I had a free night one day last week! Amazingly enough, my kiddos were occupied out of the house and Andy wasn't home from work just yet. That meant a cooking night for me! But what to cook. I pulled out my Art Smith cookbook (Back to the Table) and searched through it. Two things popped out at me. I didn't think of using them together but Art insisted that they were a perfect match, so I whipped them up. He was right! Farm apple butter and cheddar batter bread are a match made in heaven! Who knew? Well, I guess those of you who eat cheddar cheese with apple pie are not surprised, but you could have knocked me over with a feather. I had a lovely evening snack and the kitchen just smelled heavenly while the two of these cooked up together. Of course, these two aren't exclusive - they play well with others for sure, so feel free to test them out on other things.
Farm Apple Butter
Ingredients:
3 lbs apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3 cups natural apple cider
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1. Bring the apples and cider to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered, until the apples are soft, about 20 minutes.
2. Stir in the honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Cook until the apples break down for a very thick sauce, 45 minutes to an hour.
3. Cool just until warm. In batches, puree in a food processor fitted with a metal blade or a blender. If the mixture seems watery, return it to the saucepan and simmer until it thickens. Cover tightly and refrigerate.
this looks good. I am in love with Apple Butter....but it's so darn expensive. Hope is just beginning to eat "big girl" food. She can't have honey....I wonder if pure syrup would work??? hmmmm.....maybe I will just wait to introduce her to apple butter and make it for the rest of us. ;o)
ReplyDeleteBex, you could use agave nectar in place of honey or make a simple syrup of sugar and water and try that (it's a little thinner than honey, so you might need to add an apple slice or two), but I bet that would work! Or maple syrup would totally work!
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