Every autumn, you look forward to the same ritual: apple picking with family and friends! Proud of your larger-than-life low-priced harvest, you go home with even apples to last you weeks! So what can you do to make the most out of all those apples? From appetizers to desserts, here are a few quick and delish recipes (which are just as handy should you decide to buy large quantities of apples when they’re on special at your grocery store). 

In savoury dishes, such as chicken salad and apple-spiced pork

• As an appetizer: with Quebec cheeses, in verrines, in bite-size delicacies, or even in a soup. Also try a melting brie with caramelized apples! Delicious!
• In a salad: with chicken or cabbage.
• In a puff pastry: with goat cheese or Oka cheese.
• With meat: Nagano pork, veal cutlets, rack of lamb, roast beef, stew, turkey, pork roast, duck, and more!
• In smoothies with orange juice, bananas, and plain yogurt . . . or even fresh out of the juicer.

In desserts: pies, muffins, compotes, turnovers, and apple crisp

Everyone loves classic apple desserts, but how about reinventing them or even trying new ones? Here are a few suggestions.

• The classic pie. Change things up by playing with various types of apple (lobo, cortland, mcIntosh, etc.), spices and flavourings (cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, etc.), sizes (individual ones will easily fit in the lunch box), and last, but not least, the dough (shortcrust, shortbread, puff pastry... or even pizza). A scoop of ice cream to top it all off?
• Delicious muffins. Bake them plain, with cranberry and chocolate, or mix things up with sweet and savoury flavours, like apple and cheddar muffins.
• The versatile applesauce. An excellent snack, unsweetened applesauce can also be used to replace some of the fat in cakes, cookies, muffins, or bread. Healthy AND delicious!
• Classic turnovers. Simply add cheese.
• The traditional crisp. Try it plain, with pecans or raspberries.