German-style sautéed apples

Ingredients

• approximately 800g of apples, enough for two people
• vegetable oil, clarified butter, margarine, or lard
• a pinch of salt
• ground pepper
• smoked bacon (smoked pork belly)
• 1 onion
• Your choice of herbs (marjoram, oregano, parsley, mild paprika, or chives)
• Caraway seeds (from the field), optional
• 2 eggs, optional

Peel the raw apples, then cut them into roughly 2 cm cubes or thick slices of less than 0.5 cm. Rinse them.

Heat some fat in a frying pan. Arrange the slices side-by-side, without overlapping, so that they cook evenly; if necessary, cook them in batches.

If desired, add caraway seeds, then fry the apples for about 10 minutes, turning them occasionally.

Cover the frying pan so that the apples cook for about 10 minutes, then uncover it to continue browning.

Use a knife to gently pierce the apples to check for doneness.

If the ground apples absorb a lot of fat, add a little more.

When they are almost cooked, add the onion and make sure it doesn’t brown.

When the root vegetables are golden brown on all sides, season with salt and pepper. Add smoked bacon and fresh herbs if desired.

To make it a main course, whisk the eggs in a bowl, then pour them into the still-hot frying pan and mix with the cooked apples.