Potatoes and apples make delicious one-pot side dishes.
Recipes for baked apple and potato dishes range from sweet to savory. Both appear whole, wedged, sliced or mashed in a number of dishes, accompanied by onions, raisins, currants and various cheeses. Served as a side dish, baked apples and potatoes accompany poultry, sausage, lamb or pork. Recipes usually specify a particular variety of apple or potato. Red-skin, Yukon Gold or fingerlings are top potato choices. Many baked apple and potato recipes use Cortland, Granny Smith or Jonathan apples.
Instructions
Savory Sides
1. Cut into wedges two fist-sized Yukon Gold potatoes and one small Bermuda or Vidalia onion per person. Toss potato and onion wedges in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add marjoram, parsley and oregano.
2. Brush the skin of a large roasting chicken, small turkey or boneless pork roast with olive oil and place in a roasting pan. Pour one pint of middle or top-shelf brandy, rum or sherry over the meat and close the lid.
3. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit until the internal temperature of the meat registers 165 degrees with a meat thermometer for poultry, or about 1 hour per five pounds, or 160 degrees for pork.
4. Peel and core two Granny Smith or Jonathan apples per person. Stuff cored apples with raisins and cinnamon berries if making pork, or cranberries and orange marmalade if making chicken or turkey.
5. Remove the meat from the oven 30 minutes before you expect it to be done. Place the potato and onion wedges around the meat at one end of the pan and the apples around the meat at the other end. Return to the oven for the remaining 30 minutes.
6. Place the poultry or roast on a serving platter and surround it with the potatoes at one end and apples at the other.
7. Mix 3 tbsp. cornstarch with 1/4-cup cold water until well-blended and pour it into the pan drippings from the meat. Stir constantly as you bring the drippings to a rolling boil. Allow to boil for five to seven minutes or until the mixture thickens to your taste.
Baked Apples and Sweet Potatoes
8. Scrub sweet potatoes with a soft-bristled brush under running water to remove any dirt. Cut each sweet potato into 1/4-inch thick slices.
9. Slice apples 1/4-inch thick. Alternate slices of sweet potato and apple in a 9- by 12-inch baking dish, no more than three layers deep.
10. Stir the arrowroot powder into cold coconut milk until well-blended. Stir the brown sugar, ground cinnamon and grated nutmeg into the coconut milk mixture and pour it over the sweet potato and apple slices.
11. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until sweet potato slices are fork-tender, about one hour. Remove from the oven and top with chopped pecans mixed with brown sugar. Serve with ham, kielbasa, bratwurst or Italian sausage.
Tags: sweet potato, apple potato, 4-inch thick, about hour, around meat