Recipe: Baked apples with rice and chicken-sausage stuffing

Rice-stuffed baked apples are among apple recipes at usapple.org. Baked apple recipes offer numerous options ranging from dessesrt types to those stuffed with bread or rice, sautéd vegetables, dried fruit and nuts to meatier choices such as ham and cheese or bread with savory sausage.

The approach is similar for most recipes: Core the apples, stuff them, and then bake in a shallow bath of apple juice or cider. That means there's lots of room for creativity, or to just try filling apple cups with stuffing made from a favorite family recipe.

My recipe was inspired by two recipes: Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage Fruit and Rice Salad from the chicken sausage maker Al Fresco, and the rice-stuffed apple recipe from the U.S. Apple Association. I wanted the sausage diced instead of sliced in the rice salad, and fell for the lovely presentation of the apple association's baked version. The sweet apple chicken sausage was a flavorful, savory complement to the sweet apples and raisins. As a salad, this mixture would certainly be enhanced by the crunch of slivered almonds used in the Al Fresco recipe.

Making the stuffing also provided an opportunity to experiment with a new-to-me rice. I cook brown rice almost exclusively, but its flavor would have been overpowering in this recipe. So, for testing I used Thai Hom Mali rice, a somewhat sticky, fragrant jasmine rice from Thailand. It seems to also have a shorter cooking time than regular long-grain white rice, taking only 10 minutes to reach the tender but not soft state the recipe requires.

My testing resulted in apple-infused stuffing in Cameo and Empire apple cups. I also tried McIntosh apples, but they were likely too small for the 40-minute cooking time advised in the apple association recipe. The skin slid down revealing a column of naked white flesh (imagine being mooned by an apple...). It was mushy, but edible and not at all attractive.

Words of caution: To avoid having the apples drop their skin or split, avoid overcooking and choose baking apples such as Braeburn, Cameo, Empire, Honey Crisp, Jonathan or Rome which are more likely to retain their shape. Also, check the apples after about 20 minutes, increasing cooking time in 10-minute increments as needed. Baking time can vary by variety, and smaller apples will require less baking time.

Some recipes suggest peeling away some from the top of each apple. That's not as pretty, so I didn't do it. However, it did help to make four, half-inch deep cuts around the center of each apple to allow it to release steam (this seems to prevent collapsing and splitting). The medium-sized Cameo apples with vertical slits were the only ones that held up beautifully after 30 minutes of baking. These also were the only ones in the testing that retained a good dose of apple flavor. In other cases, that flavor was probably in the tasty pan juices that spilled out with the splitting and shedding of skin.

A final tip: Try cutting the apples in half from top to bottom. While halves lack the eye appeal of the whole stuffed apple, they are easier to core and less likely to drop their skin or lose color without piercing.

Fall apple recipe

Baked apples with rice and chicken-sausage stuffing
8 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3/4 cup uncooked Thai jasmine rice

1-1/2 cup water

8 medium baking apples, such as Cameo and Empire

12-ounce package of a fully cooked chicken-apple sausage, diced (Al Fresco brand used for testing)

3/4 cup raisins

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup apple cider

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring periodically. Stir in the rice, coating grains with oil. Add water, stir and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the rice is tender but not soft. 

2. Meanwhile, slice the top off each apple, reserving tops. Using a paring knife and a sturdy spoon, core the apples. Remove all seeds but leave the bottoms intact. Carefully scoop out the apple centers, setting aside the flesh, to create apple cups about 3/4 inch thick. Dice the reserved apple flesh and tops, discarding stems, seeds and cores.

3. When rice is ready, stir in the chopped apples, sausage and raisins. Make four small vertical cuts around the equator of each apple to release steam. Pack the rice stuffing tightly into each apple, mounding the tops and place in an oblong glass baking dish.

4. Cut the butter into 8 pieces and place one pat atop each stuffed apple. Pour cider into the bottom of the baking dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes or until apples are tender but not mushy. Spoon pan juices over apples and serve.

For a vegetarian option: Use the original usapple.org recipe or substitute a cup of slivered almonds for the diced sausage.

-- Kimberly L. Jackson