An Apple a Week: Chunky Pear Applesauce
Editor's Note: Each week in October, we bring you a recipe that spotlights the apple.
Photograph by static-photo on Flickr.
Applesaucing is to apples as pickling is to cucumbers. It's a great way to preserve the beautiful fruits that are popping up all over farmers' markets. For an extra flavor dimension, I like to throw in pears and a few drops of vanilla, and of course loads of cinnamon. Applesauce is a funny little guy since he can be baby food mush one minute, and a nice garnish to roast pork the next.
Chunky Pear Applesauce
Ingredients
4 apples, sweet and mushy (such as McIntosh)
6 pears (such as Anjou)
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
Procedure
1. When picking apples at the farmers' market, avoid pie-ready apples (crunchy and tart like Granny Smith). Instead, go for the mushy and they have to be sweet since there's no sugar in this recipe.
2. Wash the apples and pears well. Quarter them, removing the stems, seeds, and core.
3. Throw the chunks into a pot, filled about one-fourth the way with water. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until fruit is soft.
5. At this point, many people run the fruit through a food mill or sieve, but since I like mine chunkier in consistency (and don't want to worry about extra gadgets), I skip this part. Instead, just keep stirring the mixture occasionally with a whisk or potato masher.
6. Add cinnamon to taste (more than a tablespoon is very fine), and a teaspoon of vanilla for an extra kick.
7. Eat on the spot, or enjoy for later by storing in sterile mason jars.
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3 Comments:
4 apples, sweet and mushy (such as McIntosh)
6 apples (such as Anjou)
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
Do you mean pears?
browntown at 7:36PM on 10/26/08
Hmm, Anjou apples. Where might I find Anjour apples? And do I really need 10 apples for an apple pear recipe?
cebelamour at 10:23PM on 10/26/08
Thanks for the catch, browntown and cebelamour. It's been fixed above.
Adam Kuban at 8:53AM on 10/27/08