Curried Apples

If you’re anything like me, you busted out your favorite pair of boots on the first early September afternoon that dipped below 73 degrees.  You and your boots went traipsing around town, running errands, and eventually marveling at how much your calves could actually sweat.  Maybe the boots were a bad idea.

You found yourself at Whole Foods for a couple of odds and ends.  And air conditioning.

As you stumbled through those electronic gates of food heaven, you forgot about the eggs, the milk, bread and toilet paper (Were you expecting a snowstorm?).  Because right there, RIGHT THERE, were the season’s first Honeycrisp apples.  So you bought a few (pounds).

Over the next several days, you rejoiced in your Honeycrisps.  You ate them morning, noon, and night, then dreamt about them for the next day.  You offered them lovingly to your husband.  He said they were too tart and you refused to talk to him for the rest of the week.

And then you woke up one day and the thought of another f-ing apple thoroughly revolted you.  Just the sound of that initial CCCCRRRRunch and SSSSlurp of the first bite really tweaked every last nerve.  You bagged up the last of your apples and chucked them into the fridge,  behind the wilting celery you always buy just in case you want to make tuna salad and ultimately throw away because you never make tuna salad.

So, here we are, almost midway through October.  And the apples – how can you forget about them?  Their perfume greets you every time you open the refrigerator.  The smell gets the dogs, too, because they occasionally try to catapult themselves into the fruit drawer when you open the fridge.  What’s a little dog fuzz in the cream cheese anyway?

You could throw the apples away, but that’s just too easy.  So is apple crisp.  And applesauce (Besides, you have a pound of that in the freezer from last year.  You never learn from your mistakes.).   Apple pie is out of the question because you have an irrational fear of pie crust.

What to do?  What to do?  You’re standing at the refrigerator, door wide open, and yes, you ARE trying to cool the whole neighborhood.  INDEED, you have invited penguins for dinner.  But in the meantime, you spy the butter.  The grass-fed butter that is holycrapsogood.  I mean, how can butter taste even more buttery?  What kind of grass are these cows eating??  Maybe I should eat some, too?

Anyway, you grab the butter, the apple cider, and the last of those apples.  You grab some cinnamon.  On second thought, the curry powder, too.  Now, we’re talking.

Slicing and sauteing ensues and, ten minutes later, you have something good. Like, really good.  You’re all abuzz with ideas on how to use these beautiful buttery, curried apples.  Soup garnish!  Salads!  Turkey Sandwiches!  OH the possibilities!

But oops you’re all out of apples.

Lordy, here we go again.

Curried Apples

2 large apples, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch slices

1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

salt, to taste

1) In a 12 inch frying pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.  Once the butter begins to sizzle, add curry powder and cinnamon to the butter and stir until incorporated and fragrant.

2) Add sliced apples to the skillet and toss to fully coat the apples with the butter mixture.  Turn up the heat to medium and saute the apples for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until the apples begin to soften and gently brown.

3) Pour the apple cider over the apples and continue sauteing the apples an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cider has reduced and the apples are soft and glazed.

4) Serve immediately or store the apples in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container.