This Food Blog was written by guest blogger, Jennifer Graue from Opinioneater.
Check out her Food Blog at opinioneater.wordpress.com

We’ve all heard the sayings “You can’t judge a book by its cover” and “It’s what’s on the inside that counts,” and most of us probably do a fairly good job at keeping that wisdom in mind when dealing with people.  So why are we so judgmental about fruit and vegetables?

Grocery stores and markets typically have only perfect specimens on display in the produce aisle because consumers don’t want to see ugly fruit.  But there’s plenty of blemished, bruised and deformed fruit and vegetables out there that, with the right preparation and recipes, taste just as good as the almost-too-perfect “pageant produce.”

These “seconds”, as they’re often called, aren’t always easy to find, but asking for them at a farmer’s market or a farm stand can save a lot of perfectly edible food from winding up on a compost heap and it can save you money if you’re willing to put in a little effort.

I’m fortunate enough to live around the corner from what locals call “The Apple Man.”  Every year between April and July he sells apples and pears out of his garage and I always buy at least a couple of seven kilo bags of apples from him each year, with the intention of eating most of them out of hand.  By the time I’ve worked my way, eating an apple a day, to the bottom of the bag, the last dozen apples have seen better days and I wind up turning those apples into applesauce.

This year, rather than making my applesauce out of first-rate apples, I asked The Apple Man for a bag of seconds.  I came home with a bag of apples and pears for just $2.50—a deep discount from the normal $10 price tag.

My first task with my ugly fruit was to make the applesauce.  I love having applesauce on hand.  It goes really well with a pork roast and I like to use it in baked goods as a substitute for some of the butter or oil which makes muffins and cakes healthier and keeps them incredibly moist.

I peeled, cored and quartered the apples and cut out the rotten spots (if you have a food mill, which I don’t, you can just cut out the bad spots and quarter the apples and cook them as is—skins, seeds and all).  I put the apples in a large stockpot with about 2cm of water in the bottom and brought them to a boil, then turned the heat down and let them cook slowly for about half an hour or so until they were mushy, stirring occasionally to make sure the apples didn’t burn and to break them up with the back of my spoon.  You can add sugar, but I usually don’t find it necessary.  If using a food mill, wait until the applesauce cools then pass it through the mill to get rid of the seeds and excess skin.  The applesauce will keep in the refrigerator for several days, or you can freeze it in small containers.

I wound up with two litres of applesauce and still had apples left which I used to make two apple walnut cakes and an apple slice.  With the eight pears that were in the bag, I used two of them in a pear clafouti and the rest went into pear chutney.  Not bad for just $2.50!

At a time when many of us are concerned about the rising cost of food, it’s worth remembering those sayings about appearances.  With a little effort, you can turn produce that’s inexpensive because it’s unattractive into food that’s lovely to behold and even better to eat.

Benjamin Christie's Australian Food, BBQ Recipes and Australian Recipes feature bush tucker ingredients like lemon myrtle and wattleseed. Check out recipes like shrimp on the barbie, anzac biscuits, lamingtons and banana bread. 

Food Service professionals will be interested in his chef blog as well as articles on menu planning, food photography, cooking kangaroo, menu engineering and food costing.

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