Roasted Crabapples

I wrote recently about using apples picked from my apple tree, in order to share the apples with the sneaky raccoons so they don’t steal them all. Now, it’s not that I don’t like being resourceful, it’s just that unfortunately these apples aren’t the greatest tasting apples. They’re somewhat dry and bland, and for that reason alone, I’ve donated them to the raccoons in previous years.

Now crabapples were something I was not familiar with at all until we moved to this property about 11 years ago. We have one crabapple tree, which is right next to the apple tree.

I know people make a lot of crabapple jelly, and when I was pondering what to do with a bunch of apples and crabapples that I’d picked off of the two trees, I really wanted to do something different from jelly.

So all I came up with was apple chutney, and apple-peach butter. Not that creative, but they were both great.

What I needed to do was actually taste the crabapples, because I never have before. Or perhaps if I did, I put it out of my memory.

Yuck. What sour little things. And not only that, but they have seeds.

The day I was forcing myself to figure something to do with these crabapples was also a day I was wishing for fall to come faster. I had a poussin to roast, along with some sweet potatoes. Bingo.

Into a large bowl, I placed cut up sweet potatoes, a few of those green apples, chopped, and some whole crabapples.

I tossed them all in some olive oil with some salt, pepper, and dried thyme.

Then I simply placed everything around the seasoned poussin and roasted away.

I had also steamed some Brussels sprouts (did I mention how much I love fall?) and put those on a plate with chicken and the roasted vegetable and fruit mix.

The verdict? Roasted crabapples are delicious. And, of course, they pair really well with sweet potatoes. Plus, you can’t really feel the seeds when the crabapples are roasted, which to me, is a plus.

It was 103 degrees outside but I didn’t care. This meal was fabulous. I’m going out to pick more crabapples!!!