Western North Carolina is apple country. Henderson County, which is next door to us, produces more than the rest of us, and many varieties. Some of the newer ones are honeycrisp and ginger gold. These have their appeal. Honeycrisp was almost impossible to get year before last due to the demand for it. These newer apples are crossbreeds.
But who wants a crossbreed when you can have a real thoroughbred apple. Not me.
One of my favorites is the Rome beauty. This apple, which hails from Ohio, is of unknown origin, one plant having been shipped from a nursery in the early 1800’s in a group of some other variety. The tree survived and from it we have these beautiful deep red apples, flecked with tiny white spots, that often are just as beautiful inside as they are outside, their white flesh streaked and mottled with a deep pink color. Gorgeous! And when you bake them, they retain a lot of that beautiful color. Not all Rome apples have these pretty pink streaky insides, but a fair number of them do.
White and pink interior
I open the top and dig out the seeds with a little knife, being careful not to cut all the way through the apple if I can help it. In it I put first about a teaspoon of butter and on top of that somewhere between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of sugar, and then another teaspoon of butter, topped off with a little shake of cinnamon. Put the apple(s) in a dish or pan just large enough to hold it(them); add a little water in the bottom; and bake in a preheated oven at about 350 degrees until as done as you like. I use a toaster oven for one or two, and it doesn’t take long. The water will make a nice juice that you can pour on top of the apples when they are done.
baked apples
Rome apples will remain firm longer than most varieties. Just keep them a a cool place. They don’t have a really distinctive flavor, nor are they especially crunchy or juicy. They are just good utilitarian apples, but they’ve got a lot of class. Baking brings out the best in them.
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