Fall’s apple abundance is a great blessing to the cook. We match varieties to recipes that highlight their unique character. As the weather gets cold and the crispness of apples signals the sweet, fleeting passage of fall, it’s time to get cooking. You may find eight varieties of apples for sale in a good grocery store these days, and a dozen or more in a big farmers’ market. There are more than 2,500 kinds of apples grown with rare, old heirloom varieties on a welcome rebound. All this means you have a bumper crop of fruit to cook with—and apples are a great cooking fruit.