It's Time To Cook With Apples

Tori Ritchie Offers Delicious Recipes With A Variety Of Apples

(CBS)  Now is the peak time for freshly harvested apples. So in The Early Show's Five-Minute Cooking School with Williams-Sonoma, cookbook author Tori Ritchie teaches about apples.

The most common varieties available are Granny Smith, Gala, McIntosh, Golden Delicious and Red Delicious, but there is a boom in heirloom varietals, too. The rest of the year, you buy either imported apples from New Zealand and Australia or ones that have been in cold storage, which is why the best time to cook with apples is now.

The general rule is the firmer and tarter the apple, like Granny Smith, the better it is to cook, and the sweeter the variety, like Gala, the better to eat out of hand. But, at this time of year, when apples are really crisp and not mushy, you can cook with almost any variety. The only one that Ritchie doesn't recommend is a Red Delicious.

The following are her recipes:

Apple-Citrus Salad With Avocado And Bacon
A wonderful beginning to a special-occasion meal, this salty-sweet salad is sure to enliven the palate.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 heads Bibb lettuce, rinsed well and torn into 2-inch pieces
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 ruby red grapefruits, peeled and sectioned
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned
1 bunch green onions, green portion only, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 ripe avocados
6 thick-cut bacon slices, fried until crispy and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

Method:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard and vinegar. Add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream and whisk until smooth and blended.
   
   
2. In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, apples, grapefruits, oranges, green onions, salt, pepper and half of the vinaigrette and toss to mix.
   
   
3. To slice the avocados, using a chef's knife, cut into an avocado lengthwise until you hit the pit in the center. Carefully cut around the fruit through the skin and the pulp, without cutting through the pit. Holding the avocado in both hands, twist the halves in opposite directions to separate them. Using a large tablespoon, scoop out the pit and then scoop the pulp out of the skin. Slice the avocado as desired. Repeat with the remaining avocados.
   
   
4. Divide the salad among chilled salad plates. Garnish with the avocado slices and bacon. Drizzle a little of the remaining vinaigrette over each salad and serve immediately. Serves 12.

Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.