An apple a day.

There is a well known saying 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away',which would appear to be true. Apples contain high levels of pectin, a particularly useful type of fibre.Pectin is believed by doctors to help lower cholesterol levels.So the best thing to do is eat more apples, at least one a day. Why not have one sliced on top of breakfast cereal in the morning and another for dessert later in the day. Try this great tasting and very simple recipe for baked apple.

Take one large cooking apple, bramleys are wonderful but any large apple will do. You can use a good sized eating apple, but I find them a little too sweet for this recipe but that is down to personal taste.Wash the apple and remove the stalk and core, you can get a special tool for this but a small sharp knife also does the job quite well. Now cut a shallow groove all around the widest part of the apple to allow for expansion during cooking. If you don't do this the skin will burst and make a mess, it still tastes great but doesn't look good. Pour a little lemon juice into the hollow core to prevent the apple turning brown.Place the apple in a shallow ovenproof dish and then stuff the empty core with fruit such as blackberries, blueberries, raspberries or with a little sweet mincemeat. Bake in a medium oven for around thirty minutes or four minutes in a microwave. Serve hot with custard, cream or ice cream. If you want to be extra healthy serve this dish with a nice sorbet.