Nothing beats warm, baked apples on a wintry day. Fruits that have a long storage life like apples and pears can be baked with preserves or a little butter and cinnamon for an easy-to-make dessert or snack. And the added bonus is that baking fruit makes your house smell great, better than the cinnamon stick in a saucepan trick. Put these in the oven right before your last-minute guests arrive.
2 large unpeeled apples, preferably Rome Beauty or Golden Delicious, cored and halved vertically.
4 teaspoons jam of your choice (the original recipe uses apricot)
4 teaspoons quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal
2 cinnamon sticks
1/3 cup apple or cranberry juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, mix jam and oats into a paste. Divide the paste among the four apple cavities , which look like trenches. Put the apples, cut side down, in a baking dish. Put the cinnamon sticks in the baking dish. Whisk together apple juice, sugar and lemon juice. Pour around the apples. Cover and bake until apples are tender when pierced, about 30 minutes. Serve apples cut side up and spoon the pan juices over them or serve with ice cream or frozen yogurt.
Adapted from "Everyday Cooking with Dean Ornish"
(HarperCollins, 1996)
Thursday, February 08, 2001
