Apples of Our Eye | In Season

Apple season begins when the first Jersey Macs and Paula Reds ripen in late July. It’s always a surprise to see them, although not always a welcome one. I cling to summer like a barnacle to a breakwater, so I don’t want any midsummer reminders that it’ll come to an end. But get me through Labor Day, and I welcome apples like cherished children. That’s when I start to crave dishes such as these, both of which are inspired by two favorite recipes in my book, The Apple Lover’s Cookbook. 

The grilled cheese serves up all the fall flavors: cheddar, apples, ham, honey mustard, and some sage leaves that you press into the buttered bread and fry for a fancy finish and some great flavor. The gingersnap apple crisp [pictured on p. 4 of this issue] resembles the classic oat-topped dish, but it’s shot through with warm spices from the cookies, which you blitz in a food processor. Both recipes can be made with whatever apples you have on hand, though I don’t recommend using only McIntosh in the apple crisp. That variety turns to mush pretty quickly, so it’s always good to mix it with something firmer, like Cortland, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, or Northern Spy. 

Recipes

Grilled Ham, Cheddar & Apple Sandwiches

Gingersnap Apple Crisp

Amy Traverso

Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.

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