With Roast Chicken

for

Bramley Apple Week

It’s Bramley Apple week this week, from the 8th of February until Valentine’s Day on the 14th of February, we all have the extra opportunity of celebrating all things Bramley! I cook and bake with Bramley apples all year around, or to be more precise, when I can source them from my local greengrocers and farm shops, and they are an essential ingredient for all my pies, crumbles, cakes, bakes, stews, casseroles and even curries. My recipe for last year’s Bramley Apple Week for Apple Pie Muffins, has proved to be one of the most popular recipes on Lavender and Lovage, and so I hope it will prove to be with today’s special recipe for Savoury Sausage and Sage Baked Apples, served with Roast Chicken. It’s a simple savoury recipe for baked apples that are perfect when served with roast chicken or roast pork.

Plump Bramley Apples are stuffed with a home-made sausage and sage stuffing mixture, and are baked alongside roast chicken (or roast pork) as an imaginative accompaniment. They can also be served as a midweek family supper dish, with grilled pork chops or by themselves with gravy; we’ve enjoyed them that way for a light evening tea, with just a pot of onion gravy, and they were filling and very satisfying. You can prepare these stuffed apples up to 24 hours in advance, just pop them in the fridge in a covered container, this helps cut back on time when baking them for the Sunday lunch, or indeed for a midweek supper dish. Use the best quality pork sausages you can lay your hands on, and if sage isn’t your favourite herb, the stuffing mixture works just as well with thyme or rosemary, although do be careful when using rosemary, as it has quite a strong, pungent flavour.

I have shared BOTH recipes below, one for Savoury Sausage and Sage Roast Apples, my newly created recipe for Bramley Apple Week, and also a classic recipe for Perfect Roast Chicken too. There are instructions how to bake the stuffed apples alongside the roast chicken in the recipe steps, if you are planning to bake them as an accompaniment to a roast dinner. I’ve also shared some of my recipes on Lavender and Lovage that use Bramley apples, so you can choose what you would like to make during Bramley Apple Week! For more recipes using these historic English apples, why not check out the Bramley apple website here: Bramley Apple Recipes. Not only is it a week for apples this week, but it’s also Shrove Tuesday today and that means PANCAKES, so why not make a batch of these Bramley and Maple Syrup Pancakes, or check out some of my pancake recipes here: Lavender and Lovage Pancakes.  See you soon for more travel stories with new recipes and kitchen chat! Karen 

*Commissioned Post with Bramley Apples as part of my Bramley Apples Ambassador collaboration*

Savoury Sausage and Sage Roast Apples

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Serves	4
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	1 hour
Total time	1 hours, 15 minutes
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Occasion	Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Formal Party, Halloween, Thanksgiving
Region	British
By author	Karen Burns-Booth

Perk up your roast pork and roast chicken Sunday Lunch with these Savoury Sausage and Sage Roast Apples - they are easy to make & delicious with all roasts!

Ingredients

• 4 Bramley Apples
• 4 x high meat content pork sausages (skinned)
• tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
• 1 onion (peeled and very finely chopped)
• 1 slice stale wholemeal bread (crumbled into sine bread crumbs)
• salt and pepper to taste
• butter

Note

Perk up your roast pork and roast chicken Sunday Lunch with these Savoury Sausage and Sage Roast Apples - they are easy to make & delicious with all roasts, as well as making a tasty family supper dish when served with mashed potatoes and gravy. (Recommended recipe to cook with these apples: Perfect Roast Chicken or Honey Roast Chicken)

Directions

Step 1	Core the apples with an apple corer and make a hole big enough for the filling; then score around the middle of the apple with a sharp knife, to stop them bursting whilst cooking - although cooking apples may still burst.
Step 2	Mix the sausagemeat, sage, onion and breadcrumbs together to make a stuffing - season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step 3	Fill each hole with the sausage stuffing mixture, dot each apple with a little butter and then place the apples into an oven dish or a roasting tray, or alongside a roast chicken or roast pork joint.
Step 4	Add a little water to the dish to stop the juices burning and caramelising, and bake in a pre-heated oven 190C/375F/Gas 5 for 45 to 60 minutes - if adding to a roast chicken or roast pork dish, add them for the last 45 to 60 minutes of cooking. (Cooking time depends on the size of the apples)
Step 5	Baste the apples regularly with the juices in the dish and add a little water if they dry out, or baste with the meat juices. Once they are cooked, gently take them out of the pan using a slotted spoon, loosely cover them with foil and set aside for 5 minutes before serving.
Step 6	Serve them alongside roast chicken or roast pork - these savoury baked apples would also make a fabulous family supper dish when served with mashed potatoes and gravy. If there is any excess stuffing mixture left, then roll them into balls and bake for 30 minutes alongside the stuffed apples.
Step 7	NB: you can prepare them beforehand and keep them in the fridge in a covered dish until you need to bake them.

Perfect Roast Chicken

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Serves	4 to 6
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	2 hours
Total time	2 hours, 15 minutes
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish
Misc	Child Friendly, Serve Cold, Serve Hot
Occasion	Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Formal Party, Halloween, Thanksgiving
Region	British
By author	Karen Burns-Booth

This recipe for Perfect Roast Chicken is so simple - it's smeared with butter, salt and pepper, before roasting with herbs and fresh lemon, and is a truly sublime way of roasting a whole bird for Sunday lunch.

Ingredients

• 1 x 1.2 to 1.5kg organic Chicken
• 1 tablespoon Maldon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 3 to 4 garlic cloves
• 1 onion, peeled and quartered
• 3 to 4 sprigs of lemon thyme
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

Note

This recipe for Perfect Roast Chicken is so simple - it's smeared with butter, salt and pepper, before roasting with herbs and fresh lemon, and is a truly sublime way of roasting a whole bird for Sunday lunch. Serve with Savoury Sausage and Sage Roast Apples, Gluten Free Fruit, Sausage & Herb Stuffing or Christmas Sausage, Sage and Bacon Stuffing Loaf.

Directions

Step 1	Preheat oven to 220C/425F/Gas mark 7.
Step 2	Remove the giblets, then sprinkle the inside of the cavity with half the salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the lemon, garlic, onion, and thyme. (Set the giblets to one side to make gravy)
Step 3	In a small bowl, mix the butter and the rest of the salt and pepper together. Rub the bird all over with the butter mixture.
Step 4	Place the chicken in a roasting tin/pan and roast for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours or until golden and crispy and the juices run clear.
Step 5	Let the bird rest for about 15 minutes before you carve it.

Bramley Apple Recipes:

Bramley Apple and Pork Tenderloin in Cream Sauce

Apple Pie Muffins for Bramley Apple Week

Duvet Apples & Frosty Mornings! Festive Baked Apples with Mincemeat and Honey

Apple & Dorset Blue Vinny Scone Bread Recipe

Apple and Mint Jelly

I am adding this recipe to the Food Year Linkup over at Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen for Bramley Apple Week