Catfish Out of Water

I went apple picking for the first time in my entire life. This might sound strange because I'm from the Pacific Northwest. I've lived in Washington. I grew up 5 hours away from Wenatchee, which I have never heard of because it's in the middle of nowhere Washington. But it's also, apparently, the Apple Capital of the World! So, maybe I just had an unfortunate childhood. But, as someone who now lives thousands of miles away from the apple capital of the world? I frequently lament how much I miss apples.

Now, don't get me wrong, apples are wildly available pretty much everywhere. They're native to Kazakhstan (Historic Sites' Origins of Apples) and are available throughout the globe. So, while it might be a little strange that we pay for the privilege of imitating a profession, it is a festive fall favorite that I've never had the privilege of being a part of before. And I get the incentive! Let's get outdoors, play around in the foliage before it starts snowing and everything turns into a hellish landscape of frozen tundra.

This Article is NOT Sponsored

I don't make any money from this blog. I actually lose money paying for the domain and hosting. This is merely a hobby that I started to do for fun. So, as much as I enjoyed apple picking and these apples, I'm not specifically endorsing this orchard. I went with friends who picked the place. I don't have any personal or professional association with the farm. I'm only using my life as content when it comes to how to cook with the same ingredient twenty-five times over without getting boring or repetitive.

The Freshest Apples Around

Plus, you're guaranteed that these are the freshest apples around. If anything is going to be the best apple in the Midwest and rival what I grew up eating? It's going to be apples that I picked myself. That haven't been frozen and thawed out thousands of miles away from my dinner table. I think that this might be my problem in the middle of the country.

I'm so used to apples being cultivated in my backyard and being able to shop at stores that stock local and regional produce. So, when it comes to apples that I get in the grocery store here? All too often they've been shipped 2,000 miles and are just a little bit lackluster.

Wisconsin does grow apples, though! Despite perpetually getting excited about apple season and then biting into the worst apples that I've ever had in my life? I'm determined that there is a better way: finding apples at the source. Which isn't actually that difficult of an endeavor. I live in Wisconsin. There are apples here. I can go get them directly from the tree and marvel at the fact that we can source them locally. My grocery store just doesn't.

Frustrations with the food chain aside, these apples are actually delicious.

What to Do w/ Dozens of Apples?

I like to think of picking up new or an abundance of ingredients as one of those cooking challenges on game shows: You have several pounds of apples. What are you going to do with them that's not boring or repetitive??

One of the things about going apple picking is that you end up with a large quantity of apples. Dozens of them, to be slightly more exact. I ended up with 5 each of SnapDragon Apples, Autumn Crisp Apples, Sweet Maia Apples, and Blondee Apples. I'm pretty sure that I ended up with a 1/2 peck bag that should have been about 5 pounds of apples for $26. There were also Fuji, Honey Crisp, Macoun, McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, and Crimson Crisp apples ripe at the time.

My Goal w/ This Apple Challenge

Like any good recreation of a hypothetical cooking show challenge, there are a couple of ground rules that I want to set for myself. Both to utilize the apples to their fullest potential and to not fall into some easy pitfalls.

• Eat all of the apples. In an attempt not to be wasteful because we all know what it's like to enthusiastically buy something and then slowly watch it rot until it's acceptable to throw it away. (Spoiler alert, I almost didn't accomplish this. Five pounds of apples is a lot and I did get bored!)
• Don't make the same thing twice. It can be easy to say, this works, this is how I'm going to eat all of my apples. As much as I like a good tried and true recipe formula? I don't want to eat the exact same thing every day. Especially, when I already have leftovers from the last big dish that I made. So, as easy as it might be to say that I'm just going to make the same recipe five times? That kind of defeats the point. Plus, it's going to be much more fun to explore different options that you might not think of right off of the bat. (I also failed at this, but I did still make 5 different recipes!)
• Don't eat any of the apples by themselves. Lastly, I don't want to just eat five apples a day for five days! Just biting into an apple is cheating. That might be silly because this entire endeavor is to find apples that are good enough to eat plain. But that's boring. And I like a culinary challenge.

Types of Apples

I ended up with 25 apples. Five apples each of 5 types of apples: SnapDragons, Autumn Crisp, Sweet Maia, and Blondee. I'd like to say that that meant an even distribution of 3 recipes per type of apple. But this isn't that nice and neat sort of personal challenge that I've inadvertently given myself. Really, I started with an absurd amount of pizza, got into a little bit more variety in the middle, and then devolved into copious amounts of macaroni and cheese. So, did I accomplish all of my goals? Absolutely not. Was it delicious? That is unequivocally so.

SnapDragon Apples

I'm unsure whether Snap Dragon/Snapdragon has a space between it or not. I just went apple picking and the patch that I got them from wrote it both ways. Googling "snap dragon or snapdragon apple" gave me SnapDragon^®, which is neither of the ways that I was expecting. Although I also wasn't expecting this to come from snapdragoapple.com and its official partnership with the Buffalo Bills.

All I know is that I'm just going to go with SnapDragon, even though that still seems weird (in the process of writing the 5 recipes that have used these apples, I've changed all of the spelling 3 times and I am not going to do that again without very good reason!).

Either way, SnapDragons are a crisp apple that was developed in New York. They're a sweet Honeycrisp cross with a subtle tartness. And they have a yellow base with a darker red hue throughout the rest of the apple. They're most known for being for being a crunchy and juicy apple that goes well as a nice crunch in salads and cheese plates.

Autumn Crisp Apples

Autumn Crisp apples are a cross between Golden Delicious and Monroe apples. They're both a crisp and juicy apple that are known for being on the sweeter side. This makes them good for both slicing and baking and ideal for either salads or pies.

Sweet Maia Apples

Sweet Maia apples are a cross between Winecrisp and Honeycrisp apples. They're an early fall apple and the first ones that we picked today. Honeycrisps were also available to pick today, but I opted for the Sweet Maia because they aren't something that I can ordinarily find at my local grocery store. They're a yellow skinned apple with a deeper red hue overtop. And they're best known for being a mildly sweet apple that's good for baking or snacking.

Blondee Apples

Blondee apples are the only true yellow apple that I picked up this trip. They're a mildly sweet apple with a hint of honey and floral notes. It's said that they were found spontaneously amongst Gala apples are described as the "yellow Gala." Although they are a little bit crisper and do hold their shape better than Galas do. This makes Blondees good for both snacking and baking into desserts.

1. Quiche w/ Salmon, Leeks, & SnapDragon Apples

This Quiche w/ Salmon, Leeks, & SnapDragon Apples consists of SnapDragon apples, sautéed leeks, salmon, eggs, Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, and gruyère cheese.

2. Salad w/ Salmon, Black Rice, & Roasted SnapDragon Apples

This Salad w/ Salmon, Black Rice, & Roasted SnapDragon Apples consists of baked salmon, roasted SnapDragon apples, black rice with sweet potatoes, shallots, ginger, and coconut milk.

3. Pizza w/ Roasted Kuri Squash, Apples, & Fresh Mozzarella

This Pizza w/ Roasted Kuri Squash, Apples, & Fresh Mozzarella consists of roasted Kuri squash, Autumn Crisp apples, shallots, garlic, squash seeds, fresh mozzarella, and Blue St. Angel triple cream brie.

3½. Pizza w/ Spinach, Roasted Kuri Squash, Apples, & Garlic

This Pizza w/ Spinach, Roasted Kuri Squash, Apples, & Garlic is also pizza! So, I cheated there. But I did have leftover roasted apple slices. So, it's more like apple pizza part two than an entirely separate recipe. I didn't actually make anything specifically for this dish. I already had spinach thinking that I was going to use it for pizza number one, but realizing that it already had eight-hundred ingredients and that that was potentially overkill.

So, here we have just the other half of the ingredients in an entirely separate pizza that is almost exactly the same. This Roasted Squash Pizza consists of spinach, roasted garlic, Kuri squash, Autumn crisp apples, shallots, fresh mozzarella, and gruyère cheese.

3¾. Pizza w/ Refried Beans, Wild Rice, Apples, & Crema

I also did it again. So, now here's Pizza w/ Refried Beans, Wild Rice, Apples, & Crema. Or pizza three and three-quarters. Don't judge me. This is my own cooking challenge to myself. I'm the one who created the rules, I can bend them in any way that I want!! Muahahahahaha. Either way, this pizza consists of homemade refried pinto beans, black rice w/ sweet potatoes, roasted SnapDragon apples, fresh mozzarella, and crema.

Also, all of the extra pizzas are using up extra apples that I'd already roasted. So, I'm not making the same thing twice. I'm just utilizing what I already have because making pizza is a bulk activity. You're still going to get 5 whole recipes out of this. Think of these as the interlude. An intermission, if you will. You also technically get six: I added a bonus one at the end for what I do with leftovers that I'm bored with.

4. Macaroni & Cheese w/ Apples, Walnuts, & Gruyère

This Macaroni & Cheese w/ Apples, Walnuts, & Gruyère consists of Sweet Maia apples, Greek yogurt, dry white wine, walnuts, and gruyère cheese.

6. Variations of Apple Burritos

Last but not least, there are all of the burritos that I made with the leftover apple dishes. When I make a big meal, I'm not likely to finish all of the leftovers by myself. So, I like to look for new and interesting ways to make something that I'm getting sick of eating every day a little bit more exciting. One of my favorite ways to do that is to turn it into burritos.

Burritos are one of those universal foods that goes well with just about anything. Flour tortillas are kind of a bland carbohydrate that lends itself to a wide variety of flavor profiles. They're also incredibly easy to make. The entire process of deciding that I want a burrito, heating a skillet, cooking a tortilla, wrapping all of the ingredients inside, add a dollop of sour cream (or avocado dip), and a dash of hot sauce?

Takes about 15 minutes. Maybe 20, if you decide to fry an egg for a breakfast burrito. I could make a burrito with my eyes closed. (Although maybe don't try that because cast iron skillets get really hot and not everyone is impervious to burning!)

So, my final entry is just what to do with leftovers when you don't know what else to do with them. Nachos and pasta also work well with this plan.

• Burrito w/ Salmon, Leeks, & SnapDragon Apples
• Burrito w/ Sweet Maia Apple & Walnut Macaroni & Cheese