Preheat the oven to 375°. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in the chives. Remove from the heat. Slice the apples, keeping each apple’s slices together in a separate stack. Using a small spoon or pastry brush, lightly coat each of the apple slices with the butter-oil-chive mixture and stack the slices to recreate the apple’s shape. Insert two toothpicks about 1½  inches apart into the top of each sliced apple stack to hold the slices together. Place the apples on a rimmed baking sheet or in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes.

While the apples are baking, cook the bacon strips until crispy. Drain on a paper towel, let cool, then crumble and set aside. Whisk together the mustard, olive oil and vinegar in a medium-sized salad bowl. Place salad utensils over the vinaigrette. Place the sprouts on top of the utensils. When you are ready to serve the salad, toss the sprouts in the vinaigrette. Mound equal portions in the center of each plate so that they resemble a bird’s nest. Place one cooked apple in the center of each “nest.” Remove the toothpicks. Sprinkle each apple with some of the crumbled bacon. Dot each plate with a few cilantro leaves. Serve while the apples are warm.

Recipe and photo from Les FRUITS: Savory and Sweet Recipes from the Market Table by Pascale Beale, 2014.