apple brandy apple butter

For the last two years, I’ve been going to Apple Crest Farms in NH for my birthday, which generally falls around Columbus Day weekend. Not only do they have a lovely variety of apples to choose from, they have a petting zoo, a market full of jams and cider and other goodies, farm-fresh ice cream, a cider donut booth, and live bluegrass.

They are kid-friendly (box not required)

kate the great

dog friendly (though Clara wanted to direct the petting zoo pen)

must... herd...

and their ice cream makes you make this face.

fuck yeah ice cream

I came back with about 15 lbs of apples, a mix of Macintoshes and Cortlands. I should have come back with 30, as I’m already out. But I do have 6 pints of apple brandy apple butter, which will last me a few months if I don’t gift them away. These are almost too tasty to share.

Apple Brandy Apple Butter
7 lbs apples
1 1/2 cup apple cider
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp fresh ground cloves
2 tsp nutmeg
3 oz apple jack or calvados

Peel, core and roughly chop apples. In a wide pot, slowly simmer apples with cider on the lowest possible heat while still keeping a simmer. Stir enough to prevent apples from scorching or browning. Your goal is for the apples to soften enough that they can be smushed easily with a potato masher, about 30-45 mins. Rough them up with the masher, then puree – if you have a food mill, you’re in luck.  Alternately, you can use an immersion blender or puree in your food processor. At this point, you should have something the consistency of applesauce.

apple sauce

Now season and cook down further to apple butter, a jam-like consistency. Add apple puree, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and apple jack to your slow cooker. With lid slightly ajar, program slow cooker for 6 hours on low. If you don’t have a slow-cooker, you can do this on the stove top. Keep on low heat, and simmer uncovered for 4-6 hours, stirring every 30-45 minutes.

As always, pack hot into clean jars, leaving 1/2″ headspace. Wipe your rims and tighten bands over lids firmly. Process 20 minutes in a water bath, or 10 minutes at 8psi in a pressure canner. Store in a cool, dark place. Possibly one with a lock.

You’ll need a stock pot to blanch the peaches, a cold water bath in a large mixing bowl, clean jars with lids and a pot to process the jars in a water bath.  These instructions assume you through processing 3 lbs of peaches, but you can easily scale this recipe.

Take each peach and use a paring knife to cut a shallow X on the bottom of the peach.

Blanch the peaches for 1 minute in boiling water, and immediately submerge in the ice water bath.

Remove the skins, which you can do easily by hand after they are blanched.

Cut the peaches into quarters or slices, removing the pits, and place in clean jars.

Take 3 cups of the blanched water, add 3 cups sugar, and bring to a boil (for scaling, you’ll need equal parts sugar/water and about 1 cup of each per pound of peaches).  Stir will wooden spoon until sugar dissolves, just a minute or two. I add the peach skins to this syrup while its boiling and then strain for extra flavor, but this is optional.

Pour syrup over jarred peaches, filling about 2/3rd of the glass below the headspace. Top off with brandy. Remove any air bubbles, wipe rims and add lids and bands.

Process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes, or in a pressure canner at 15 psi for 11 minutes. Allow to cool completely, store in a cool dark place.

So, what to do with all these jars, assuming you keep a few for yourself (and you should)? Pull them out on a cold winter night with some pork chops, a cup of chopped nuts, and a bit of extra brandy.

Pan sear the pork chops on high heat in a bit of olive oil, reduce heat to medium temp, and cook until internal temp reaches 170F (the time will depend on how thick your chops are). Add nuts (hazelnuts or walnuts work well for this) and 1/3 cup brandy. Slowly dip one side of your saute pan towards the burner, allowing the brandy to catch fire. Right the pan, allow flames to finish. Don’t worry, the flames only last a few seconds, but will feed your inner pyro for much longer. If you’ve got an electric stove, you could use a long, lit match to flambe the chops.

I served the pork chops with some wheatberries and a steamed artichoke. Put those peaches right on the plate with the chops.

Maybe some day I’ll stop canning every little thing in booze (peaches! cherries! watermelon rinds!), but canning and liquor are two things I adore, so I see no reason to stop. In fact, I’ve been starting to infuse liquors and cordials, which requires less fruit and more booze. So bottoms up, or even better, fill your jars!

Lots of tomatoes were canned as sauce in my pressure canner, others got thrown into braises, over pasta, even into pie, but my go-to method for preserving that sunny tomato flavor is slow roasting. Slow roasting is slow, and some folks aren’t comfortable keeping a gas oven running the required 6-8 hours. I did try throwing some sliced toms into the dehydrator, but I wasn’t happy with the taste.

Here’s what I recommend: Slice tomatoes a half-inch thick, spread them on a baking sheet, and flavor with salt, pepper, rosemary or any herbs you like, and spritz with olive oil.

Put them in the oven at the lowest temp possible – here’s where my cranky oven gauge comes in handy! I set it at 200F, and it warms up to about 160-180F. If you have the misfortune of an accurate oven, and like most modern ovens it doesn’t read lower than 200F, you can keep the door cracked open a smidge. An internal oven thermostat can be picked up for a few bucks at the hardware store so you can get an accurate read. Now, just wait til these tomatoes are reduced by almost half, not as small as sun dried tomatoes, but the moisture should be removed. In my experience, that’s taken 6-8 hours.

Let cool, then stack into freezer bags or mason jars, be careful to remove as much air as possible and freeze. Throw them into sauces or saute as needed.

Tomorrow: updating a classic peach recipe!

I had two drinks in mind when I decided to preserve a pound of cherries from the farmer’s market this week – a Manhattan, and a Last Word. Ok, a Last Word doesn’t require a cherry, and I’ve only seen it served that way on occasion, but it is my favorite classic cocktail with maraschino, and I’m going to serve mine with a cherry.

I prefer rye (instead of bourbon or whiskey) in my Manhattan.  While I think the maraschino cherry (with hints of cherry and almond) would go nicely with the well-balanced Last Word, I wanted a rounder, fatter flavor for my Manhattan cherries, so it wouldn’t get overpowered by the rye. I remembered a recipe a friend had shared for brandied cherries, and decided it was worth a try.

So, here’s my cherries two ways. Each half-pound of cherries makes a pint. Make sure to sterilize your jars and simmer your lids, even if they’re going straight to the refrigerator.

I did have the good fortune to borrow a cherry pitter. You could give it a try manually, with a chopstick, but this tool allows you to push the pit straight through while keeping the cherry more or less intact.  Though, as you can see, there’s a fair bit of splatter from the process, so you’ll want to keep a sponge handy.

MARASCHINO CHERRIES

1/2 lb cherries, pitted
1 cup maraschino liqueur

Bring cup of maraschino liqueur to a simmer. Add cherries, turn off heat, and let sit until cool. Scoop cherries into jars, and then pour liquid over the cherries. Seal with lids and bands. Refrigerate.

BRANDIED CHERRIES

1/2 lb cherries, pitted
1/4 cup brandy
1/4 sugar
1/4 cup water
cinnamon stick
dash of lemon juice

Combine water and sugar in a saucepan, bring to a boil. Add cinnamon and lemon, stir until sugar has completely dissolved. Add cherries, simmer on low for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, remove cinnamon and add brandy. Let cool, scoop cherries into jar, and pour liquid over them. You can top off with more brandy if necessary. Add lids and bands, refrigerate.

Last Word
1 oz Gin
1 oz Green Chartreuse
1 0z Maraschino Liqueur
1 0z fresh squeezed lime juice

Combine in shaker over ice, shake well, until frosted. Strain into 4 oz glass, serve with maraschino cherry.

Rye Manhattan
2 oz rye
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash aromatic bitters

Combine in tall glass over ice, stir well. Strain into glass, serve with brandied cherry.

This is the first year I’ve grown everything from seed (I purchased from the excellent seedsavers.org), so it’s been nerve-wracking and rewarding. Yesterday, Clara chased a butterfly around the garden, and today a bumblebee stopped to visit the very first flower on my largest plant.

So, with all this excitement, and full knowledge that I’ll be swimming in cucumbers within the next few weeks, I really should have been able to resist the itty bitty cucumbers at the farmers market. Obviously I failed. I ate the first little cuke raw, with dashes of salt on each bite.

If you haven’t canned before, pickles are an easy way to get started. First, you’ll need to sterilize your jars and lids.  Never ever ever reuse lids. Don’t even think about it. Not even that once*.

For the lids, add a cup of water to a small saucepan. Simmer on medium low heat, add lids for a few minutes (2-3) to loosen the rubber seals.

Sterilize your jars in hot water for 10 minutes. You can use a large stock pot, but you need a weighted down towel or a steamer rack on the bottom of your pot to prevent the jars from hitting the bottom and cracking. Bring the water a boil, reduce heat to simmer, lower the jars in gently, and keep at a simmer for 10 minutes.

Prep your jars. You can cut up the cukes any which way you like. Sliced coins are easier to pack, but I love whole cukes or spears. These little guys were sliced lengthwise.

Pack the cukes in, then add your seasonings. My mix goes something like (per jar):

• 1 tsp dill seeds
• 1/2 tsp peppercorns
• 2 whole garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• dill fronds

Start your brine. Equal parts vinegar to water, 1 cup total for each jar. I prefer apple cider vinegar, but white will do. Bring to a simmer.  Pour hot brine into jars, leaving 1/2 inch space available in the jar.Wipe the rims off with a damp towel. If your rims aren’t clean, the jars might not seal. Now, if you’re impatient like me, and you’re going to throw these in the refrigerator for more immediate consumption ( I try to wait 3-5 days to reach appropriate pickleness), throw the lid and band around the jar, and you are done.

But, if you’re creating a large batch for your pantry, you’ll need to place the lidded jars (with bands) back into your stock pot with water at a boil for 10 minutes. When you remove the jars with tongs, let them cool on the counter. You can test the seal two ways –

1. Pick up the jar by the sides of the lid. If it comes off, it didn’t seal.
2. Press the center of the lid, and release. If it pops, it ain’t sealed. The seal should create a vacuum.

If your seals are good, slap the bands around them and store the jars in a dark, cool place.

* Lids and the seal are the critical step that should scare you about canning. And, since it’s the very last step, don’t waste  your time and effort trying to save a few cents by reusing lids that won’t reseal most of the time.