Applebutter!

So this year's batch of apple butter has arrived!

I did it a bit different this year... I don't have a slow cooker here in Korea (or an oven for that matter), so I had to use a stove top method. I used the ratio of ingredients that I used the for the slow cooker method, but this year I added fresh ginger and some green cardamon - since G. isn't here to complain about them. I started out with a low fire until the sugar pulled some of the juices out of the apples. Once I didn't have to worry about burning (as much), I turned the heat up and got a nice boil going. Stir, stir, stir... It cooked down for about an hour and a half. Then I pulled out the cardamon pods, ran an immersion blender through it to smooth it out, and ladled it into jars. Boil the jars for 15 minutes and...

Voila, applebutter! I had to stir it at least every 10 minutes, but I have to say... totally worth it!

There's nothing like fresh, warm applebutter!

Cupcakes!

So the votes came in on Twitter and Facebook and I decided to make Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes for my evening class this week. Everyone kept saying we should bring food, so I thought cupcakes might be a good initial offering. I found a recipe that fit what I was looking for on Cupcakes Take the Cake. Being constitutionally incapable of leaving well enough alone, though, I had to tweek it a bit. So, here you go - tasty, easy, and even kinda good for you - in terms of cupcakes, anyway...


2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup oatmeal
1 3/4 cups pureed pumpkin
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup brown rice syrup (if you can't find this, use white sugar and add an extra 1/2 Tbsp molasses)
1 Tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup canola oil
4 eggs (or egg replacer - flax seed would probably be particularly good)

1 Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line three 12-cup muffin tins with decorative cupcake papers.

2 In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. stir in the oatmeal.

3 In a large bowl, whisk (I used and electric hand mixer) together the pumpkin, syrup, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla and oil. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition.

4 Add the flour mixture in three additions, stirring with a large wooden spoon until just combined.

5 Fill the muffin tins about three-fourths full. Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the tins to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the tins and let cool completely. Makes 3 dozen.

...

The frosting I used was a complete improvisation. I wanted cream cheese frosting, but didn't have cream cheese, so I went with sour cream instead - similar tangy flavor to offset the spice in the cake.

1 stick butter (or Earth Balance), softened
4 oz. sour cream (or Tofutti Better Than...)
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Beat ingredients together, adding the sugar in thirds, so as to not powder your whole kitchen. Add additional sugar to bring frosting to your desired spreading consistency. Spread on cooled cupcakes with a frosting knife or spatula.

Pickles!!!

So, I have not been cooking much lately. Settling into a new place, figuring out schedules - I am home hand awake when my sisters are gone or asleep. I miss them and I live with them. =( But we do get weekends together - yesterday we tried a new restaurant and went grocery shopping.

I am also adjusting to a smaller kitchen - less counter space means I have to be super efficient while cooking, and I have to plan and prep better. So not how I do things, in the kitchen or out of it. On the up side, I have a gas stove again and it is AWESOME!!

Yesterday at the grocery store, we saw cucumbers on sale. As you can see, we decided not to pass them up. So in two weeks we will have yummy, garlicky refrigerator pickles.

So, applebutter...

The applebutter experiment was a rousing success. I love that I was able to make it in the slow cooker. And the applebutter aficionado in the house says that it tastes like his favorite store-bought brand - a ringing endorsement, to be sure. Photos of the finished product need work, maybe the batch I do on Saturday will photograph better than this batch did.So, the recipe...

2.5 kilos apples, cored and finely chopped (I ran them through the food processor)

800 g raw sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the sugar, spices and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well. Cover and cook on high 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, (mine took about 10) stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. During the last hour, blend it smooth with an immersion blender. Ladle into sterilized jars. Boil filled jars for 15 min. Cool and store.

I used organic Gala apples, but I think Granny Smiths or Jonathans would work well, too.

A Fall Festival Food

for my friends i finally was able to make supper this semester, i cooked soup in a pumpkin ...

cut the top off the pumpkin and clean the guts out...cut up about half a loaf of french bread and a little block of gruyere cheese into smallish cubes...place in the pumpkin along with a sprinkle of salt and some tarragon and garlic, probably about a teaspoon respectively... add a couple chunks of butter... pour about half to three-quarters cup chicken stock over the stuff already in the pumpkin... fill the pumpkin to about an inch bellow the opening with a combination of milk and half and half... put the cut-off top back on... bake at 400 for about two hours, give or take, (i wasn't paying really close attention to the exact time, but it was probably about that) on a cookie sheet of baking dish (with some sort of sides to prevent dripping, i used a 9x13 cake pan)... make sure you don't let the bottom of the pumpkin burn... stir it a couple of times while baking... take the pumpkin out of the oven stir it really well, make sure to scrape the sides a bit so that you get some chunks of the pumpkin mixed in... don't scrape to deep or your serving dish/pumpkin will get a very messy hole in the side or bottom... put the top of the pumpkin back on till you serve it, the pumpkin will provide some insulation, but serve it within about half an hour to forty-five minutes... the amounts of the ingredients will vary according to the size of the pumpkin...