5 things to do with crabapples

Calgary backyards are bursting withcrabapplesagain soits thattime of year to pick them andbake up something or preservethemin jars in the form of jelly, chutney or sauce.

Hereare a few delicious ways to keep your surplus ofcrabapples(or the neighbours) fromfilling up the compost bin.

Make jelly

Do what your grandma did preserve the surplus of apples in your back yard bysimmering juiced apples and sugar. An added bonus isif you have a lot of applesyoull wind upwith a stash of tasty, festive gifts to bring along to parties when the holiday seasonarrives.

HomemadeCrabappleJelly

• Applespicked off atree, or bought at the market
• Cinnamon sticks (optional)
• Sugar

Wash, stem and coarsely chop or just quarter the apples and put them in a large pot.(Dont bother to peel or core them.)

Add enough water to just cover them and bring to aboil. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutesuntil the apples are very soft. Mash the wholelot with a big spoon or potato masher and cook for another few minutes.

Spoon the mixture into a colander lined with cheesecloth set over a large bowl or pot, andlet the juice drain out, stirring the pulp to extract as much juice as possible.

Measure the resulting juice into a pot (this is easy if you drain it into a pot withmeasurements marked on the side) and addcup sugar for every cup of juice.

Bringto a boil over high heat and boil rapidly, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 210Fon a candy thermometer, or until a small amount placed on a cold plate and put into thefreezer turns to gel. This should take about 20 minutes.

While its still hot, pour the jelly into hot jars, adding a cinnamon stick to each jar if youlike; skim off any foam that rises to the top with a spoon, and seal. Set aside to cool.

Process in a hot water bath or store in the fridge.

Make bread pudding

Any basic bread pudding recipe will benefit from chunks of tart apple try this version,sweetened with maple syrup.

Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding

• baguette or loaf of good-quality crusty bread, or an assortment of bread ends (raisinbread works well here)
• 4 large eggs
• cup pure maple syrup or honey
• cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups Half & Half
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• A shake of cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 10-15crabapples, sliced or quartered
• 2 Tbsp. sugar

Cut or tear the bread into one-inchchunks into a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk togetherthe eggs, maple syrup, brown sugar, cream and vanilla. Pour over the bread and let sit foran hour or overnight, stirring or turning the mixture once in a while. All the liquid shouldbe well absorbed, but the bread shouldnt turn to mush.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Pour the bread mixture into a buttered baking dish. In a smallskillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat and cook thecrabapplesfor a few minutesuntil they start to soften. Sprinkle with sugar and cook until they start turning golden. Stirthe apples into the bread mixture or sprinkleover top.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until puffed and golden. Serve warm, with whippedcream if you like. Serves 6.

Pickle them

Sweet and tangy pickledcrabapplesare delicious. ChefLianaRobberechtof the CalgaryPetroleum Club tops creamy potato salad with thinly sliced, brilliant pink pickledcrabapples.

Pickled BackyardCrabapples(Courtesy ofRobberecht)

• 3 cups wholecrabapples, stemmed
• cup red vinegar
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 lemon sliced
• 4 stems of tarragon
• 1 cup apple juice
• 4 cups white sugar
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• Salt & pepper

Place all ingredients into a pot, making surecrabapplesare covered with liquid.You canadd more apple juice if you need to. Bring apples andliquid to a boil,then remove potfrom heat.This step you have to watchdo not let the applescontinue to boil or they willbecome mushy and overcooked. Let apples cool down in liquid.

Remove core from apples this step is a labour of love:time consuming, but worthit. Place back into poaching liquid until you are ready to serve.

Make your own pectin

Crabapples, and particularly their cores and seeds, are naturally very high in pectin.Simmer two pounds ofcrabappleswith three cups of water for about 30 minutes, then mash and strainthe result can be used like you would use liquid pectin in a recipe to set any kind offruit jelly or jam.

Make atartetatin

Whether you want to make a full-sizedtartetatinor a few small ones, weecrabapplesaretart enough to balance the rich pastry and caramel that binds themtogether.

CrabappleTarteTatin

• small or mediumcrabapples
• 2/3 cup sugar
• cup butter
• 2 Tbsp. honey, maple syrup or Roger's Golden Syrup
• pastry for a single crust pie or 1 pkg. puff pastry, thawed

Preheat the oven to 400F. Stem and halve yourcrabapples; if you like, cut out their cores.

In a heavy ovenproof or cast iron skillet cook the sugar, butter and honey over medium-high heat for roughly fiveminutesuntil it turns smooth and golden. Place enough apples to coverthe bottom of the pan into the hot caramel and cook for another threeminutes.

Removefrom heat and turn the apples cut-side up using tongs.Roll the pastry out until its a little larger in diameter than the skillet; cover the applesand tuck in the edge of the pastry. Cut a few slits in the top and bake for 20-25 minutesuntil golden.

Carefully invert thetartetatinonto a plate while its still warm. Serve with whippedcream sweetened with maple syrup. Serves 6.