Charoset (Ashkenazi style)

2 medium apples (Choose firm apples. Sweet or tart is your call. Mix varieties for the best flavor. I used a combo of Pink Lady and Gala.)
1 cup walnuts
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup sweet kosher wine (like Manischewitz)
dash of salt
1 tablespoon honey (optional)

Finely chop the walnuts. Peel and finely chop the apples (avoid using a food processor.) Mix all ingredients together and adjust to taste. Add the honey if you prefer a sweeter flavor, or if your apples are tart. The consistency should be chunky, a bit sticky, and not runny.
Cover and refrigerate for an hour. Serve at room temperature. Leftovers keep reasonably well for a day or two, but no longer.

Serving Suggestions: Charoset is one of the 6 symbolic foods on the seder plate at Passover, representing mortar. Eat it plain or pair it with matzah and horseradish.

I'm fond of organic, whole wheat matzah. (Hey, do you think those ancient Jews were adding pesticides and bleaching THEIR flour?) My local natural foods store carried a version by Yeruda. Also check out this Chicago-based bakery... they seem pretty awesome and I'll be sure to get my hands on their stuff next year. They also have a cool page showing the whole process of making their matzah, complete with photos of rabbis harvesting wheat.

Next year in...
I wanted to make the familiar version this time, but I'm excited to try traditional charoset recipes from around the world. Thanks to the Jewish diaspora, there's versions with apricots, dates, coconut, cranberries, pistachios, chestnuts, pine nuts, pecans, and blended and cooked kinds too. Mmm... mortar never tasted so good...
From The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden
From Cooking Light
From The Jewish Holiday Kitchen by Joan Nathan
From epicurious.com

Update 4/18/08: Boo, the chicago organic matzah website seems to have disappeared. I hope they haven't stopped making them.