Apple recipes, for Virag
Long. Food porn, canning style.
I have a copy of The Blue Book (well, actually, I have two, one is probably as old as I am, the other is probably early 1980's which is when I had my first garden as an adult). In case you don't know, The Blue Book was put out by Ball canning jar company.
Another good source is the USDA canning web site. Good general info.
http://foodsafety.psu.edu/canningguide.html
Most recipes for apple sauce and apple butter do not want you to peel them. Cooking the apples with skins and cores gives you more flavor and nutrients, a nice pink color and more pulp overall. But, you need a food mill. You can, theoretically, push it through a sieve, but that is very labor intensive and even for small amounts I would not recommend that. Or you could buy a small food mill at a good kitchen store. You have to clean it every two minutes cause it gets clogged. Very annoying. Not good. This is also for small amounts. Main advantage - it's better than pushing it through a sieve only about 15 bucks. Here's a picture of a hand cranked food mill:
http://jschumacher.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/28/applesauce3.jpg
Here is a picture of the Squeezo Strainer:
http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/squeezo.jpg
This is what I used and it took me about an hour and a half to do a whole bushel of apples. That's a lot of cranking. And, it's rather expensive; I happened to get it for free, but still. It's main advantage is that it will do about 10 lbs of apples in one fill of the hopper. Much faster than the above hand cranked food mill.
If you have a kitchen aid mixer, you can buy an attachment for it to do this and that is the bomb. That's what I will use next time!
http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-FVSP-Vegetable-Strainer-Grinder/dp/B00004SGFK
Peeling is for pies or for canning slices. You can what amounts to pie filling by peeling, coring and slicing the apples, putting them uncooked into hot syrup and then processing them. Then when you want a pie, make the crust, open a quart jar and dump it into the crust and voila. pie. But I am getting ahead of myself. See other recipes at the bottom of this.
Here is a recipe for apple butter, for a small amount, from the blue book.
2 dozen medium apples, quartered (about 6 lbs)
2 quarts of sweet cider
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspooon ground cloves.
Cook apples in cider until tender. Press through a sieve or food mill. Measure about 3 quarts of apple pulp. Cook pulp intil thick enough to round up in a spoon. As pulp thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Add sugar and spices and correct to taste. Cook slowly, stirring frequently, until thick, about 1 hour. Pour, hot, into hot Ball jars, leaving about 1/4 inch head space. Adjust caps. Process pints and quarts 10 minutes in boiling water bath at simmering temperature (180-185F). When cool, test for seal. remove bands and store. Yield: about 5 pints.
But that's not what I did. It should be obvious to the fairly observant student that you have to stand around for more than an hour stirring this damn stuff or it will stick to the bottom of the pot. If you have kids in the house while you are doing this, you can just go ahead and burn the bottom of the pan now and get it over with.
Here is a description of what I did.
Wash a bushel (about 40 lbs) of winesap (or other tart) apples in warm water, remove trash and leaves and scrub lightly with a cloth to remove any possible pesticides. Drain on towels. Quarter the apples but do not peel or core them.
Put the apples in a large pot with a heavy bottom and put in enough water for the apples to be about 1/3 covered. Over medium heat, with the lid on, bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 10 minutes and then stir. Continue to stir and boil now and then until the whole pot of apples are falling apart and evenly tender but still chunky. Remove from heat.
Set up your food mill. Process the cooked apples into applesauce. Return the applesauce to the big pot. For just applesauce, season them with sugar, cinnamon and allspice. For a bushel, I used about 3 cups of white sugar and 3 cups of brown sugar, 3 T of cinnamon, 2 t of allspice. But it really depends upon the sweetness of the apples, so add the sugar in slowly and taste. Besides, that's more fun. Adjust the thickness by adding cider or water to thin it down if needed. Or simmer it longer if it is to watery. Bring it back to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
Get your jars ready. A bushel of apples will make about 16-20 quarts of applesauce. Get the bottles and lids warm and leave in warm water until you are ready to use them. Pack the boiling hot applesauce into hot jars, put the lids on and adjust, then process in boiling water bath for 20 minutes. When cool, test for seal, remove the bands to store.
If you want to make apple butter instead or split the recipe between applesauce and applebutter, set aside 7 quarts of applesauce right out of the mill. Put it into a 10 quart crock pot. Add 3 cups of sugar (again, add slowly and taste), 2 T of cinnamon, 1 t cloves, 1 t allspice. Stir to distribute evenly. Set the crock pot on low or medium (about 250 degrees). Put the lid on slightly askew so that steam can escape. Put newspaper or something of the sort to protect the surface around the crock pot as it will bubble and spit and make a slight mess. Leave it overnight. If possible, stir it a few times (like if you get up in the night to pee, go stir the apple butter, etc.). Variations on this theme - put it into a free standing electric roaster and put it on 250 degreees, put the top on (mine has a vent for steam). Or put it in a big roasting pan. Put the rack on your oven in the middle. Put another rack, lines completely with reynolds wrap, below it to catch the drip. Put the oven to 250 degrees.
When you are ready to can it, pack it hot into hot jars, adjust caps, and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Chutney - chutney is fun, and it's not as much work as the above. Lots of chopping.
2 quarts chopped, cored, pared tart apples (about 16 medium)
1 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup chopped sweet red peppers
2 pounds seedless raisins
4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 quart vinegar
2 hot peppers
3 T mustard seed
2 T ground ginger
2 t salt
2 t ground allspice
Combine ingredients; simmer until thick, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Pour, boiling hot into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust caps. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.
This is excellent with chicken, turkey and pork. It is also quite good with crackers and cream cheese. It makes a nice gift, cause it's pretty in the jar and festive.
Canning apples
Make sirup by dissolving 1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of water in a saucepan over medium heat and boiling for 5 minutes.
Wash, drain, core, pare or slice cooking apples as you desire or as appropriate to your jar size. Treat to prevent darkening (they don't explain, but my mother used to have ice water with lemon juice in it and soaked them for a few minutes in that). Drain. Boil in sirup for 5 minutes. Pack, hot, into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Cover with additional boiling sirup, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Adjust caps. Process pints and quarts 20 minutes in boiling water bath.
I have a copy of The Blue Book (well, actually, I have two, one is probably as old as I am, the other is probably early 1980's which is when I had my first garden as an adult). In case you don't know, The Blue Book was put out by Ball canning jar company.
Another good source is the USDA canning web site. Good general info.
http://foodsafety.psu.edu/canningguide.html
Most recipes for apple sauce and apple butter do not want you to peel them. Cooking the apples with skins and cores gives you more flavor and nutrients, a nice pink color and more pulp overall. But, you need a food mill. You can, theoretically, push it through a sieve, but that is very labor intensive and even for small amounts I would not recommend that. Or you could buy a small food mill at a good kitchen store. You have to clean it every two minutes cause it gets clogged. Very annoying. Not good. This is also for small amounts. Main advantage - it's better than pushing it through a sieve only about 15 bucks. Here's a picture of a hand cranked food mill:
http://jschumacher.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/28/applesauce3.jpg
Here is a picture of the Squeezo Strainer:
http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/squeezo.jpg
This is what I used and it took me about an hour and a half to do a whole bushel of apples. That's a lot of cranking. And, it's rather expensive; I happened to get it for free, but still. It's main advantage is that it will do about 10 lbs of apples in one fill of the hopper. Much faster than the above hand cranked food mill.
If you have a kitchen aid mixer, you can buy an attachment for it to do this and that is the bomb. That's what I will use next time!
http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-FVSP-Vegetable-Strainer-Grinder/dp/B00004SGFK
Peeling is for pies or for canning slices. You can what amounts to pie filling by peeling, coring and slicing the apples, putting them uncooked into hot syrup and then processing them. Then when you want a pie, make the crust, open a quart jar and dump it into the crust and voila. pie. But I am getting ahead of myself. See other recipes at the bottom of this.
Here is a recipe for apple butter, for a small amount, from the blue book.
2 dozen medium apples, quartered (about 6 lbs)
2 quarts of sweet cider
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspooon ground cloves.
Cook apples in cider until tender. Press through a sieve or food mill. Measure about 3 quarts of apple pulp. Cook pulp intil thick enough to round up in a spoon. As pulp thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Add sugar and spices and correct to taste. Cook slowly, stirring frequently, until thick, about 1 hour. Pour, hot, into hot Ball jars, leaving about 1/4 inch head space. Adjust caps. Process pints and quarts 10 minutes in boiling water bath at simmering temperature (180-185F). When cool, test for seal. remove bands and store. Yield: about 5 pints.
But that's not what I did. It should be obvious to the fairly observant student that you have to stand around for more than an hour stirring this damn stuff or it will stick to the bottom of the pot. If you have kids in the house while you are doing this, you can just go ahead and burn the bottom of the pan now and get it over with.
Here is a description of what I did.
Wash a bushel (about 40 lbs) of winesap (or other tart) apples in warm water, remove trash and leaves and scrub lightly with a cloth to remove any possible pesticides. Drain on towels. Quarter the apples but do not peel or core them.
Put the apples in a large pot with a heavy bottom and put in enough water for the apples to be about 1/3 covered. Over medium heat, with the lid on, bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 10 minutes and then stir. Continue to stir and boil now and then until the whole pot of apples are falling apart and evenly tender but still chunky. Remove from heat.
Set up your food mill. Process the cooked apples into applesauce. Return the applesauce to the big pot. For just applesauce, season them with sugar, cinnamon and allspice. For a bushel, I used about 3 cups of white sugar and 3 cups of brown sugar, 3 T of cinnamon, 2 t of allspice. But it really depends upon the sweetness of the apples, so add the sugar in slowly and taste. Besides, that's more fun. Adjust the thickness by adding cider or water to thin it down if needed. Or simmer it longer if it is to watery. Bring it back to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
Get your jars ready. A bushel of apples will make about 16-20 quarts of applesauce. Get the bottles and lids warm and leave in warm water until you are ready to use them. Pack the boiling hot applesauce into hot jars, put the lids on and adjust, then process in boiling water bath for 20 minutes. When cool, test for seal, remove the bands to store.
If you want to make apple butter instead or split the recipe between applesauce and applebutter, set aside 7 quarts of applesauce right out of the mill. Put it into a 10 quart crock pot. Add 3 cups of sugar (again, add slowly and taste), 2 T of cinnamon, 1 t cloves, 1 t allspice. Stir to distribute evenly. Set the crock pot on low or medium (about 250 degrees). Put the lid on slightly askew so that steam can escape. Put newspaper or something of the sort to protect the surface around the crock pot as it will bubble and spit and make a slight mess. Leave it overnight. If possible, stir it a few times (like if you get up in the night to pee, go stir the apple butter, etc.). Variations on this theme - put it into a free standing electric roaster and put it on 250 degreees, put the top on (mine has a vent for steam). Or put it in a big roasting pan. Put the rack on your oven in the middle. Put another rack, lines completely with reynolds wrap, below it to catch the drip. Put the oven to 250 degrees.
When you are ready to can it, pack it hot into hot jars, adjust caps, and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Chutney - chutney is fun, and it's not as much work as the above. Lots of chopping.
2 quarts chopped, cored, pared tart apples (about 16 medium)
1 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup chopped sweet red peppers
2 pounds seedless raisins
4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 quart vinegar
2 hot peppers
3 T mustard seed
2 T ground ginger
2 t salt
2 t ground allspice
Combine ingredients; simmer until thick, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Pour, boiling hot into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust caps. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.
This is excellent with chicken, turkey and pork. It is also quite good with crackers and cream cheese. It makes a nice gift, cause it's pretty in the jar and festive.
Canning apples
Make sirup by dissolving 1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of water in a saucepan over medium heat and boiling for 5 minutes.
Wash, drain, core, pare or slice cooking apples as you desire or as appropriate to your jar size. Treat to prevent darkening (they don't explain, but my mother used to have ice water with lemon juice in it and soaked them for a few minutes in that). Drain. Boil in sirup for 5 minutes. Pack, hot, into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Cover with additional boiling sirup, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Adjust caps. Process pints and quarts 20 minutes in boiling water bath.