Our Holidays are now coming to a close and I have to admit, I'm looking forward to a few dishes that are on the lighter side. Many of our meals the last two weeks have been focusing on the meat proteins. I enjoyed every bite, and don't regret the over-indulgences, that's what the Holidays are for! Feasting, Family and Friends!
After every great feast, there is plenty of opportunity to make use of any extra ingredients you may have at hand. Last night's dinner was something I've never made before. Sausage Stuffed Apples with Bulgur Wheat.
After taking inventory, we had an abundance of apples at hand, lean ground Pork not used in the Turkey stuffing, cooked Cranberries and the sauce they were cooked in. I decided to play with an idea and make a side salad to compliment it. I don't like to waste anything.
With most stuffed vegetables, I would normally use rice, however I picked up Bulgar Wheat on an impulse. My nephew suggested I try it the next time I made stuffed peppers. I thought I'd use it with these stuffed apples.
NOTE: The only change I am making in this recipe in future versus the meal I made last night....is Parboiling the Bulgar Wheat for at least five minutes and let it cool prior to adding it to the stuffing. We were both satisfied with the meal and the flavours, the Bulgur Wheat was just a tad under cooked. A little hint of mustard would add some bite too.
I'm additionally making notes on substitutions you can make. I know the flavours will work well with these substitutions and won't change the overall outcome. I'm including them as not everyone would have Bulgur Wheat or Goat Cheese in their pantry.Sausage Stuffed Apples - Recipe
Depending on Apple Size, this recipe yields 6 to 8 Stuffed Apples
Ingredients
200 Grams (under 1/2 LBS) Lean Ground Pork
3 Medium Size Apples (or 4 Small)1/4 Cup Bulgar Wheat (Substitute with Minute Rice)
1/4 Cup Almonds, Diced
2 Large Carrots, Shredded
1 Celery Stalk, Diced
1 Slice of Yellow Onion, Diced
1/4 Cup Water or Chicken Stock
1 TBSP Olive Oil
3 TSP Goat Cheese (Substitute with Shredded Mozzerella)
Spices
1 TSP Garlic Powder1/2 TSP Oregano
1/4 TSP Cumin
1/4 TSP Coriander
1/4 TSP Cinnamon
1/8 TSP Fenugreek
1/4 TSP Course Sea Salt
2 Whole Cloves
Instructions
Clean your apples, leave the skin on, remove the stems.
Slice them in half, with a sharp knife, remove the core.
Brush the white of the Apple with Olive Oil, and place in a Baking dish .
Pre-heat your oven to 325 F
Grind or blend your spices thoroughly.In a mixing bowl, add your blended spices, and the remaining contents of the recipe.
Mix the ingredients well, ensuring they are evenly distributed.
I used my hands to form balls and pressed them on top of the halved and cored apples. You can use an Ice cream scoop to make sure the sizes or the same.
NOTE: I had enough ingredients to make 7 Stuffed Apples, I added the extra apple half and sliced two more Apples to make use of in a dressing for the Salad we made.Add 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of the baking dish.
Cover with either a lid or Aluminum Foil
Place in the oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes.
Uncover, add a little extra cheese to the top of the Sausage Stuffed Apples, let melt.
Serve warm.Each Stuffed Apple is enough for one serving.
My Husband added more cheese to the top of his. I kept mine to a sprinkling.
I'm in Holiday recovery mode, a little extra fat is not what I'm after.
As a side dish, we made a salad Romaine and Iceberg Lettuce, Spinach, Parsley and Cherry Tomatoes.
I used two of the cut Apple Halves I roasted with the Stuffed Apples, and diced them down.The rest of the dressing for the salad included:
1 Squeeze of Lemon,
3 TBSPS of Cranberry Juice,
1 TSP Mayonaise1/4 TSP Oregano
1/4 TSP Diced Fresh Parsley
1/2 TSP Garlic Powder
I whisked the ingredients together and was surprised at the bright pink hue, however, the flavours were great.
It worked well with salad and complimented the Sausage Stuffed Apples.
We were both content with the meal in the end. A few tweaks for next time as mentioned above.
- Parboiling the Bulgur Wheat.
- Adding a hint of Prepared Yellow Mustard to the stuffing mixture.
- Adding a Hint of Prepared Mustard to the Salad Dressing...though I expect that may turn the Salad Dressing Orange...We'll see.
I have several posts in the works, some published, many still in raw form. Most of them relate to meals from the Holidays and what I have been doing to make the best use of the leftovers, I have a lot to write out this month, and many other projects in the works too. I'll be finishing My Turkey Tips and Tricks which I started over the Holidays. For me that is an important one for a beginner Cook to have as reference.My hope is that this time next year, my blog will be close to complete with all the basics written out and I can focus on simply recipe creation, entertaining ideas and the trading I get up to. I suspect I'll get waylaid more than once though...I'm too curious and am constantly finding a new experiment to occupy my brain.
Have a Wonderful Week!
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