Culinary adventures: Homemade applesauce perfect for Midwest's bounty
Nothing signals fall's impending arrival more than apple trees loaded with ripe fruit. Here in the Midwest we are fortunate to have orchards nearby where we can pick our own apples, as well as an abundance of choices at farmers markets and grocery stores. I have friends who have apple trees in their yards and I frequently stop by for visits in the fall, baskets and bags in hand.
Apple pies, caramel apples, apple cider and my mom's Red Hots Cinnamon Applesauce are seasonal favorites at our house. I favor Braeburn, Cortland, Crispin, McIntosh, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Jonamac and Jonathan varieties for applesauce, but you don't have to limit yourself to one type of apple in your applesauce. Blends yield a sauce with great flavor.
This being said, I think the best apples to use are the ones you have on hand, regardless of variety, especially if they're on the verge of being over ripe.
When my kids were toddlers I would grate an apple into a bowl, add a little water, and pop the mixture in the microwave for a few minutes to softened the apple. After a little mashing with a fork we had applesauce. My kids are older now and consume larger quantities of food, so the individual apple method no longer works for us. Now I make larger quantities of applesauce and have been exploring ways to prepare it.
For a nearly hands-off technique, toss cut apples along with your liquid of choice into a slow cooker and cook on low overnight. In the morning you will have perfectly cooked apples waiting to be mashed into sauce. Or, toss cut apples with some apple cider and then spread in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with a little sugar or maple syrup and roast in a 400 degree oven until tender. Purée or mash roasted apples with a little extra apple cider to achieve a sauce consistency.
I typically use a stovetop method, but regardless of your technique, you may want to consider adding a little lemon juice to perk up the flavor and help keep your apples from turning brown.
My all-time favorite applesauce recipe includes Red Hots candies of all things; it was my mom's special twist. This spicy cinnamon candy adds both flavor and color. One bite and I'm taken back to my childhood.
If you think fiery Red Hots are too much, try applesauce spiked with spices like nutmeg, cloves or cinnamon that you might add to an apple pie. Still, I hope you will give the “Red Hots” a try.
If you're in the camp that peels and cores apples before making applesauce (as opposed to cooking them whole and running them through a food mill) don't toss those scraps in the compost bin just yet. You can continue to use those apple parts in a clever way … apple jelly.
Simply cook the peels and cores with liquid, a box of fruit pectin, a little butter and some sugar. Voila! Get the full recipe at dailyherald.com/lifestyle/food. Whatever you do, do not reduce the amount of sugar in a jelly recipe, as there is a balance between the pectin and sugar that allows the magic of gelling to set the jelly.
Whether you pick your own, or harvest apples from the produce aisle celebrate fall with batch of homemade applesauce. It is delicious with pork or chicken, in oatmeal and in a bowl all by itself. And, if you have time make some apple jelly, too. It makes a great holiday gift.
• Penny Kazmier, a wife and mother of four from South Barrington, won the 2011 Daily Herald Cook of the Week Challenge.