Apples have never been my favorite fruit. I always enjoy them once I start eating one but it’s just not something I crave. But an orchard brought bags filled with an assortment of their new varieties to the Greenmarket so I figured I’d try a bag and see if anything floated my boat. The upside is were some really good apples in there. The downside is I’m going to have to try to identify the ones I liked by sight next time I go since they aren’t labeled by variety like apples bought at a grocery.
I adapted a Bon Appétit recipe for frisée and apple salad with dried cherries and walnuts to use up some of the apples. I spiced the walnuts and added some stilton cheese and did my own vinaigrette. It was a very bright tasting salad and the inclusion of three or four varieties of apples gave it a lot of personality.
Here’s what I included:
two smallish heads of frisée, lightly chopped
3-4 apples, thinly sliced
1/2 cup of dried cherries
1/8-1/4 cup of stilton cheese, crumbled
1 cup of spiced walnuts
For the spiced walnuts:
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
For the vinaigrette:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Mix the spices for the walnuts in a medium sized mixing bowl. Heat the butter in a skillet and add the walnuts for a couple of minutes, coating them well and letting them just begin to roast. Dump them in the bowl of spices and toss well.
Throw all the vinaigrette ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until well blended.
Tear up the frisée, core and slice the apples then toss together with the cherries. Crumble a little stilton cheese and add a little vinaigrette on each portion once plated.
2 Comments
okay, the frisee has to be the lettuce stuff…looks good. never heard of stilton cheese; what is a chesse that is close to it, in case i can’t find stilton close by.
Think i might try to assemble this salad for t-day at Darrell and Karen’s. Then I can let the family see what you are up to! Thanks for answrng my e-mail. you are my Best son!! The others ignore me#*!
Yep. The frisee is the lettuce. Stilton is blue cheese made in England. It’s like champagne in that it can only be made in a few counties of Britain but it’s fairly common and shouldn’t be too hard to find (or very expensive). It is pretty stinky and salty but smooth and mild once it’s in your mouth. If you want to substitute just go with any blue cheese you like.
Your other sons may take issue with the rest of your comment but if they are ignoring your emails they are unlikely to be reading my cooking blog so I’ll just say “thanks.”