I ran out of jars...

I decided to take a couple of days off this week. I didn't have any grand plans for a trip, I just wanted to take a few days off when I could given that we're quickly heading into our busy time of year. Once we hit Thanksgiving, it's pretty much a vacation blackout until well after Valentine's Day. So, what did I do for the last four days? I cooked and canned apples.

If you remember from my last post, one of my favorite things to do in the fall is to go apple picking. The apples then become a big part of my holiday gift-giving as I transform them into apple butters, chutneys, you name it. My eyes were bigger than my canning kettle this time around, I estimate I ended up with at least 75 to 80 pounds of apples this year.

In the last four days, I figure I cooked off about 50 pounds of apples. One box is completely emptied, and the two remaining boxes are about half to two-thirds full. I still have more cooking and canning to do, but I ran out of jars.Guess what I'm doing on my day off next week...

I hope you enjoy this week's recipes. When making these for the purposes of my holiday canning project, I scaled the recipes up to 12 pounds of apples, so if you decide to make a batch yourself, you'll be able to use a standard sauce pan and not have to rely on a turkey roasting pan set over two burners as you'll see in the following photos. The chutney is a standard, I make this recipe almost every year, but the apple butter is a new creation. I'm pretty pleased with it!

Chardonnay Vanilla Bean Apple Butter
Makes 3 to 4 cups, or 3 to 4 half pint jars

After making two large batches of my regular spiced apple butter, I quickly realized that I needed to come up with another recipe to make use of all of the apples I had picked. (24 pounds of apples cooked, and I had barely made a dent in my boxes.) When I was digging through my spice cabinet, I found a packet of vanilla bean pods that I probably bought over 5 years ago. They were pretty dry, and as a result I knew they would be hard to split open and cook with, but they stuck in my mind.... Suddenly, I had it--play off the vanilla and apple notes found in chardonnay wine and turn it into apple butter. The dried out vanilla bean pods would work great as the apple butter needs to cook down for a fairly long time, giving the beans ample opportunity to soften and release their flavor. 

2 pounds apples, peeled and cored and chopped

½ cup chardonnay wine

1 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean pod, split lengthwise and scraped with the back of a knife

juice of half a lemon

Combine all of the ingredients in a very large stainless steel saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and boil gently for 30 to 40 minutes or until mixture is reduced and thickened. There should still be some tender apple chunks in the mixture. 

Remove the vanilla bean pods and discard. Using an immersion blender, puree the apple butter until it is smooth. 

At this point the apple butter can be cooled to room temperature and refrigerated where it will keep for about 2 weeks. Or you can place the apple butter into canning jars and process in a hot water canner. 

While the apples are cooking, prepare your jars for canning. Remove the lids and rings from the jars. Bring a large stock pot of water to a rapid boil. Sterilize the lids and rings by lowering them into the boiling water for about 3 minutes. Transfer them to a clean towel. Repeat with the jars.

Carefully ladle the hot apple butter into the hot jars, leaving about ½ inch of headspace. Cover the jar with a lid and a screw top ring. Tighten the ring to just finger tight.

When the stock pot of water has returned to a boil, lower the jars into the pot, standing them upright and in a single layer across the bottom of the pot. Make sure the jars are completely submerged under the water. Cover the pot and when the water in the pot returns to a boil, set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the jars from the pot and set on a clean towel. Repeat the process with the remaining jars, being sure to let the water come back to the boil each time.

Let the jars sit undisturbed until they are room temperature. You should hear a noticeable "plinking" sound as the jars cool and pull the center of the lids down. After they have cooled, gently press on the center of each of the lids to be sure they have fully depressed. Any jars with lids that have not pulled down tight have not properly sealed. Place those jars in the refrigerator and enjoy them first. 

Apple and Ginger Chutney
Makes about 6 cups, or 6 half pint jars

Part of setting up for a class is putting out a snack for the students. Yes they get to eat the food they make as part of the class, but eating the food usually comes at the end of the class, so we like to put out a little something at the beginning for them to nosh on. Our "throw down" snack, as I like to call it, is cream cheese and chutney--take a brick of cream cheese, put it on a plate, top it with chutney or some other savory jam, and serve it with crackers. Our students are amazed at how tasty it is, they don't believe us at first when we tell them it's just cream cheese. This chutney is also a tasty alternative to cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, and it's really great with roasted pork.

4 large tart apples, such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Fuji, peeled, cored, and chopped

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

1 ½ cups cider vinegar

1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup golden raisins

1 tablespoon peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger

1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

1 cinnamon stick

4 teaspoons mustard seed

4 teaspoons coriander seed

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

In a large saucepan combine all of the ingredients.  

Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, and cook it over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes, or until it is reduced and thickened. 

At this point the chutney can be cooled to room temperature and refrigerated where it will keep for about 2 weeks. Or you can place the chutney into canning jars and process in a hot water canner. 

While the chutney is cooking, prepare your jars for canning. Remove the lids and rings from the jars. Bring a large stock pot of water to a rapid boil. Sterilize the lids and rings by lowering them into the boiling water for about 3 minutes. Transfer them to a clean towel. Repeat with the jars.

Carefully ladle the hot chutney into the hot jars, leaving about ½ inch of headspace. Cover the jar with a lid and a screw top ring. Tighten the ring to just finger tight.

When the stock pot of water has returned to a boil, lower the jars into the pot, standing them upright and in a single layer across the bottom of the pot. Make sure the jars are completely submerged under the water. Cover the pot and when the water in the pot returns to a boil, set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the jars from the pot and set on a clean towel. Repeat the process with the remaining jars, being sure to let the water come back to the boil each time.

Let the jars sit undisturbed until they are room temperature. You should hear a noticeable "plinking" sound as the jars cool and pull the center of the lids down. After they have cooled, gently press on the center of each of the lids to be sure they have fully depressed. Any jars with lids that have not pulled down tight have not properly sealed. Place those jars in the refrigerator and enjoy them first. 

My kitchen smells of cardamom....

I love autumn. I think it's my favorite season. I love sweater weather, the leaves turning every shade of yellow, orange, and red, the bright blue skies, soups and stews. Growing up in Houston, autumn was a little different--autumn meant that you didn't get sweaty the minute you walked outside, you didn't search for the one parking spot in the shade, and you could wear long sleeves and not get too hot. I know, not nearly as exciting sounding, and the only color the leaves turned was brown, but autumn was my favorite season even then.

One of the other great things about autumn in the northeastern United States are all of the pick-your-own apple orchards. I discovered apple picking shortly after I moved from Houston to DC. In Houston, I was familiar with red delicious, golden delicious, Granny Smith, gala, and Fuji apples were just starting to make their presence known in the grocery stores. But, that first day in the orchard, I discovered a whole new world of apple varieties--Stayman winesap, honeycrisp, Jonathan, Jonagold, macintosh (no, not just an Apple computer), mahon, pink lady, and more. As I started to get to know these new varieties, I found that some apples were great for eating right out of hand, others were mushy and best cooked into sauce, and some held their shape when cooked and were best for pies. That first autumn, I think I picked about 10 or 12 pounds of apples and used them to make a couple of pies and other desserts that I shared with my friends. Little did I know how that fun afternoon would eventually evolve into a new favorite, although seasonal, passion.

Over the years, I started to make apple picking not only an annual autumn ritual, I taught myself the basics of hot water bath canning and preserving. You see, that first haul of 10 or 12 pounds eventually grew into a half bushel box, then two, and then with my latest trip to the orchard, three half bushel boxes. A half bushel box usually weighs about 20 pounds, but my boxes are usually mounded pretty high when I get to the checkout stand. The folks at the orchard usually give me a little bit of a glare (I can imagine them muttering, "box stuffer") so I would guess my boxes probably weigh closer to 25 pounds each. Yes, that means I have upwards of 75 pounds of apples sitting on my dining room table. That's more than a couple of pies, learning how to can and preserve them is a necessity. 

I started out just making apple butter, and then expanded into apple chutney. In recent years, I added brandied apple rings and cinnamon apple wedges. The jars of preserved apples become a big part of my holiday gift giving. I send jars to friends, family, and my staff all get gift bags in December. 

Needless to say, working my way through 75 pounds of apples will take more than a couple of days. I've started the process, my first batch of apple butter was made with 12 pounds of apples, and it barely made a dent in the boxes. I've got some ideas for new recipes, so I'll probably have at least one or more two postings on the topic of apples in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my Spiced Apple Butter.

Angie’s Spiced Apple Butter

Makes 3 to 4 cups, or 3 to 4 half pint jars

2 pounds apples, peeled and cored and chopped

½ cup apple cider

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamom (my secret ingredient)

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

juice of half a lemon

Combine all of the ingredients in a very large stainless steel saucepan. (When I made my most recent batch, I scaled the recipe up to 12 pounds of apples. Instead of a saucepan, I used my stainless steel roasting pan and set it over two burners in order to cook that large amount of apples.)

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and boil gently for 30 to 40 minutes or until mixture is reduced and thickened. There should still be some tender apple chunks in the mixture. 

Using an immersion blender, puree the apple butter until it is smooth. 

At this point the apple butter can be cooled to room temperature and refrigerated where it will keep for about 2 weeks. Or you can place the apple butter into canning jars and process in a hot water canner. 

While the apples are cooking, prepare your jars for canning. Remove the lids and rings from the jars. Bring a large stock pot of water to a rapid boil. Sterilize the lids and rings by lowering them into the boiling water for about 3 minutes. Transfer them to a clean towel. Repeat with the jars.

Carefully ladle the hot apple butter into the hot jars, leaving about ½ inch of headspace. Cover the jar with a lid and a screw top ring. Tighten the ring to just finger tight.

When the stock pot of water has returned to a boil, lower the jars into the pot, standing them upright and in a single layer across the bottom of the pot. Make sure the jars are completely submerged under the water. Cover the pot and when the water in the pot returns to a boil, set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the jars from the pot and set on a clean towel. Repeat the process with the remaining jars, being sure to let the water come back to the boil each time.

Let the jars sit undisturbed until they are room temperature. You should hear a noticeable "plinking" sound as the jars cool and pull the center of the lids down. After they have cooled, gently press on the center of each of the lids to be sure they have fully depressed. Any jars with lids that have not pulled down tight have not properly sealed. Place those jars in the refrigerator and enjoy them first. 

The grapes looked sad....

I hate my refrigerator.

When I bought my condo, the previous owner had done a kitchen remodel--new cabinets, new countertops, new flooring. Granted, the cabinets were probably from Home Depot, the countertops were formica, and the flooring was sheet vinyl, but they were new. The appliances, however, were the originals, circa 1990. Except the refrigerator, it was brand new. It's also very small. Not dorm-refrigerator-small, but not full-sized.

At the time, I chalked it up to the fact that the previous owner was an elderly woman who lived alone, and who was very petite, so to her it must have been the perfect size. Judging by how little the appliances had obviously been used, I guessed she didn't cook much. I also figured that she was trying to do as little to the apartment as necessary to sell it, so since the other appliances were still in good working order--and weren't replaced--that the original refrigerator must have broken down and would have been more expensive to repair than replace.

My refrigerator has the freezer on top. I know, not unusual, but think about it, do you spend more time getting into and out of your freezer or your refrigerator? Your refrigerator. Putting the freezer on top means that the compartment that is at eye level and easiest to access is the compartment that you use the least. On top of that, did I mention that it's small? I'm actually taller, by several inches, than my refrigerator. This means, that I have to bend over every time I get into the refrigerator, and if there's anything stored on the bottom shelf, I actually have to squat down or get on my knees in order to reach it. I regularly lose things that have been pushed to the back on the lower shelf. Out of sight, out of mind.

So, a couple of days ago, I was rearranging some items on that lower refrigerator shelf and realized that the grapes I had bought the week before had been pushed to the back. The grapes were a little sad looking, not spoiled, but not as plump and fresh as they had been. I didn't want to throw them away, that would be wasteful, but what to do....

I suddenly remembered a dish I had eaten years ago. I don't remember the name of the restaurant, or even what city I was in, but the dish was pasta with a spicy sausage and grapes! I remember that the sweetness of the grapes were the perfect counterpoint to the heat of the sausage. Using that faint memory as inspiration, I decided to create my own version of the dish and give life back to those sad, forgotten grapes. I'm pretty pleased with the results....

Rigatoni with Spicy Sausage and Grapes

When I was working on this recipe, I used ingredients that I had on hand. Feel free to try other pasta shapes (I think penne or orecchiette would make nice options). I happened to have fresh chorizo in the refrigerator, but this dish would also work great with a spicy Italian sausage.

Serves 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound fresh spicy sausage, such as chorizo or Italian, removed from the casings
1 leek, cleaned and thinly sliced (it looked lonely in the refrigerator, so I added it to the dish)
1 small onion, diced
1 cup white wine 
1 ½ cups chopped fresh tomatoes
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
1 cups red or green seedless grapes, stems removed
2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
1 pound rigatoni, cooked per the package instructions
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Grated parmesan cheese to garnish

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When warm, add the sausage to the skillet and cook, stirring and breaking up the sausage as it cooks. When the sausage is no longer pink, add the leek and onion and a pinch of salt. Continue to cook, stirring, until the onions are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and stir, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Bring the wine to a simmer and cook until the liquid has reduced by at least half, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and red pepper flakes and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down, another 5 minutes more. Add the grapes and cook until the grapes are plump and softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley, taste and season with additional salt and pepper. 

Drain the rigatoni and add to the skillet with the sausage and grapes. Stir to evenly mix, then divide into 4 warmed pasta bowls. Garnish with parmesan and serve.




P.S.: I think I finally figured out why the the previous owner both replaced the refrigerator and did so with one so small. About a year or two ago, I considered replacing it with something larger, and when I measured the space, I discovered that distance between the floor and the bottom of the cabinets above the refrigerator was about an inch to short to fit a standard sized refrigerator. My guess is that the contractor didn't check that measurement when ordering the cabinets and only realized after the fact that the original refrigerator was too tall to fit in the new opening. Getting a new, larger refrigerator will require removing the cabinets above. So, for the time being, I'm living with it as it is. Maybe someday, I'll get the chance to do the kitchen over properly--and you can be sure I'm going to double check all the measurements!