AN ABUNDANCE OF APPLES
Outside E&O shedquarters in our garden are two lovely old apple trees, that bulge each year with fruit. They were here long before we were, so we were never properly introduced!
We’re pretty sure one is a Cox’s Orange Pippin, with reddish-pink apples that are sweet and crunchy and amazing straight from the branch. The other one… well, we’re just not sure. We’ve tried to identify it in books and using those apps that take photos of the leaves etc, but we seem to come up short each time. So we just call it ‘the little tree”. However we do know it’s not for snacking! It’s got a hard, bitter flesh and a sour aftertaste that makes you screw up your nose.
But no matter! We try to find lots of ways to enjoy this natural bounty every year, because we couldn’t let 100kg of apples go to waste. The Pippins are favourites in apple pies and fruit bowls, but for general use, there are lots of other great options.
Maybe you have a local apple press? Its a fun day out, and you come home with lots of delicious juice! As a rule of thumb, 10kg of apples give you about 5 litres of juice, and most presses want you to bring around 40kgs. The Apple Pressing Service from Dartmoor – for yields of over 250kg – actually come to you! If Chutney is your thing, this also a great way to use up other remnant ingredients… and don’t pass up the chance to make a humble apple sauce – amazing with a roast or as a yummy fruit compote. On E&O you can find some delicious offerings from the wonderful folks at Deer View Fine Foods.
We also love a simple, classic apple jelly. It’s such a great way to use any and all of the apples that you get. The joy of the jelly is that once you’ve made the simple base you can do almost anything with it. Both of the apple types in our garden are good for cooking, and our hard, green sour bombs from the little tree, actually lend themselves rather wonderfully to a jelly classic.
The result is delicious and impressive and hassle free, you don’t even need to peel or core the apples! Check out our own apple chilli jelly recipe – it will give you some amazing jellies to lavish on your cheese, cold meat, roast pork, or even to glaze a ham with. And of course, they make lovely gifts for house visits and in stockings at Christmas!
As for any of the remaining Pippins, once we are done with all we can use, we love to pop them in a box outside and offer them to passers-by heading down the lane for a walk in the Surrey hills just beyond E&O HQ… help yourself..!
