All Things Apple

A couple of years ago in New York we took a friend from Switzerland and her son apple picking inthe farmlands in New Jersey. We had such a wonderful day, Noah thought picking and eating apples directly from the tree was wonderful. Even better were the raspberries directly from the bush! Ever since I have wanted to do it again.

Last weekend we drove up to the Blue Mountains and went apple picking in Bilpin, "home of the mountain apple". I was so excited to discover that it took us under 2 hours to drive there - perfect for timing driving between feeds for Kyah, and just about the boys car tolerance limit.

My research had presented us with a couple of options for picking our own apples and we decided to pick at the Bilpin Springs Orchard on the Bells Line Of Road. It was beautiful. The boys grandparents and cousins met us there and everyone had a great time. What is not to love about eating apples, crisp and fresh from the tree?! It was hard trying to stop the boys from picking (& eating) the apples, and so we have come home with almost 20 kg of Granny Smith and Pink Lady apples! Hence there are going to be a few posts in the coming weeks about recipes where apples are the star!

When we arrived home from the Blue Mountains on Sunday afternoon we went to the grandparents house to pick up our share of the apples they had brought home for us on Saturday whilst we continued to explore the Blue Mountains. We ended up staying at their house for dinner and of course, apples were included.

On the menu was steak, sausages and apple salad with prosciutto. Yum! A great casual Sunday family meal.

The ingredients:
85g prosciutto
2 small apples (we used the pink ladies for this recipe)
2 cups mixed greens (I actually used more like 3-4 handfuls)
100g walnuts (this wasn't in the recipe but we added them for extra crunch)
2 tsp pure maple syrup
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper (to taste)

The recipe:
In a dry non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, saute prosciutto until it becomes crispy and curls around the edges (3-5 minutes). Set aside.
Toss the apples, greens and walnuts in a medium bowl.
Whisk together the syrup, vinegar and oil. Drizzle over the apples and greens (less is more as this is quite sweet). Toss to coat.
Add the prosciutto and toss gently.

The result:
Delicious. Crisp. Fresh. This salad was great paired with the steak (seasoned with The Best Steak Marinade) and sausages, perfect for the unusually warm April evening that will no doubt be one of the last flashes of summer we see.

I had promised the kids apples for dinner and they were both pretty happy to see their plates of sausage and apples. My youngest was unexpectedly eager to eat our salad as well, though I soon realised it was just the crispy prosciutto he was after!

We are busy eating and cooking all the apples. On the menu are apple pie, mini apple charlottes, apple pancakes, pork with apple sauce and much more. So stay tuned for more yummy apple recipes!