Rotten Apples
Honeycrisp apples stuffed with fall-flavors—pork, sage, cranberries—and roasted until soft. Perfect for fall or Halloween. Just imagine telling everyone Rotten Apples are for dinner! Trick or Treat!
Servings Prep Time
6 15minutes
Cook Time
30minutes
Servings Prep Time
6 15minutes
Cook Time
30minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat until it’s hot. Drop in the shallots with a little bit of salt, and stir. Cook these for just a minute or two, until they begin to soften.
  2. Add in the ground pork slowly, breaking it up with your hands as you drop it into the pan. Let it cook for a minute or two before you being to break it up and turn it about the pan with a wooden spoon.
  3. Once the pork is cooked through and no longer pink (about 5 – 7 minutes), turn off the heat and stir in the cranberries and sage. If there are any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan deglaze them with the 1 – 2 tablespoons of cider, stock or water. Set this aside to cool a bit and, once it has, stir in the breadcrumbs and check for seasoning.
  4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°
  5. Using a melon baller, begin to scoop out the inside of the apples. Mine has two scoops, one about a t-spoon and the other about a half t-spoon. I start by removing right around the stem with the large scoop before working my way inside the apple with the smaller one. You want to leave about 1/4″ of apple left so they hold their shape. If the bottoms are uneven or leave a little bit more. Set all of the scraps aside.
  6. Fill the apples with 4 – 5 tablespoons of the pork mixture. Set them on a roasting tray, and bake for about 20 minutes, until the apples are soft and the pork bits peaking out the top have browned a little.
  7. Make a quick “gravy” for this by: you can puree the scraps from scooping the apples in a processor, and strain through a fine mesh sieve to get the freshest, crispest apple juice ever (or buy some good cider). Make a roux by cooking the butter and flour together in a small saucepan over medium heat, for about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the juice or cider and continue whisking until smooth. Bring it to a gentle boil, then simmer on low for about 5 – 7 minutes, until thickened. Drizzle this over the finished apples and serve any leftovers alongside.

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