Monthly Archives: November 2011

November 24, 2011 · 10:52 am

Slow Cooker Mulling Spiced Applesauce


Every Sunday, I get out of bed earlier than the mister (teacher schedules are hard to break, even on the weekend!) and pad across the hallway, in my slippers, into the kitchen.  I delight in these morning hours, using the time to read cookbooks, write, and experiment in the kitchen.  When I found a recipe for applesauce in one of the best slow cooker books I’ve come across thus far, I thought, now why didn’t I think of that?  Ever since then, like clockwork, I buy twelve apples on Saturday, and wake up Sunday to begin my new weekly ritual.

Step one:  I always daydream, if only briefly, about having an apple peeler–you know, one of those that winds the apple around a little metal loop, sending ribbons of peel into neat little piles on the cutting board.  I don’t have one, but the truth is, I like the process of peeling around the stem while turning each apple in my hand, and the satisfying chk chk of the peeler.  Being the band geek and music teacher that I am, I get a cheap thrill out of the rhythmic thwaps of multicolored apple pieces flying all over my butcher block all disorganized and random, some faced up, some down.

Now, if you’ve ever read a Cook’s Illustrated recipe, you know that they are obsessed with repetition and variation–trying every possibility, even the slightly ridiculous, to eventually arrive at “the” recipe.  For the past four weekends , I’ve been making like a CI test kitchen.  There have been Granny Smiths, Galas, Fujis and Honeycrisps, sprinkled with granulated sugar and raw sugar, cooked on high and on low, spiced with cinnamon only, and, most recently, (and deliciously might I add), mulling spices–both mixes of whole spices, and those in tea bags.

The process happens like this:  Peel, core, and cut your apples into big chunks.  Stick ‘em in the slow cooker.  Toss with sugar, turn on the slow cooker (seems obvious, one would think), and do something else for 6-8 hours. No use adding the spices until the apples collapse and give you some liquid to nestle them into.  Let the mulling spices steep for a while, then coax the apples into a sauce by smooshing and smoothing the apples against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon until you have your desired texture–I like mine with soft little chunks of apple remaining.  Add more sugar and ground cinnamon, and you’re good to go!  Ever so complicated, I know.

There are still infinite possibilities to be tried, but my favorite variation (so far) tastes just like the applesauce that grandma always used to bring to Thanksgiving in a big pot (hi grandma!), and tastes like a mug of mulled cider.  I like it warm, just out of the slow cooker, or when cold, atop my favorite potato-apple latkes.

I hereby pass my weekly ritual to you.  Happy fall, and happy Thanksgiving!

Mulling-Spiced Slow Cooker Applesauce

Makes 8 Servings (2 quarts)

Adapted from Art of the Slow Cooker by Andrew Schloss

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

4 Granny Smith apples

8 large tart-sweet apples, such as Gala, Fuji, Braeburn, or Honeycrisp

2 to 4 tablespoons sugar (I like to use raw sugar, but granulated works just as well)

1 tablespoon mulling spices, tied in cheesecloth or tea bag*

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste

Mix the vinegar and one gallon cold water in a large bowl. Peel the apples and place them in the vinegar water as soon as they are peeled.   Cut the apples in half lengthwise and scoop out the core with a melon baller.  Put the cut apples back into the vinegar water until needed.  When finished coring, remove the apples from the water (discarding the water), cut into 1-to 2- inch chunks.  Toss the apples in the slow cooker with 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Cover the cooker and cook the apples on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours, or until the apples are completely tender.  Stir the apples with a wooden spoon–they should immediately collapse and form a chunky sauce.  Nestle the mulling spice satchel in the applesauce, cover, and cook for an additional hour.  Remove the mulling spices, and smash and smoosh the apples against the inside of the pot until the sauce is your desired texture.  Add cinnamon and additional sugar to taste.

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November 6, 2011 · 8:46 pm

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Walnut Bread

Three autumns ago, the mister and I became homeowners.  We sat in our cold, messy house, the blue-white light reflecting from the snow outside into our curtain-less bedroom. The kitchen was bare, our pots and pans stacked in boxes somewhere.  After the big drumroll of finding the house, getting approved for a loan, and hastily packing our things from our little apartment, we finally made it, and I didn’t know how to feel.  Would this place ever feel like home?

Our last place, a sunny little two bedroom apartment on the second floor, was a little tight.  We faced a park, and were surrounded by retired couples with names like Rowena and Art.  Sure, I had to keep my canning pot on top of the dryer in the hallway, and yes, it was a little tricky to prep food on two feet of counter space, but we made it work, and it felt like home.

I’m a nester.  Invite me over for any amount of time, and you’re bound to find souvenirs of my presence everywhere.  I’ll use your blankets, ensconce myself in your comfiest chair and leave books and reading glasses on your coffee table.  I’ll snoop in your kitchen, and examine pictures and shopping lists stuck with magnets to your refrigerator.  I’ll even make you a meal out of random ingredients in your pantry if you let me.

The problem was, I hadn’t nested yet.  Everything I needed to cook a good meal was in boxes stacked up in the garage.  Thinking of my dutch oven so cold and lonely in a box somewhere made me sad.  Whenever the house feels gloomy, I cook.  But here I was, my belly utterly unsatisfied by the least offensive fast food I could find, dreaming about the day I would unpack my spices and make something worth talking about.

On a recent Sunday night, the front door was nice and steamy from the simmering vegetable broth and spiced pumpkin bread I had made earlier that afternoon.  Two friends came over for a last minute get together.  They walked in, greeted by Luca’s enthusiastic jumps and howls.  When the little fur tornado calmed down, we made our way into the kitchen.  Kim and Lori studied the pictures stuck to the fridge and examined my shopping lists and meal ideas.  We sliced into the still-warm pumpkin bread, puffed- up and proud, its top crust laden with toasted walnuts and crunchy raw sugar, and carried our steaming, mismatched tea cups to the living room.

The best way to eat pumpkin bread is with one’s hands, and we began to pull warm bite-sized pieces from our slices, bits of moist crumb and toasted walnut falling back onto our plates.  Almost like the steam releasing suddenly from a pressure cooker, Kim sunk into the corner of the couch, and sighed, “It’s just so cozy in here”. It finally dawned on me.

Ahh, okay.  Here we are.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Walnut Bread

Adapted from The Art and Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet

Makes One 9 x5 inch loaf

As it was, this pumpkin walnut bread was the best I had ever tasted, but it’s in my nature to tweak recipes, no matter how good. In this case, I replaced the white flour with whole wheat pastry flour, which turned out to be just as moist as the original.  The raw sugar on top adds a crackly crunch.  This pumpkin walnut bread comes together easily and freezes beautifully when double-wrapped in plastic and placed inside a freezer bag.  

  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour*
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
  • 1 teaspoon raw sugar

1) Preheat the oven to 350˚F and place an oven rack in the middle position.   Lightly coat a 9 x5-inch loaf pan with butter and line with parchment paper.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger and salt until throughly incorporated.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and water.  Add the sugar and whisk until blended.  Add the pumpkin puree, canola oil and vanilla extract.  Stir until combined.

3) Add the pumpkin mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir until well blended.  Add 3/4 cup of the walnuts and stir until evenly distributed.  Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and level the top.  Scatter the raw sugar and remaining 1/4 cup chopped walnuts over the top of the batter.

4) Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until the top crust is dark golden and firm, and a toothpick just barely comes out clean. Allow to cool for 25 minutes before cutting.  Leftovers can be stored for 2 days at room temperature if wrapped in plastic, or up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

*All-purpose flour can be substituted for the whole wheat pastry flour.  

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