Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Applesauce in Honor of George W.

Sunday England was celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth's reign. It is a wonderful and exciting celebration of a beloved monarch. So I decided to do a bit of celebrating on my own back here across the pond in the colonies. Apples for George Washington, the man who could have been King of America.

...President Washington was so well liked after his Revolutionary victory that a group of citizens frustrated with the Continental Congress [so that is actually nothing new] floated the idea of a coup-d'etat and the installation of King George and the creation of an American monarchy. But Washington, who believed that anyone might make for a good leader, staunched the idea and eventually relinquished his power as commander-in-chief.

(The Man Who Would Be King Newsweek, Oct 7, 2008 8:00 PM EDT)

I had these two apples left that needed to be used after I made Morning Glory muffins using one of the three from last week. So I thought of applesauce, since it can be eaten as is or stirred into the homemade yogurt. Apple Yogurt with Oatmeal sounded good so I decided on Applesauce for George Washington. I am going to tell you what I did, since I was making it up as I went along.

2 apples - finely chopped

1/4 plus 1/8 c water

zest of a small lemon

juice of 1/2 the lemon

heaping 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

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Put all the ingredients into a saucepan, I used my small dutch oven. Stir to mix it all up and cover. Cook over low to medium heat until the apples are soft, maybe 15 or 20 minutes. Then smoosh them with a potato masher if you like chunky sauce or a blender if you want it well ground. You can use a food processor as well, but the blender seems easier to clean up to me. Probably isn't but that is the way it feels.

Keep a close eye on the boiling concoction because the pectin in the apples and the sugar combine to make a thick base which will burn in a heartbeat. I did have to add a bit more water twice because my apples were not soft yet and the liquid was pretty thick. I like that you don't have to add cornstarch or flour and cut down on some of the carbs. I also used about 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 brown sugar that was actually stevia. It leaves no aftertaste and cooks like real brown sugar but is difficult to find. I order it from online sources, I can find them if you want to know.

I zested the lemon with this thing, a lemon zester I guess. Who would have ever thought I would fall for that gadget. I am usually a non-gadget person, but I really have found this useful and not expensive to purchase. Beware, I did, however, zest my thumbnail pretty good.

For variations on this theme of applesauce, you can try to cut the sugars down by half and go more natural. You can cut out most of the sugars and add Red Hots if you like a cinnamonny spicy applesauce. And you can add some vanilla to enhance flavorings. I even saw one recipe that added dolce de leche, wouldn't' that be good, creamy applesauce.