarragon

My favorite food to enjoy during the crisp, fall months is anything made with apples: cider, apple pie, cider beer, applesauce, etc.  Apples are super quick to cook and applesauce might be one of the first things I ever learned how to make; applesauce is a great accompaniment to turkey or pork too.  So here's a variation of my favorite recipe for an easy applesauce that's sure to please everyone from 3 to 93.

Quick Autumn Awesomeness: 

Easy Baked Applesauce

This will make about 8 servings (about 1/2 cup each)...

Best of all - you can make this up to 3 days ahead and keep it in the refrigerator!

Ingredients:

5 tbsp water

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

4 lbs apples (peeled and cored; then cut into quarters and then halved)**

**I also like to mix apple varieties for both applesauce and pies -- typically half the amount of a sour flavor, like Granny Smiths, and half a sweeter flavor, like a Fuji or Gala.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large Dutch oven (if you don't have one--use a large pot with a tightly-fitting cover or a casserole dish with a tightly-fitting aluminum foil lid) and toss to coat.  

Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes (or until apples are tender).  I'd recommend stirring once, about halfway through the cooking time, around 45 minutes in.

Reheat before serving and sprinkle some cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little brown sugar on top for an extra zip of flavor!  And if you're celebrating - pair with a good medium-bodied Chardonnay from California!