 in great-grandmother's cut crystal |  glass bowl for refrigerator |  close-up |
 |  jar of Fruit Fresh |  pulse the apples |  I pulsed Cuties |
 Put it all in a bowl |  Fold together with rubber scraper |  much prettier than the "oatmeal" texture "back in the day" |
This is definitely not the way that my grandmother in New York would make charoset for Passover! It's supposed to symbolize the mortar for the bricks the Israelites used when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt. The traditional texture resembles oatmeal (mush) and sweet Manischewitz wine is the traditional wine to use. Well, it's not the prettiest dish on the Passover table, and as kids we'd pass that dish right along to the next person (no, thank you). Now, I choose to make it chunky (like a chunky salsa ~ or chopped fruit salad) and use whatever red wine I have around to cook with (a Cabernet, in this case). And, I make mine using a food processor, instead of mincing everything up by hand!
As long as I'm "out of the box" already with my version, may I suggest making the chunky version in the Fall using Captain Spiced Rum. How good would that be!! (and if your family doesn't like cranberry relish for Thanksgiving, make this instead)
With the addition of lemon or orange juice ~ or a couple of Cuties or Haloes ~ and I put in a couple of teaspoons of Fruit Fresh too ~ this will keep for several days in a covered glass bowl in the refrigerator. Strangely enough, the red wine doesn't seem to discolor the apples!
PASSOVER CHAROSET
3-4 medium apples ~or~ 2 gigantic apples {like mine were} (Pink Lady, Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, whatever is on sale or a combination ~ cored and diced)
Note: I like to leave the peels on, but you can peel them if you want
1 TB lemon or orange juice ………………. 2 tsp. lemon or orange zest
Note: If I have 1-2 small “Cuties” or “Haloes”, I’ll just cut them in half and throw the halves into the food processor & pulse to bits~ add that instead of juice & zest
3/4 cup nuts, chopped (walnuts are traditional, but pecans are fine too)
1-2 tsp. cinnamon ground…………………..1-2 tsp. brown sugar (I like dark)
1 TB honey…………………………………….1/3 cup red wine (whatever you have)
1/2 tsp. salt
RECOMMENDED: 2-3 tsp. FRUIT FRESH (usually by Knox gelatin @ grocery store)
OPTIONAL: about 1/4 cup raisins (I like golden) or dried cranberries
***
Pulse apples in the food processor (or by hand) until they’re about 1/4” in size ~ put them into a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle the lemon or orange juice and zest over the apples and gently fold all together with a rubber scraper. (or fold the pulsed Cuties in with the apples ~ and I add the Fruit Fresh here too)
Sprinkle the cinnamon, salt and brown sugar on top of the apples ~ drizzle the honey over the apples ~ fold it all together with a rubber scraper until the apples are evenly coated.
Chop nuts to your desired size. (I use my food processor on pulse but you can chop by hand.) and add them on top of the apples. Fold them in with the rubber scraper. If you’re adding raisins or cranberries, fold them in now too.
Next, fold in the wine so that everything is evenly distributed. I keep this in a covered glass bowl in the refrigerator.
As long as I'm "out of the box" already with my version, may I suggest making the chunky version in the Fall using Captain Spiced Rum. How good would that be!! (and if your family doesn't like cranberry relish for Thanksgiving, make this instead)
With the addition of lemon or orange juice ~ or a couple of Cuties or Haloes ~ and I put in a couple of teaspoons of Fruit Fresh too ~ this will keep for several days in a covered glass bowl in the refrigerator. Strangely enough, the red wine doesn't seem to discolor the apples!
PASSOVER CHAROSET
3-4 medium apples ~or~ 2 gigantic apples {like mine were} (Pink Lady, Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, whatever is on sale or a combination ~ cored and diced)
Note: I like to leave the peels on, but you can peel them if you want
1 TB lemon or orange juice ………………. 2 tsp. lemon or orange zest
Note: If I have 1-2 small “Cuties” or “Haloes”, I’ll just cut them in half and throw the halves into the food processor & pulse to bits~ add that instead of juice & zest
3/4 cup nuts, chopped (walnuts are traditional, but pecans are fine too)
1-2 tsp. cinnamon ground…………………..1-2 tsp. brown sugar (I like dark)
1 TB honey…………………………………….1/3 cup red wine (whatever you have)
1/2 tsp. salt
RECOMMENDED: 2-3 tsp. FRUIT FRESH (usually by Knox gelatin @ grocery store)
OPTIONAL: about 1/4 cup raisins (I like golden) or dried cranberries
***
Pulse apples in the food processor (or by hand) until they’re about 1/4” in size ~ put them into a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle the lemon or orange juice and zest over the apples and gently fold all together with a rubber scraper. (or fold the pulsed Cuties in with the apples ~ and I add the Fruit Fresh here too)
Sprinkle the cinnamon, salt and brown sugar on top of the apples ~ drizzle the honey over the apples ~ fold it all together with a rubber scraper until the apples are evenly coated.
Chop nuts to your desired size. (I use my food processor on pulse but you can chop by hand.) and add them on top of the apples. Fold them in with the rubber scraper. If you’re adding raisins or cranberries, fold them in now too.
Next, fold in the wine so that everything is evenly distributed. I keep this in a covered glass bowl in the refrigerator.
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