Fall Fantasies Finally Fulfilled
A few weekends ago, we decided to go apple picking. It was one of those things that we have always said we want to do (every Fall) but never seem to actually execute. There is something quintessentially Fall in the Northeast about the idea of doing it!
But as we drove out of the orchard upstate, passing what felt like border control, we looked at each other and suddenly asked, “How are we going to eat over 12 pounds of apples before they go bad?!”
We spent the entire car ride back to the city relating stories to each other of apple dishes we had growing up that we wanted to recreate. The very first thing I thought of was the applesauce my grandma and grandpa used to make and serve over pork chops. Now THAT is Fall. And all I could remember was how good that applesauce was.
I emailed grandma and scrounged up her recipe. I’m happy to report if you have a few hours to let this sit on the stove and cook, it’s as easy as pie (and much tastier!). As the other half said when we sat down to eat, “This is everything applesauce is meant to be…”
Feisty Fox Ancestral Applesauce
Makes about 6 cups of sauce
- 4 pounds of juicy, crisp apples (about 12 decent sized ones), peeled and diced
- 1 cup of water
- ½ cup of sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
First, a note on apple selection. You can use whatever type you want really, but I’d stay away from green apples. I’d also stay away from Golden Delicious which, in my humble opinion, are mushy and not that great. McIntosh, Empire, Gala, Fuji. These are all the right direction. I used almost all McIntosh and Empire.
Let’s start with the apple prep. You can do this a couple of ways, all of which require varying amounts of effort on either the front or back end of the process. My grandparents apparently prefer their labor at the end. They don’t peel the apples before they cook them and they use a food mill. I, however, decided to opt to peel the apples first, which means that they cook down more and there is no need to process them at the end. Some people will tell you that the sauce will have more flavor if you leave the peels on. I argue that with apples this fresh it doesn’t matter. Save yourself a bit of hard labor and start with the apples peeled in my opinion.
Once the apples are prepped, this could not be a simpler process. Get out a very large pot. Put the diced apples in the pot. Add a cup of water. Cover the pot and turn on the heat to medium. Once it seems like the apples are starting to cook turn down the heat quite low.
The key to making applesauce is low and slow heat. Cooking the apples slowly allows them to release the most flavor and prevents burning or scorching. You want the apples to release as much of their natural sugar as possible!
After a few minutes, steam will start to form on the inside of the pot and the apples will have started to release their juices. Give them a good stir and then add the sugar and cinnamon. Stir until the ingredients thoroughly mix and coat the apples.
Now cook. For a long time. Over low heat. Stirring from the bottom every few minutes to avoid any burning. You may want to add a little more water as the process goes if the sauce is looking too thick. Play it by ear. Which is what you have to do with the cook time as well. My grandma said I should cook the apples 2-3 hours, but I found that my apples had all broken down after about 90 minutes. Just play it by ear, but plan to be attending the stove for a while. It’s a great Sunday morning activity while you read the paper!
You’ll know when your sauce is done because frankly it’s going to look like applesauce. Eat it with everything. Eat it with steel cut oats for breakfast. Serve it over a nice pork chop for dinner. Eat it plain for dessert. Eat it all the time!