Hmmm……I learned something today: never, ever take your eyes off a toddler in the produce department – if he loves fruit. We were walking by the apples and he grabbed an apple. A beautiful one I might add. That was $2.99 a pound. And took a big chomp out of it. AGH!! Guess who bought a pricey and non-organic apple? Yeah, this Mom. Good thing he loves them so much. Well, at least he didn’t grab a cake and bite into it…..Too bad I wasn’t at our regional local co-op chain, PCC. They give kids a free thing of fruit or veggies – and they can pick it out. Walker always goes for grapes or plums…..
I usually have a dozen apples or so in the crisper. I buy organic Washington State apples at Costco, which often are half the cost of a grocery store. What I like is the size, they are a medium apple, rather than the large ones in stores. You can use whatever size, if you have small ones, you can use them whole (just prick the apples a few times before the simmering period, and when eating, core).
How to use? Thinly sliced on sandwiches, alongside olives for an appetizer….even by themselves! The simplicity is no canning needed and you can start indulging the next day. Yum!
And on organic, why the emphasis? The peel is eaten in this recipe, you will do better to avoid commercially grown apples where the nasty stuff is in the peel.
Spiced Pickled Apples
Ingredients:
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ cup fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 tsp allspice berries
- 1 tsp whole peppercorns
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 pound organic apples
Directions:
Scrub the apples gently and dry. Depending on size of apples, cut into halves or quarters, shaking out seeds.
Add the remaining ingredients to a tall saucepan, bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Add the apples; cover and simmer for 5 minutes, lowering the heat as needed to avoid boiling over.
Pour apples and liquid into a large bowl, let cool. Pack the apples in a sterile quart mason jar, pour the spices and as much liquid as you can, running a thin spatula to release any air bubbled. Seal the jar and refrigerate for at least 8 hours before enjoying.
Store refrigerated for up to a month.
~Sarah
If you don’t have fresh ginger, but only ground would that work as well? Or does it taste better with the fresh one? I’m assuming it does, but I don’t have any on hand so…. ^^
You could – also if you happened to have candied ginger on hand, use that as well! Even a Tablespoon of dried powdered would be plenty 🙂
Sounds delicious and it looks gorgeous in the jars!… Glad you provided guidance on how to use, I would have been spooning them on ice cream. 🙂
Ummmm…..oh hello! I LOVE your idea even better!
Where do you get the lids for your atlas jars? I’ve found that narrow mouth lids and rings are too big for the ones I have. Also, I love pickled apples!
Rachel, the secret is in which jar size. The big quart (32 ounce) ones I get from Costco (filled with Classico pasta sauce). They are great and fit the narrow mouth lids/rings. As well, the Classico sauce jars for red sauce sold in grocery stores will fit the narrow moutha s well – the are labeled up to 16 ounce (but are more like 20 ounce jars). The smallest jars they make, the 12 ounce ones, that are white sauces like alfredo, those are drinking glasses. They are too small for the narrow mouth lids/rings.
I don’t can with them, but I use them for excellent storage jars – they fit so nicely in my pantry and frig being square!