They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but why just have one? From steamed apples for breakfast to sweet, salted-caramel-and-apple Tartes Tatin for dessert – here are five recipes to show you can enjoy apples in every meal. 

Roasted apples with yoghurt & oat crumble 

Serves 4 // Cooking time 1 hour 20 min 

Ingredients 

For the apples 

4 apples, halved and cored
4 cups water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla 

For the oat crumble 

1 cup oats
¼ cup coconut flakes
4 tbsp almond butter
6 tbsp honey 

Method 

For the apples 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Add the apples, water, cinnamon and vanilla to a baking tray.

For the oat crumble

1. Mix all ingredients together and spread out on a lined baking tray.
2. Bake the apples and oat crumble at the same time. Bake the apples for 1 hour, until the liquid has reduced and apples are soft. Bake the crumble until golden, about 10 minutes.
3. To serve, put double-cream yoghurt in a bowl and top with apples and the crumble.

Recipe & styling: Chiara Turilli
Photography: Andreas Eiselen // HMimages.co.za 

 

Walnut-crusted hake with apple-cider radishes 

Serves 4 // Cooking time 55 minutes, plus fermenting 

Ingredients 

For the apple-cider radishes 

1 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup apple juice
4 tbsp honey
1 star anise
3 cardamom pods, crushed
¼ cinnamon quill
1 tsp salt
20 radishes, thinly sliced  

For the walnut-crusted hake 

½ cup walnuts, crushed
½ cup desiccated coconut
Handful chopped thyme
800 g hake fillets
1 egg, whisked
3 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, sliced  

Method  

For the apple-cider radishes 

1. Bring the apple cider vinegar, apple juice, honey, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon and salt to a simmer in a small pot. Cool before pouring over radishes.
2. Leave out of the fridge for 5 hours or 1 day to ferment.

For the walnut crusted hake 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Combine walnuts, coconut and thyme.
3. Brush the top of the fish with egg and press into nut mixture. Drizzle with olive oil.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden and the fish is cooked. Serve with the radishes and slices of lemon.

Recipe & styling: Chiara Turilli
Photography: Andreas Eiselen/HMimages.co.za 

 

Buttermilk fried chicken with apple slaw 

Serves 4 // Cooking time 1 hour 50 minutes 

 

Ingredients 

For the buttermilk fried chicken 

8 chicken pieces
4 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp each soy sauce and sriracha
4 garlic cloves, grated
2½ cups buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
3 tsp origanum
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tsp salt 

For the apple slaw 

¼ green cabbage, shredded
½ red onion, sliced
1 green apple, julienned
Handful coriander, chopped
Juice of ½ lime
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
¼ cup honey
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¾ cup olive oil 

Method  

For the buttermilk fried chicken  

1. Mix together the chicken, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sriracha, garlic and buttermilk. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C.
3. Mix all the remaining dry ingredients together and season well.
4. Heat enough oil to deep-fry the chicken in a large pot.
5. Roll each chicken piece in the flour and fry until golden. Arrange on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, until cooked.

For the apple slaw 

1. Combine the ingredients, season to taste and serve with the fried chicken.

Recipe & styling: Chiara Turilli
Photography: Samantha Pinto // HMimages.co.za 

 

Onion and apple pork chops with butter bean mash 

Serves 6 // Cooking time 1 hour 

Ingredients 

For the pork chops

3 tsp mustard
6 pork chops
2 apples, thickly sliced
2½ onions, thickly sliced
1 cube chicken stock dissolved in 1 cup boiling water
½ cup white wine 

For the butter bean mash 

½ onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, grated
2 tins butter beans, rinsed
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp dried sage
½ cup hot milk 

Method 

For the pork chops 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Spread the mustard on the pork chops and season.
3. Heat some vegetable oil in an ovenproof pan and fry the apples and onions for about 5 minutes, until they start to soften. Remove from the pan.
4. Heat some more oil in the pan and brown the pork chops for 1–2 minutes on each side. Add the onions and apples back to the pan.
5. Pour over the chicken stock and white wine and transfer to the oven. Cook for 20–25 minutes, until the pork is cooked through and the onions are caramelised.

For the butter-bean mash 

1. Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
2. Add the butter beans, lemon juice and sage and heat through.
3. Remove from the heat and add the milk gradually, mashing all the while, until soft and creamy. Season to taste and serve with the pork chops.

Recipe & styling: Kate Turner
Photography: Sean Dollery // HMimages.co.za 

  

Mini salted-caramel-and-apple Tartes Tatin 

Makes 12 // Cooking time 1 hour 

 

Ingredients 

1 cup sugar
90 g butter, cubed
½ cup cream
1 tsp sea salt
6 apples, thinly sliced
4 sprigs thyme, chopped
500 g puff pastry
Icing sugar, to dust 

Method  

1. Preheat oven to 200°C and grease a 12-hole muffin tin.
2. Place sugar in a pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring gently with a spatula, for 3–4 minutes, until it has melted and turned an amber colour.
3. Whisk in the butter. Once it is completely melted, slowly pour in the cream, whisking to combine. Add the salt and set aside to cool.
4. Evenly distribute apple slices and thyme in the muffin pan. Bake for 10 minutes, until the apples just begin to soften.
5. Roll out the pastry. Cut out 12 circles to fit the holes of the muffin tin.
6. Remove muffin tin from oven and drizzle 2 tsp salted caramel over each apple portion. Cover each one with a circle of pastry. Using a sharp knife, poke a hole in the pastry, to allow steam to be released during baking.
7. Bake the tartes Tatin for a further 15–20 minutes, until pastry is golden brown and completely cooked through.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, before carefully inverting to remove from the tin. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Recipe & styling: Luisa Hayes
Photography: Andreas Eiselen // HMimages.co.za  

Also read: Why eating seasonally is good for your health