Little House on the Prairie: Fried Apples and Onions
Little House recipe #5 - Fried Apples ’n’ Onions
As mentioned in Little House book 2, Farmer Boy, fried apples ’n’ onions is Almanzo’s favorite food. I got creative with the presentation by arranging the apples prettily in the pan and then baking everything, but feel free to just chop the apples up and fry them up with the onions!
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“They talked about spareribs, and turkey with dressing, and baked beans, and crackling cornbread, and other good things. But Almazo said that what he liked most in the world was fried apples ’n’ onions. When at last, they went in to dinner, there on the table was a big dish of them! Mother knew what he liked best, and she had cooked it for him. Almanzo ate four large helpings of apples ’n’ onions, all fried together. He ate roast beef and brown gravy, and mashed potatoes and creamed carrots and boiled turnips, and countless slices of buttered bread with crab-apple jelly.” - Farmer Boy, Chapter 6, Filling the Ice-House
Ingredients:
5 Tbsp vegan butter + 2 Tbsp vegan butter, chopped into small pieces
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp spicy brown mustard
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced into half-moons
4 apples (roughly 1 lb…I used Pink Lady), cored and sliced thinly into circles (you may also peel the skin, but that is where a lot of the nutrients are, and the apples will be more mushy and shapeless without them. Your call.)
4 Tbsp dark brown sugar, divided by 2 Tbsp and 2 Tbsp
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
On the stove, in a large cast iron skillet (or any oven-safe skillet), melt 5 Tbsp of butter over medium high heat.
Stir in soy sauce, liquid smoke, mustard, and cloves and cook for about a minute.
Add onions and 2 Tbsp brown sugar. Cook over medium high heat until onions are translucent and starting to brown/caramelize (about 10 minutes).
Carefully arrange apple circles over the onion spice mixture and sprinkle evenly with remaining 2 Tbsp brown sugar and small chopped pieces of the remaining 2 Tbsp vegan butter.
Cover the skillet (if you don’t have a lid, use a cookie sheet) and carefully transfer skillet from stove into the preheated oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes until apples are soft
Remove lid and bake for 10 more min until apples are golden brown.
Enjoy!
