Easy as Applesauce

For those of you who live  in the New York metropolitan area, or who frequent the farmer's market wherever you may dwell, perhaps you can sympathize with the flustered feeling I get when I'm wandering through the apple bins at the Union Square greenmarket and realizing I want to buy them all!  Each different apple variety I find, from the deep purple Winesap to the friendly green Mutzu, promises to pack the sweetest, juiciest, crispest punch.  What is an apple-obsessed girl to do?

Well, make applesauce, of course!  The best applesauce is, obviously, homemade, and is made from a variety of different apples of the sweetest variety (tart just doesn't work here, so steer clear of the Granny Smiths).  Using one kind of apple to make homemade applesauce results in a rather dull condiment, like a song comprised of a single note.  What we're looking for is more of a symphony of varying notes and tones.

So, next time you're faced with a moment of apple indecision, just grab one of each and head to the kitchen!

Simplest Applesauce
(printable recipe)

makes about one quart

Note: If you intend to make your applesauce with a potato masher, you'll need to first peel the apples before cooking them.

8 sweet apples, each a different variety

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water

To begin, cut each apple into four, through the core, and use a small paring knife to cut out the sliver of core from each slice.  Then cut each apple quarter in half, leaving you with eight pieces per apple.

Put the apple pieces into a large, thick-bottomed saucepan, add the cinnamon and water, and cook on medium-high heat, covered, until it comes to a boil.  Turn the heat down to low, remove the cover, and cook for another 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently, until a chunky sauce already begins to form.  Turn off the flame and proceed with one of the following three steps:

1) In small batches, transfer the apples carefully to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, and process for a few seconds until completely smooth.

2) In small batches, run the apples through a hand-crank food mill into a large bowl underneath.  Discard the strained-out solids as you go.

3) Using a hand blender, blend the apples in the same pot until the sauce is completely smooth.

Enjoy immediately, as a snack, dessert, or alongside a meat entree such as pork chops.  Or, once cooled, store in airtight plastic containers, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in indefinitely in the freezer.

My mayo revolution

Folks, I say this with total sincerity: this is one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted. Light, lemon-laced, velvety, homemade mayo. And I don't even like mayonnaise! (At least not the stuff from a jar.) But this has changed everything for me. And, if you have a food processor at hand, it's very easy to make. Even if you don't, some people will swear that making mayonnaise by hand, with a whisk, produces the most perfect product. So it just might be worth it...

Homemade Mayo - adapted from Mark Bittman's "Basic Mayonnaise"
(makes about 1 cup)

1 egg
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon)
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup grapeseed oil
pinch of cayenne
salt and white pepper

1. Put the egg, mustard, lemon juice and zest, and 1/4 cup of the oil into the bowl of a food processor and give it a whirl. While the machine is running, slowly drizzle in the remaining 3/4 cup of oil through the feed tube.

2. Season to taste and enjoy! Will keep in the fridge for a week.


And now, here's the first thing I decided to do with my melt-in-your-mouth mayo:

Sandwich!!

Tunafish Salad
(makes about 1 pound)

3 (5 oz.) cans white meat tuna
1 small red onion, finely chopped**
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 tablespoons homemade mayo (see above)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sumac (optional - found in most Middle Eastern groceries)salt to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, chill, and serve plain or on some toasted multigrain bread with crisp romaine lettuce. Yum!


** If you are as gadget-obsessed as I am, and you happen to have a mandoline slicer (see image below), I find the most painless way to really finely chop onions is to first slice them using my mandoline, and then chop the slices with a big chef knife. This makes light work of an unpleasant, and often tearful, task.

"What can I eat my mayo with today??" I ask plaintively, peering into the fridge at 10:30 A.M.

Glorious glutens

In the past, my bread-making attempts have been less than fruitful. I've turned out lumpy loaves, misshapen messes, and rock-hard ryes. But lately, having honed my dough skills as the Pizza Queen at work, my homegrown efforts are yielding some delectable results. If you have a food processor, this is the least messy bread you'll ever make. (No need to knead!)
If you don't, it's still worth a try - simply incorporate the ingredients by hand, on a well-floured surface, and be sure to keep kneading until the dough is smooth and springy.

Herbed Sandwich Bread
(makes one big honkin' loaf)

- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary, thyme, za'atar, or dried herb of choice
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoon instant (granulated) yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing bowl and pan
- 1-1/2 cups cool milk (or water)

1. Fit your food processor with the dough blade attachment. Add the flour, chopped onion, herb, salt, and yeast, and pulse a couple of times.
2. With the motor running, add the honey, olive oil, and milk slowly through the feed tube. Continue running the machine until a ball of dough forms around the blade, about 1 minute.
3. Remove the hunk of dough from the machine and shape into a sphere. Place in a large well-oiled bowl and cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let rise at least 2 hours in a warm spot.
4. Deflate the risen dough and reshape into a ball. Let rest 15 minutes. Then, shape into a loaf and place on an oiled baking sheet (if you're going free-form) or in a large oiled loaf pan, cover with a towel, and allow to rise again for another hour.
5. Heat your oven to 375 degrees F. With a sharp paring knife, slash across the top of your loaf in a few evenly spaced horizontal lines. Brush the top of the loaf with water and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it. You can also test for doneness by taking a read of the internal temperature of the loaf; it should be about 160 degrees F.

If you want to do some experimenting, try substituting garlic for the onion and add chopped kalamata olives. Or go nuts! Walnuts and sunflower seeds would work nicely, maybe with some caraway seeds sprinkled on top.

My homemade (un) sun-dried tomatoes

I've been experimenting with (among other things) using my gas oven as a dehydrator. I've dried herbs, garlic and now: tomatoes. Dan is a big fan of sun-dried tomatoes, so I figured, why spend the extra moolah buying those fancy, non-eco-friendly, imported sun-dried tomatoes when I can make my own at home?! Granted, they're not exactly sun dried (although it looks like the sunshine is returning again to New York, yippee!!), but they're virtually the same. To make them, I simply core and vertically slice plum tomatoes (they're less juicy, more meaty - better than the beefsteak tomatoes for drying), lay them out on a baking sheet, and put them in the oven overnight, until they're all wrinkled up and leathery. You don't even need to turn the oven on - just trust in the steady low heat of the oven pilot to do the job right.

Here are my oven-dried tomatoes, packed into a jar with some extra virgin olive oil to cover.
Packaged this way, they should keep for months in the fridge. And if I weren't so tired of kitchen appliances, I would use the nifty canning kit that Paul got me for Christmas (thanks, bro!) and make 'em last forever. However, considering I live with a jiu-jitsu trained eating-machine, I needn't worry about these sweet snacks going sour :)