This Week's Nosh: Baked Apples with Nuts & Honey-Cinnamon Drizzle

We have a lot of customs around Rosh Hashanah foods. We eat a round challah, which reminds of us of the circle of life. Many of us eat pomegranates, which supposedly burst with the same number of seeds as there are mitzvot: 613. Some people eat a fish head, so that in the coming year we should “be the head and not the tail” — that is, we should progress and lead, not lag behind and follow. And on Rosh Hashanah, Jews all over the world eat apples dipped in honey, symbolizing our hopes for a sweet new year.

This wonderful, fragrant and easy-to-make recipe from Siberia, brought to us via the American Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC) trove of global recipes, is courtesy of 73-year old Inna Vanetik, who volunteers at her local Jewish Krasnoyarsk Hesed (community center). B’te-avon (bon appétit)!

Ingredients:

• 5 – 6 apples
• 2 cups of pine nuts (or crushed walnuts)
• 4 teaspoons of sugar
• 5 teaspoons of sweet liqueur
• 2 cups of butter
• 1 ¼ cups of honey
• ½ cup of red wine
• cinnamon

Preparation:

• Heat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Remove the core of each apple, leaving the apples whole. Place apples on a well-buttered cookie sheet.
• In a small bowl, mix nuts with sugar and liqueur. Spoon this mixture inside each apple.
• Sprinkle cinnamon over each apple, then place a pad of butter on each one.
• In a small bowl, mix honey with red wine. Pour mixture over the stuffed apples.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes.
• Serve warm, with ice cream if you like.