farmers' market: last outdoor market
Last outdoor market of the season is always a little depressing, not least because many vendors don't show up: it's cold by now, so it's uncomfortable to be out for hours and there are fewer buyers
( Read more... )
Sauce a lot of apples. (Sticking them in the microwave to cook them and then running them through a food mill works well. You can also use a blender or food processor to adjust the texture, and even leave the skins in if that floats your boat. If you want make something really unusual, you can also chop some raw apples finely and add them in just before canning to add a surprise burst of apple flavor and textural interest to the final product.)
Stir together:
17 cups apple sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar (this may be omitted if you don't happen to have any)
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice
(Note: you can adjust the spices and sweetening to your heart's content. I've tried ginger, citrus zest, honey, fructose, and various ratios of the four spices above. The bottom line is that apple butter is really, really good, and it's nearly impossible to make it unpalatable.)
Bring mixture to a boil either in the oven or on the stove, and then plop into a deep nonaluminum pan. I've always used a flat rectangular pan to maximize surface area, but my grandma uses a giant stock pot, and that works too. Put the mixture into an oven preheated to 300 and stir occasionally for the next five or six hours. When it has reduced and anyone walking into your house falls to the floor in fits of olfactory ecstasy, you are ready to can.
I'm assuming that you're familiar with how to can. If not, let me know, and I'll expand this part of the instructions. Fill your prepared, sterilized jars to 1/4 inch of the top and add lids according to manufacturers instructions. Process for 10 minutes in boiling water, and hey presto! It's apple butter!
Alternatively, if you don't want to can, you can make a smaller batch and after baking, simply keep the apple butter refrigerated.
If you wish to be devious, I suggest inviting a few friends over and giving them a jar in exchange for having them clean up the mess. This is also a good trick for reducing a large recipe into something that you can fit in the fridge. Have fun!
You are going to post about your adventures in pie, right?
Reply
You are a cook after my own heart. I learned how to cook properly in a 120 person dining co-op, so cooking for one (or even two... or six...) continues to feel odd. To this day I peer into a pot of soup that will easily serve a hungry basketball team and say "I think I need to add another couple of potatoes."
I do know how to can, but my kitchen's small enough that I haven't yet accumulated all the necessary equipment. So I'm filing this giant version away, and will plan on doing 1/4 the quantity for the time being.
As for the pie -- I've just returned from a successful pie plate acquisition expedition, so it's off to have some lunch and then tackle the project. I plan to post all the gory details later today or tomorrow.
Reply
Leave a comment