Baked Apples with Raisins, Honey, Orange and Pistachioos
It’s apples and honey time. First, because those two ingredients are delicious symbols of Rosh Hashanah, which starts at sundown next Sunday.
But also because new crop apples are just beginning their season, and after months and months of mealy, dry, tasteless supermarket apples, we can finally find some that taste fresh, juicy and wonderful. Like maybe the kind that tempted Eve.
And also because September is National Honey Month. Honey, too, is in a high season right now, especially in the Northeast.
So I was delighted to read an article in The Huffington Post that said honey has health benefits.
That means I am going to be terrifically healthy. I have several jars of honey in my pantry. That I keep replenishing because, well, I use a lot of honey.
Honey is so, so good, right from my fingers, as I scoop the remnants that remain on the outside as I close up the jar.
It also tastes really good poured onto ice cream, cereal and pancakes.
And it’s an incredibly useful ingredient in recipes for dessert, like honey cake and also in savory foods — like mixing it with apple juice to baste a turkey.
Honey as healthy?
Well, that’s just an added bonus.
When I read the article and it mentioned using honey to help with night time coughs I thought about where I had heard that before.
Oh yeah. My Mom. Ages ago, when I was a little girl and had a cold and she mixed honey into tea.
Some things never change, nor should they.
Here’s an old recipe that I can now say is healthy because it has honey. Also, fresh, new crop apples.
It’s also a wonderful treat for Rosh Hashanah or any other holiday or any day in the week.
BAKED APPLES WITH RAISINS, HONEY, ORANGE AND PISTACHIOS
4 large baking apples
6 tablespoons golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped pistachios
2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon butter, cut into 4 pieces (or use coconut oil)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples and remove the cores, leaving about one-half inch at the bottom. Peel the apples about halfway down from the top. Place the apples in a baking dish. Mix the raisins, pistachios, orange peel, ginger, cinnamon, 3 tablespoons honey and 3 tablespoons orange juice in a small bowl. Spoon equal amounts of this mixture into the hollowed apple cores. Combine the remaining honey, juice and water and pour over the apples. Dot the tops with butter. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the apples are tender, basting occasionally with the pan juices.
Makes 4 servings