Good day to everyone and welcome to the first episode of the Muggle Network: your number one guide to the non-magical world. I am your host, Ms. PIG: Pretty Intelligent Girl, to bring you the hottest and most interesting topic you need to know about muggles.
As we all know, we entered the month of October. Yes guys, time really flies fast. Although I am too late for this broadcast, I would like to share an occasion we, muggles, are celebrating during this month. It is, in fact, the National Apple Month! What are apples really? I know that all of you will answer the same sentence. 'It is the red fruit that we can buy from the market.' But is it just that simple? Is the apple worth taking just like that? Well, let me give you all some information that will change your answer forever.
Apples are considered to be the King of all Fruits. Now why should the apple, in particular, be known as the "King" of all fruits? The answer is because this fruit has so many virtues. An apple is beautiful, tasty and has a fine fragrance. It can be grown almost everywhere. On the outside it is a colorful fruit. It comes in various colors from green to red to gold. In taste, an apple is tasty and juicy, and has various tastes from sour to sweet. One can eat an apple raw, cooked, or baked, and it can be used in various dishes.
Apples are very good for one's health. An English saying is: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Actually, an apple is good for one's digestion and also has important vitamins and minerals. Apples also help to clean one's teeth after a meal. No other fruit has so many good qualities. Therefore, it is not surprising that the apple is regarded as the "King" of all fruits.
Now, I know that some of you are still not impressed with our fruit celebrity for today. Let us take this on the next level. I am pretty sure that everyone of our listeners are familiar with the fruit itself and its taste. But is everyone aware of these dishes? Let me show you some extraordinary recipes that have the main ingredient of apple.
Let us now learn one simple recipe. Yes, it will be the simplest one: Apple Pie!
Ingredients:
Crust:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, cold, cut into small cubes
5 tablespoons shortening, cold
8 tablespoons ice water
Filling:
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 apples, peeled, sliced
2 tablespoons margarine, cut into small cubes
Directions:
1) Prepare the crust: Sift together flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and shortening; cut into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water and mix in with a fork, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture becomes a dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently and divide in half. Flatten each half into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill 30 minutes. Roll one of the chilled disks onto a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round circle. Place into a 9-inch pie plate, trimming extra dough off the sides. Refrigerate.
2) Prepare the filling: Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Add apples and stir to coat. Transfer to pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with margarine. Preheat oven to 425°F.
3) Prepare the top: Roll out the second half of chilled dough to a circle slightly larger than 12 inches round; cover top of the pie with dough. Use fingers to pinch edges of dough together. Cut two small slits on top of pie.
4) Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until crust is golden and juice bubbles. Cool 10 minutes before serving.
If you followed this recipe correctly, your pie should look like this:
For the second recipe, let's take things more extraordinary. Here is the next food that we are going to make: Apple Cake!
Ingredients:
2 cups diced apples
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan.
2) Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; whisk until lightly mixed. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes; remove from cake pan and cool completely.
Yes, as you have noticed, it is just a two-step process. It should look like this one:
Next stop: an apple dish that will require you to eat with rice. Yes, you heard right. It is not just a simple dessert. It is a real apple dish: Apple-Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe!
Ingredients:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2 apples, peeled, thinly sliced
1 cup apple cider
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Directions:
1) Preheat grill to medium.
2) Place chicken between 2 pieces of wax paper; pound to 1/8-inch thickness.
3) Mix sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add apples and toss to coat. Divide apple slices among chicken breasts; fold chicken around apples and secure with toothpicks.
4) Cover and grill chicken, 6 inches from heat, 20 minutes, turning once, until juices are no longer pink. Remove toothpicks.
5) Meanwhile, mix apple cider and cornstarch in a small pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Spoon over chicken and serve immediately.
What? Someone wants to hear some trivia about our celebrity? Well, you're in luck! I prepared some just for all of you!
TRIVIA:
- Apples are pome fruits, a botanical classification meaning "fleshy fruits."
- The number five is important in the world of apples, and not just because apple is a five-letter word: Apple blossoms typically form in clusters of five … an apple blossom has five petals … Red Delicious apples usually have five bumps (lobes) on the base of the apple … The "star" you see when you cut an apple in half is due to the fruit's five seed cavities. Each cavity has the potential for 2 seeds, thus 10 seeds per apple are the norm.
- 25 percent of an apple’s volume is air. That is why they float.
- We'll start at the beginning: According to the Bible (a book that is part of muggles' religion, Christianity), Eve's (Eve is a woman who is believed to be the first of her gender to be created by the Christians' master, God) inability to resist an apple's allure led to humanity's fall from grace. Long before apples were cultivated, it is believed they grew wild in Central Asia and China, as well as in Southwest Asia, where biblical historians place the Garden of Eden (where the first humans were believed to be created)
- Pomology is the science of apple growing.
- In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage; catching it was acceptance.
- To keep potatoes fresh and prevent sprouting, put an apple in the bag.
- How can you tell when apples are ripe? Cut open an apple. Brown seeds (not pale), and white flesh indicate a ripe apple for most varieties.
Well, that's it for now. Tune in for the next episode of... Muggle Network: your number one guide to the non-magical world.
Muggle Network is now signing off.
- Code:
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http://www.chabad.org/kids/article_cdo/aid/114763/jewish/Apples.htm
http://www.applerecipes.us/
http://www.knouse.com/AllAboutApples/AppleTrivia.aspx
http://www.okanaganvacationguide.com/apple-the-fruit.html
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