Pseudo Apple Grande (Apple Mediana?)

When I was growing up in the '70s and '80s in small town South Dakota, the closest real fast food restaurants were about 35 miles away. There was a Dairy Queen that was a little closer, but that didn't really count. McDonald's and Taco John's were both in the same town that had the closest movie theater and mall.

Taco John's was what we had before Taco Bell moved in a few years later. And, when I was in college my freshman year one of my sisters was a senior at the same college, and we would occasionally go for Taco John's. Nothing made the meal better than ending it with an Apple Grande. 

What's an Apple Grande? It's... well... it's kind of a dessert tostada. It's basically a fried, flat flour tortilla with apple pie filling, cheese, and crushed red hots on it. It's... well... it's this: 

I found that photo on Twitter where someone posted it in 2014. I think the fact that it's shown in its native habitat - its box - is important. (Although in my experience the lid was typically stuck to the cheese.)

There's only one or two Taco John's restaurants in the Twin Cities, so I don't get there very often - and I typically don't mind that. I was working with some tortillas, though, and was frying some up to cover with cinnamon and sugar as a quick and easy dessert to go with tacos. And - for no good reason - I started thinking about Apple Grandes. 

Well, let's just let me explain what was going on: 

So, here's what we're looking at for ingredients: 

Remind me to turn on my flash, next time.

I know I've said in the past that I don't really like making up recipes as I go along, but... well... that's pretty much what I did, here. But first I dug around online and figured out what goes into an apple compote - which, really, is kind of like the inside of an apple pie without the crust. 

Obviously, you need peeled and diced apples. 

I was really happy with this tart-sweet combo of Granny Smith and Golden Delicious.

 About 3 tablespoons of butter, which you put into a pan to melt.

And about a third of a cup of brown sugar, which you stir into the melting butter.

Once that's all good and melty and syrupy, it's time to put in the apples...

No, they're not perfectly peeled. I'm not a perfectly peeled perfectionist-type person.

Stir in some cinnamon - maybe about a half teaspoon...

And wait...

There is magic happening under that lid. I'm sure of it. 

Now, there's really no telling how long you'll need to wait, because you're trying to get the apples to soften without becoming mush. The timing is going to change depending on the type of apples you've got, because they all have slightly different amounts of crunch to begin with.

Eventually, though, they'll go from this: 

To this:

Yes, they smelled as good as that looks.

Of course, you can't make an Apple Grande without the fried tortilla. I mentioned above that this ought to have a flour tortilla. A really thin corn tortilla would also work well. My tortillas were slightly thick corn tortillas. But... you do what you can when you're working on a craving, right? 

I used about a quarter inch of canola oil in the bottom of a wide pan for this. And, frankly, the hardest part is not burning yourself getting them in and out of the pan.

Important: Always put what you're frying into the pan so that any splash goes away from you. In this case, I started with the tortilla fairly close to me in the pan, and moved the "top" away from me as I lowered it in. 

You know the oil is hot enough when it bubbles as you put the tortilla (or anything else, really) in. If it's not bubbling, there's a good chance that you're just kind of boiling the tortilla in the oil - which gives you a greasy finished product.

You're looking for this to turn golden, and you'll need to flip it about halfway through.

Use tongs. Not your fingers. Duh.

Once they're out of the oil, you're going to want to put them on a rack in case they need to drip at all. Then sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.

Remember: I was making these cinnamon-sugar tortillas for a dessert, these did not all become Apple Grandes. 

By the time you've fried up some tortillas, your compote should be cool enough to work with. (Prior to this, it was near-boiling sugar syrup with apples in it. NOT something you want to bite into!)

This means that you - and your very patient dog who has been waiting patiently for you to drop something - are ready to assemble and eat your homemade Apple Grande!

Sadly, I did not drop anything. Though she stayed exactly as close to under foot as possible, just in case.

This is one of those times when I feel I should remind you (and myself) that it's not all about looks. It's about taste. 

So, how does it taste?

(I apologize, in advance, for calling my fried tortilla a tostada about 82 times in this video.)

I did plate one after that video, though, just so you could see the finished product:

Yeah. I know. This still doesn't look all that exciting. But at least it has cheese!

Yeah. The apples were great. But next time I really need flour tortillas. Oh well. I'll just have to stop at a Taco John's for the real thing the next time I head down to see my folks!

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What's one of your summer treats? Is there something you'd love to see me try to put together - or make a homemade version of? Let me know and I'll see what I can do!