Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Apples!



Last weekend, we went with some friends of ours from Singapore, the Bridgemans, to go apple picking. This was an outing I looked forward to every fall when I still lived in California, and missed terribly while I lived in Singapore. And, being the kinda tech-saavy girl that I am, I brought my camera with no batteries. So, I don't have pictures of the tiny little orchard we went to, or of how beautiful the blue, cloudless sky was, or of how wonderful the weather was. I can't take pictures of the temperature, anyway. But it was a lovely day and I was so happy.

We were warned that the orchard had suffered a hail storm (on May 15th!) so the apples were pocked, but still tasted good. We found that to be very true.

So with a huge quantity of apples (and a gigantic pumpkin, to boot), I started hunting for recipes. Apple butter is a bit too complicated, I think. So my first apple endeavor was applesauce.



I pulled all the winesap apples from the basket for this recipe; they are tart and perfect for cooking.

The flesh is almost hard, and very white. And the peels can be so dark, I almost thought they were plums when I went to pick them.


The recipe called for 3 or 4 pounds, and by hitting a conversion site online, I found that that was about 2 quarts, peeled and cored and quartered.




Here they are with the rest of the ingredients: a 3" piece of cinnamon stick, 4 peels of lemon rind, the juice of a lemon, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar, and a cup of water. The recipe allowed that not all of the white sugar need be added, but I had tasted these apples and knew they were tart and so I added the full amount. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes, and voila!


Apple mush! Now remove the cinnamon stick and the lemon peels which are hard to find but also hard where everything else is mushy.
Last year, when I went to clean out my mother's house, I inherited a food mill. I use it to make mashed potatoes now and then, and it is great! Now I used it to make applesauce, and it worked like a charm.




Have you ever had hot applesauce? I never had, but I have found a new love.


Home made applesauce is very similar to store bought, except perhaps it's a bit denser. I think Motts says they use gravenstein apples, but the winesaps make such a great flavor contrast: tart/sweet.
This was such an easy recipe, I hope you will try to make your own applesauce. I have so much, I may try to make an applesauce spice cake with some of it. We'll see. It was delicious with cottage cheese and walnuts for breakfast this morning, too.

7 comments:

Akiko said...

mmmmmmm.....
Ah..............
Yum, yum, yum............
Oh, I can smell the cinnamon and apple...
SO GOOD!!

Yes, that dark apple does look like a plum...
What did you do with all the peels?? Did you dry them??

I must go apple picking, too. Your favorite thing to do in Southern Cal. and here I am in S.C.

Melody Johnson said...

Oooo Applesauce with roast pork.
And latkes.
Coffeecake..I'm hungry!

Unknown said...

Since I live with and cook for a diabetic, I just cook the apples and add cinnamon to taste - YUM....I need to go apple pickin'!!!

Fabric Fanatic said...

I love chunky applesauce and found that freshly made warm applesauce over vanilla bean ice cream is absolutely sinful. yummmmmm

easy recipes said...

That look amazing. Can I use any type of apples?

Brooke said...

There are such a huge variety of apples out there to try. I would definitely look for tart ones, tho. And stay away from red delicious.

Anonymous said...

I have a food mill like this ( think it is just like yours, mine has small holes in the bottom). When I make applesauce, I just wash and quarter my apples and put them in a pot to cook. I do NOT peel or core them. When they are soft, I run them through the food mill and the junk is easily separated from the good stuff and then I just throw the junk in the compost bin. I use ONLY apples and a touch of water so they don't burn when I start cooking. Occasionally, I add a half cup of the red hot cinnamon candies that you get around Valentines Day. This makes it all turn a pretty pink color.

This method is VERY fast! Just thought I would share.