Apples!
I so love apple butter. There was a place just outside of Astoria, Oregon that had the most divine apple butter road side stand, when I was a kid we’d always stop by, leaving our money in a jar (it was honor system) and go home happy. I haven’t been up that way in years, I imagine that the stand is long gone and the orchard behind it has changed hands at least a few times.
But the taste remains. Small red pie apples, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.
I make my own apple butter now, usually from the green Granny smith variety of apples, a little honey, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s not complicated, and doesn’t take that much patience and is definitely worth the effort.
First, find a good deal on apples. If you aren’t familiar with the apples you’re buying don’t worry, you can always tweak the recipe with some sugar or lemon to come up with the flavor you most prefer. If you want to have some fun, mix different apples together for a unique treat.
I almost always start with a big bowl of ice water and a few table spoons of salt, peel and core the apples (ideally at least 1 pound.) Once that’s done you can start cooking down. In a large sauce pan simmer a quart of water (more or less doesn’t really mater), start putting apples in, and turn down the heat a little (just enough to prevent the sugars in the apples from caramelizing, as the apples turn to pulp and the water evaporates keep adding apples. Cook down as much as humanly possible without going insane (for me this is about an hour) have a book or crossword puzzle to entertain you. Take an ordinary table spoon and use your mixing spoon to drizzle a little sauce on it, taste. If it’s too bitter add sugar, brown sugar, honey or corn syrup; if it’s too sweet add some lemon juice or citric acid powder.
When the apple butter reaches the desired consistency season to taste with cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Freeze or can according to preference.
Now, some people make apple butter so that it’s barely any thicker than apple sauce, I’m not going to say that’s at all wrong, because it is a matter of taste. However, thicker apple butter doesn’t make toast at all soggy, so the consistency I go for is rather thick. Thicker apple butter takes more time, so if you must leave the kitchen, just pour what you have into a crockpot and set it to low or medium. It should be fine while you’re away.
If you want to make your apple butter just a little less humble for gift giving, make a batch of caramel and alternate layers of caramel and apple butter. It’s extremely rich, and when heated makes a fantastic topping for baked cheese cake or ice cream.
Filed under DIY, canning, food, recipes | Comment (0)Under pressure– cooking
Pressure cookers are usually thought of one of those things that grandma used, dangerous and intimidating as it seemed, to store her preserves and can her winter veggies. Not quite an appliance on it’s own, not just another pot or pan, the pressure cooker is a must have device for any savvy and frugal cook.
Pressure not only injects fluid into the food and speeds up cooking time considerably, it also softens hard materials like seeds, bones, cobs, and kernels.
Not only will you have the assurance that you can store food for months, you’ll know exactly what went into that food. Things you may not have considered for canning: soup, stew, chowder, bone meal, sauces, gravy, sliced citrus fruit, salted meat, potatoes, carrots and homemade pet food are all good candidates.
And you’ll be able to prepare things like hummus, hominy, bone meal, berry syrup, and berry preserves on the fly (without hours upon hours of cooking and waiting) to store for a later date or to serve up the same day. You can also speed the preparation of foods for storage by giving them a run in a pressure cooker.
A few tips to get you started:
- Always read the manual before using your pressure cooker and follow the instructions for your model.
- Buy the smallest pressure cooker size that will accommodate your needs, filled with water and food they can be quite heavy.
- Do not try to recycle self sealing jar lids
- Keep extra jars, rings and seals on hand
- Look for sales on the produce your family prefers
- Pressure cook bones, cobs, shells, husks, pits and kernals before throwing them in the mulch pile (they will break down much faster)
- Pressure cook bones and corncobs for your pets to chew on (their teeth will thank you)
- Core and pressure cook apples and pears in a spiced or maple syrup for a sweet treat