Review: Homemade Spiced Apple Butter

Last week, we headed back to the midwest for vacation. We started with 24 hours in Chicago, then made our way to Madison for 4 1/2 days. Our time was well-spent visiting with friends and family, eating meals on patios, exploring a beautiful gorge, going for lunch by boat, spending Saturday morning at the largest producer-only farmers' market in the U.S., spending Saturday evening at the wedding of two very wonderful friends, and picking fruit at an orchard near my parents' house. While we'd planned to pick apples (since apples don't really grow in Texas), I was absolutely thrilled when we were asked if we wanted to pick raspberries and grapes in addition to the 3 types of apples they had available. (Not only was I still bummed about missing out on strawberry/cherry picking when we were in Buffalo, NY this June, but I was also sad we already had plans and couldn't go to a Sunday morning wine making class at a pick-your-own grape farm nearby.) I would get to pick apples, grapes, and berries? Yep, I think I'm ready to move back to Wisconsin now!

We picked about a peck of Red Macintosh apples and a pint of raspberries. After tasting a few grapes, I decided against them because (a) they had seeds, and (b) they tasted just like grape jelly and were a little too sweet for eating. Very few of the apples were bright red and all the apples at my height were green. C used his height to our advantage and plucked a few red apples from the tree tops. I wont pretend that he didn't go a little apple crazy. Knowing we were flying back to Houston in 2 days, I suggested that 10+ pounds of apples was way over the top, but he kept squeezing more apples into the bag we were given to fill. I don't really like eating apples raw (perhaps a remnant of a few to many bagged lunches during my gluten free years) and I've already explained my very un-American feelings towards apple pie. My favorite way to eat apples is in apple crisp, but we already had one at home that my mom made with some uber tart green apples a coworker gave her from his apple tree. (She also made chocolate zucchini cake and refused to use my recipe because she didn't want to use "an experiment" for company. I won't pretend I'm not a little offended.)

I expressed to C that I was nervous about leaving 10 pounds of apples with my parents, but he gave me a no-problem look and explained that we would be turning them into apple butter. Apple butter? What the heck is apple butter? It must be an Iowan thing. Actually, I think I'd tried a bite a few years back when a neighbor gave my mom a small jar of homemade apple butter. I couldn't remember what it tasted like, but I knew it wasn't life changing when I had it for the first time in my early 20s. The most common way it's eaten is on toast and I can't say I'm a big toast lover. I was finding it challenging to get excited about apple butter until I started brainstorming creative ways to use it.

Objective
Make homemade apple butter based on Carroll Pellegrinelli's Old-Fashioned Apple Butter recipe.

Materials
~14 tart apples*, washed, quartered and cored with skins on
2 cups apple cider
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. ground allspice

*We used half tart green apples and half red macintosh

Methods
1. Fill a 6 quart slow cooker with apple slices. Add the apple cider. Cook on high for 4-6 hours.
2. Remove the apple peels and place the peeled apples into a food processor. Process until smooth. Before adding the puree back to the slow cooker, measure the puree so you know how much you have. (We had about 5 1/2 cups of apple puree. If you have much more/less than that, go to the cited recipe for Carroll's guidelines for sugar and spice ratios.) Stir in the brown sugar and spices.
3. Continue to cook on high for 3 hours (stir every once in awhile). Remove the lid and continue cooking (and stirring every once in awhile) for 3-5 hours longer, or until enough water has evaporated to leave you with the consistency you're looking to achieve. You want the puree to reduce to a texture far thicker than applesauce, more like a jam.
4. Cool completely then store in the fridge (lasts around 3 weeks--discard if moldy) or freeze.

Results
The apple butter is very flavorful. Less apple flavored and more spice flavored. The cloves and allspice are the main flavors. The texture is a little chunkier than it is smooth.

Discussion and Future Directions
C was thrilled with the outcome, though he admitted that we needed to cook off a little more of the moisture to get the right texture. I thought it tasted alright but I hated the texture of cold apple butter on toast. Per the suggestion of my brilliant mother, we filled a large water bottle with apple butter to take home in our checked luggage. As soon as we got back home, I started brainstorming uses for apple butter. I found a lot of interesting recipes to consider in the future, but only made a few with this batch. Here's a summary of what I made/want to make:

Oatmeal Apple Butter Cookies (from Lucky Leaf): I used just under 3/4 cup dark brown sugar and 1/4 cup white sugar and reduced the milk to 1 tbsp. because my apple butter was fairly moist. I added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and omitted the raisins. I probably should have reduced the liquid even further since my cookies came out pretty flat. I also wish I'd added more oats--1.5x what the recipe called for. While they looked nothing like the picture, the flavor was great. They were very soft and best eaten the first day. C said they weren't the best oatmeal cookies he'd ever had, but that they were a good use for apple butter. I agreed and thought that enough spices would make an oatmeal cookie with a similar flavor but more traditional texture. He took them to work and his attending physician asked for the recipe. We'll consider that a win!

Apple Butter, Turkey, and Cheddar Grilled Cheese (from The Law Student's Wife): I made one for C and I to split for lunch with leftover barley vegetable soup. I omitted the apples because that just seemed a little too weird for me. C took awhile to decide, but said he liked it. I thought if I made it again, I'd only put apple butter on one of the slices of bread and put cheddar on both sides with the turkey in the middle (I'm from Wisconsin, more cheese is always the right answer). I probably wouldn't go out of my way to make this again.

Brown Sugar Bourbon Ribs (from Bon Appétit): On the trip to Buffalo, NY that I mentioned above, C made 3 incredible racks of ribs (minus the BBQ sauce). I've sort of been craving ribs every few weeks since (pretty impressive since I don't really like meat period, let alone when there are visible bones). As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew we would have to set aside a 1/2 cup of our homemade apple butter to make them. When I mentioned this to C, he was shocked and told me that he spent a good deal of time pondering whether or not to buy ribs at the grocery store the day before. He decided against it since I don't eat much meat and told him I wanted to get back on the healthy eating horse. We must have some crazy weird alignment of our food cravings. Anyway, we used spare ribs and roasted them for 1.5 hours covered with foil at 300 degrees, then basted with glaze, baked 30 minutes uncovered, basted again, baked 30 minutes longer (again uncovered), then broiled for 4 minutes (per the Homesick Texan recipe at the ribs link above). Word from the wise: let the ribs sit about 10 minutes or so for ultimate fall-off-the-bone-ness. How did they taste? Amazing. Like, I love BBQ sauce on ribs, but I sort of didn't even miss it. This might be the top priority for any batch of apple butter we ever make/buy/receive.

Apple Butter Sticky Buns: Yum, yum, yum! A little sweet and a little tart with a hint of spice. Not based on my usual cinnamon roll recipe, but well worth changing up the normal routine!

Apple Butter Recipe Round-up (or, Inspiration for Future Batches of Apple Butter):
Cinnamon Apple Butter Spritz (from Wilton)
Apple Butter Apple Pie (from Smithfield)
Apple Butter Apple Pie (from Paula Deen)
Apple Butter Bars (from Kuipers Family Farm via She Simmers)
Cinnamon Apple Macarons (from Desserts for Breakfast)
Apple Butter Swirled Pancakes (from Mama Loves Food)
Apple Butter Oatmeal (from Blog Inspired Cooking)
Apple Butter Quick Bread (from Bayfield Apple)
Apple Butter Brown Sugar Quick Bread (from NY City Eats)

APPLE BUTTER: The Verdict
Well, I probably wouldn't go out of my way to buy it. However, since (1)  it's fairly easy to make, (2) I love pick-your-own farms, and (3) C enjoys it, I'd be happy to make more next fall (well, probably not next fall because we don't have apple orchards near Houston and even if we did, C [and I?] will be living in Africa this time next year [say what?]. More on that in the future).

Spicy Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Meat is my nemesis. Not only does it gross me out when its raw, but I hate chewing it. Unless it's perfectly tender, I can only take a few bites before my jaw complains. Of all the meats, I find pork to be the most bothersome. As a kid, I ate a lot of tough, rubbery pork chops served with fruit cocktail and veges. Occasionally I would get a bite of all fat and that would be the end of my dinner. I hated it, every single time.

The only way I really love pork is made into pulled pork sandwiches. I decided to try my hand at them since they would make great leftovers.I liked the sound of this recipe for "Carolina-Pulled-Pork-Sandwiches" on Epicurious, but I don't have a grill. I figured I'd try the slow-cooker as a way to tenderize the meat.

Objective
Make pulled pork in the slow cooker.

Materials

1 3-4 lb. pork shoulder
1 large onion

Rub:
1 1/2 Tbs. freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 Tbs. dark brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. paprika
1 Tbs. sea salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Broth:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tbs. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 Tbs. sea salt
1 tsp. canola oil
water

Methods
Things to prepare the night before:
1. Cut the entire pork shoulder into small chunks (however you can do it safely). Remove the bone and trim off the skin and fat.
2. Mix together the ingredients for the rub. Toss the meat with the rub until it is well coated. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Mix together the ingredients for the broth, but do not add water. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Cut the onion in half. Slice it or dice it, according to your preference.

The day of:
1. Put the meat, onion and broth mixture into your slow-cooker. Add enough water to cover the meat (about 3 cups).
2. Turn the slow-cooker to low and cook for 8 hours.
3. Serve on buns with barbecue sauce.

Results
The meat is tender and fully cooked. The flavor is spicy and tasty.

Discussion and Future Directions
The whole purpose of trying this recipe was to give pork another try. The biggest obstacle ended up being the first step: cutting the meat. It was going well until I realized that what I thought was a thick layer of fat had hair follicles. It was skin! I managed to keep from gagging but did think that vegetarianism might be worth trying. I can handle bones and skin with poultry, but not with pork. Gross.

The recipe itself is quite easy. The prep time is minimal. Because I had prepared everything the night before, all I had to do this morning was pour everything into the slow-cooker, plug it in and turn it to low. After a cold walk home in the rain, it was wonderful to walk into my apartment building and realize that the delicious smell of dinner was coming from my apartment!

The meat was incredibly tender. I could barely get it out of the slow-cooker without it falling apart. The meat was spicy and just flavorful enough. For some, particularly kids, this recipe might be a little acidic. A good way to temper the acid would be to reduce the amount of vinegar. The heat could be reduced by halving the rub.The meat was delicious on a homemade hamburger bun with a little bit of barbecue sauce and some of the broth from the slow cooker. It would have been good with creamy coleslaw or potato salad on the side. Overall, I would consider the recipe a success.

Supporting Materials

Homemade Hamburger Buns
Makes 8 hamburger buns
3/4-1 cup water
1/3 c nonfat dry milk
1 Tbs. butter
1 1/2 Tbs. instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 oz. whole wheat flour
11 oz. all purpose flour
1 egg white (can add yolk to the dough with the wet ingredients)
sesame seeds

1. Mix together water and nonfat dry milk. Heat to 120°. Stir in yeast.
2. Mix together dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients until a ball forms.
3. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. The dough should be smooth and a little tacky, but not sticky or goopy. If it's too sticky, add flour. If it's too stiff and crackly, wet your hands with water and knead in water until it softens up.
4. Move to a well oiled bowl and let it rise until it doubles (about an hour).
5. Pour the dough onto a cutting board and cut it into 8 even pieces. Shape each piece into a lump, then pull dough tightly around itself and pinch the dough together at the bottom. Keep doing this until you have a ball. 
6. Set the balls on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet and let them rest a few minutes. Press the tops to flatten them slightly. Let rise another hour, or until they start looking puffy. Preheat the oven to 375°.
7. Brush the tops of the buns with egg wash (1 egg white to 1 Tbs. cold water) and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Bake 15-20 minutes or until the tops are golden. 
9. Cool completely before slicing and serving.