Applesauce

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and everyone's thoughts have now turned to leftovers. Well, that and holiday shopping, of course. But food is my focus, most of the time, and now that it's late November, we've got lots of leftover turkey and stuffing and whatnot to deal with... not to mention the remnants of the fall harvest.

Did anyone else buy waaaaay too many apples this fall? *raises hand* Yes, definitely. But fret not, 'cause those leftovers can be turned into something yummy, too, no matter how bad they're starting to look -- not rotten, mind you, but the bruised ones are just fine here, the ugly ones, the ones that look like they really need to be used up right now, today, before it's too late, before they go bad.

Applesauce is the perfect fix for this situation. It's delicious, it's really simple to make, and you can can it, which means that you can taste September even in January or May.

Applesauce
Loosely adapted from "The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving"

Apples, peeled and cut up, enough to fill a large saucepan (this will depend on the size of your apples, obviously)
Water, just a splash
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 c sugar (but feel free to use a lot less if you're using sweeter apples -- I only used 2/3 c or so in mine)

1. Splash a little bit of water into the pan containing the cut-up apples. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn down the heat and boil gently for 5 to 20 minutes, until the apples are tender.
2. Mash up the apples with a potato masher until of the right consistency (if you like it chunky, leave chunks; if you like it super-smooth, hit it with a stick blender or put it through a food mill).
3. Add the lemon juice and sugar and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar.
4. Pour into sterilized canning jars, leaving a half-inch of headspace. Add lids and rings, screwed on fingertip-tight.
5. Process jars in a large, covered pot of boiling water for 20 minutes. Remove the pot's lid and wait 5 minutes, then remove the jars of applesauce and place them somewhere out of the way to cool, making sure not to tilt them.

Apple tart

The great thing about knowing how to bake (and keeping some staples in the house at all times) is that if your honey decides to make a nice dinner, while he's out in the kitchen cutting up his ingredients, you can say, "Hey, how 'bout I make a dessert?" and in a little while, presto, dessert. That was what happened here. I started with "maybe I'll make a nice dessert," and then went to "hmm, I've got some apples in the fridge that I need to use up," and a few Internet searches later, I found this recipe.

My honey ate it with some suspicion, thinking, as I had when I first saw the recipe, "apples and cream cheese???" But he liked the taste, and so did I. I think they were going for something that would be like a traditional fruit tart, with its pastry cream filling, but knowing that pastry cream would be a bit sickening with cinnamon-sugared apples, it's swapped here for a nice cream cheese filling. You wouldn't think the combination of flavors would work, but it totally does. And the nuts on top add a nice crunch.

Apple Tart
From Joy of Baking

1 c flour
1/3 c confectioners' sugar
1/2 c butter, cut into small pieces

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 c apples, peeled and cut into slices (about 3-4 apples)

1/3 c sliced almonds

1. Mix together the flour, confectioners' sugar and butter with a pastry blender or food processor. Press it into a tart pan with a removable bottom, then put it in the fridge.
2. Cut up the apples and toss them with the cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.
3. Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla in a good-sized bowl. Spread this over your crust.
4. Top with the apples. Sprinkle almonds on top.
5. Place pan on a cookie sheet, then bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Drop the temperature of the oven to 400 degrees and continue to bake for another 25-30 minutes, until the apples and golden and soft and the filling is set. Cool on a rack before cutting.

Apple bread

Today's lesson: Sometimes, size does matter.

See, I had this idea that if one loaf of apple bread was a good idea, two would be even better, so I should double the recipe. And that would have been a great idea, except for one thing: I didn't notice until I was actually putting the batter in the pans that this recipe calls for a 9-by-5 loaf pan, and I have 8-by-4 loaf pans. I thought "well, heck, what's the worst that can happen -- maybe they'll be a little tall, puff up a bit over the top of the pan, no big deal," and I went ahead and filled those pans full.

What actually happened was that when I put them in the oven, the batter started spilling over the sides of the pans as if it was fleeing for its life, some of it hitting the bottom of the oven in a big, batter-y pile that started to smoke up the kitchen a bit. Um, oops. (Now, if I had been thinking, I would've at least put a pan or some foil or something on the rack below them, just in case this happened. But I digress.)

I had planned on taking one of these loaves to work, but after seeing how misshapen they looked, I couldn't bring myself to put one out for public consumption (and silent criticism). Guess I'll just have to eat them both. Good thing they're still really, really tasty. I'd make this again, but I'd definitely scale the recipe back for my pans, maybe a one-and-a-half batch for the two pans. I might try swirling the topping into the batter, too, 'cause when I de-panned them, a lot of the topping fell off.

Apple Bread
From Tasty Kitchen
Yield as written: One 9-by-5 loaf

1/2 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
1/4 c milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c shredded apples
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c brown sugar
3 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, cold, cut into pieces
1/2 c walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray the loaf pan with nonstick spray.
2. In one bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the milk, eggs, vanilla and apples. (Mine looked like a gloppy, nasty disaster right about now, but fear not.)
3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
4. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Pour batter into pan.
5. In a bowl, crumble together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, butter and nuts. Sprinkle over the batter.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes, then de-pan and cool on a rack.

Apple crisp

It's been way too long, hasn't it? Sorry about that, mythical reader. But I've been buried under a pile of apples, and a lot of what I've done with them hasn't really qualified as baking. One week, I made apple butter, which was just a slow-cooker thing. Another week, I made turnovers, but if refrigerated puff pastry is good enough for Alton Brown, it's good enough for me -- still, it didn't really seem to qualify as "home-baked," not enough to blog about.

So here we are, weeks later, and I've finally gotten around to what might be one of the most universally-loved apple dishes out there: Apple crisp. Yum! Apple crisp has to be right up there with apple pie, if not a very close second, as far as apple dishes go. And it's so much easier, 'cause you don't have to make a pastry (though the pastry I posted for apple pie is surprisingly easy) -- you just have to crumble some stuff together and mix some stuff together, slap it in a pan and bake it until you can't resist the smell coming from your oven any longer. Heck, you don't even need utensils to make it, other than peeling and cutting the apples. Once that was done, I just used my hands.

Apple Crisp
Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

8 apples, peeled, cored and cut up into pieces
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 c flour
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 c rolled oats
2 sticks butter, cut up

1. In the biggest bowl you've got, mix the cut-up apples with the lemon juice, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spread in the bottom of a 9-by-13 baking dish.
2. Crumble together the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl with your fingers. Sprinkle evenly over the apples.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, until the top is browned and the filling is bubbly.

Apple pie

Rarely do I find myself recapturing the magic of baking, that feeling of "oh my god, I made this?" It's pretty exciting, eating something that tastes amazing, bought-from-a-store amazing, even straight-from-the-best-bakery-in-town amazing, and knowing that you actually created that, all by yourself, from nothing. And it's even more amazing when what you're eating is the single most iconic dish of your childhood, the dish you begged your mom for but only got as a rare treat, the food so perfect that most store-bought versions paled in comparison.

The short version: Holy crap, you have got to make this! I'm ashamed to say it, but it's better than my mom's. It's the best apple pie I've ever tasted. My boyfriend (and apple-peeling assistant) raved about it, too. There's just one catch to this recipe -- you'll need to make a trip to the liquor store. Yes, another recipe with alcohol in it. But you don't taste it. It's just there for food-science reasons, to hold the dough together without creating gluten. It all bakes off in the oven, and what you're left with is flaky, golden bliss. :)




Apple Pie
Adapted from "Cook's Illustrated"

2 1/2 c flour, plus more for rolling out dough
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
12 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1/2 c shortening, chilled and cut into pieces (I use butter-flavored Crisco)
1/4 c cold water
1/4 c vodka, chilled

About 8 apples, peeled, cored and cut up into slices
About 3/4 c sugar (use less if you're using sweeter apples, more if they're tart ones)
2 tbsp of so of flour (again, if you're using really juicy apples, use more...)
1 tbsp or so lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice

1. Place flour, salt, sugar, butter and shortening together in a large bowl and cut together with a pastry blender or a couple of forks until you don't see any white flour anymore (it should all be yellow, coated with fat).
2. Pour the water and vodka over the top and fold together gently with a rubber spatula (or your hands) until you have a sticky dough.
3. Divide the dough into two balls. Place each on a piece of plastic wrap, flatten into a 4-inch disc and wrap securely. Chill at least 45 minutes in the fridge (or cheat like I did and put it in the freezer for a little bit -- you just want to make sure it's chilled).
4. In an extra-large bowl (the biggest one you have in your kitchen), mix the apples, sugar, flour, salt, lemon juice (to taste -- I just used a few sprinkles out of one of those little lemon-shaped bottles) and spices (again, to taste -- I went with my mom's method, shake some out until it looks good, mix it up, add more if needed).
5. Roll out one piece of dough on a piece of floured waxed paper until it's big enough for the bottom of a glass pie pan (hold the pan upside-down above the dough to check if it's big enough). Line the pan with the dough, leaving the ragged edges draped over the edge of the pan. (Some people swear by rolling the dough up onto your rolling pin, then unrolling it into the pan. Me, I place the pan upside-down on the dough, put my hand under the waxed paper, flip the whole thing and peel the paper off. Whatever works for you, go with it.)
6. Fill the pie bottom with the apples, heaping them up in the middle. (They will shrink, so don't be afraid to go big with your pile.)
7. Roll out the second piece of dough, making sure to roll it a bit bigger so it will cover the heap of apples and drape over the edges a bit. Use that dough to cover the pie (any way you can manage -- I picked the whole paper up and plopped it on top of my pie, which kicked up a lot of flour all over my work space but got the job done).
8. Crimp the edges of the pie together (you can use a fork, if you want -- I use two fingers pushed together). Trim off the excess by running a knife around the pie underneath the rim. Use the knife to poke some holes in the top of the pie for steam to escape.
9. Place a big piece of foil on the bottom rack of your oven to catch drips (trust me, there will be some). Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
10. Bake the pie for 25 minutes to an hour or so, until crust is golden and filling is bubbly (it will start sneaking out the vent holes).

Yes, that's a wide range of baking times, because you really can't just leave it and come back to a pie X minutes later. You have to watch it. Crust getting too brown around the edges too soon? Slap some foil on those edges. Top too brown already? Ditto, tent it with a piece of foil. Like your apples crunchy? Pull the pie rather early. Like them soft? Leave it in there and test it with a toothpick until you're happy with the filling's texture. Most people will want to produce a pie that reminds them of their mom's, and most moms make their pie differently, so use your judgment -- keep an eye on it and cook it until you're happy with the result.