Conference turris::cooks

    Recipes?  My favorite has one ingredient....
    
    APPLES
    
    Core apples, and cut off bad spots and remove worms.  Cook in large
    pot.  You'll need a little water in the pot (1/4-1/2 cup) to start
    the cooking.  Cook until mushy.  Put through strainer, either a
    food strainer like the attachment to my Kitchenaid mixer, or one
    of those little hand-crank gadgets.  If the sauce is too thin, return
    it to the pot and cook down a bit.
    
    I can a lot of this every fall, since friends of mine have an apple
    orchard in their back yard.  I rarely add anything before I can
    it, since the apples are sweet as is.  If I want to add spices,
    I do that when serving.  That way I can use the sauce as I want,
    in cakes and muffins as well as for eating straight, and I can
    change the flavor as it suits me.  My usual additions for eating
    straight are a dash of cinnimon and cloves, or apple-pie spice.
    I let people sweeten it as they like at the table - I like mine
    unsweetened.
    
    --Louise

    To add to what Louise said in .1, I add a little cinnamon while
    making it, and make sure to leave the skin on when running through
    "one of those gadgets" (Foley Food Mill).  The added red color is
    very appetizing. Cortland apples by the way do not make great
    applesauce, they are too solid, those which quickly turn brown like
    McIntosh, McKowen, McCoon, and Delicious make better applesauce.

    I don't add water at all, just cook it more slowly.  I supposed
    it would depend on the type of apples, but I usually use Mac's with
    a couple of Delicious thrown in for added flavor.  If using very
    tart apples, try adding a dash of honey when finished cooking and
    pouring over French vanilla ice cream!
    
    Sarah
    

If I'm going to run it thru a food mill, I just coarsely chop the apples.  The 
mill takes out the skins, seeds, and stems.  The result is a smooth sauce with 
a pinkish tinge.

If I'm willing to go to all the trouble of peeling and coring, I cut the 
apples into chunks and cook them until they are soft.  When they are soft, I 
add more apple chunks, and cook till these are just soft, but not falling 
apart.  The result is a chunky sauce with an interesting texture.

When the cooking starts, I always add a whole cinnamon stick or two, and some 
freshly ground allspice berries (whole ones, if I'm going to mill the sauce).  
Adding a bit of water helps get the process started, but you end up cooking 
the souce a bit longer.  I never cover the pot, but once it gets soupy, the 
"bloops" will make a mess, so I put an inverted sieve or colander on top to 
let out the steam and keep in the apples.

For an interesting flavor, add a shot or so of Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or 
triple sec at the beginning of cooking.  This is particularly fine when the 
sauce is used with pork or vanilla ice cream.

						     
							- JP

A variation I use is to leave the skin on in the final product.  Just
cook the apples (cored and sliced) till they are mushy and stir them
up in the pot.  Let it cool and eat it.  You get a pink colored sauce 
with the skins in for texture.  Delicious and different.

Ron

    
    I have never used a recipe for applesauce, but here is how I make
    mine. First let me say that I prefer a white, tart and chunky
    applesauce. I peel apples, a combination of Macs and Granny Smiths,
    and slice them in about 1/4 inch slices, sprinkle with lemon juice
    simmer them (covered) in enough water to cover the bottom of the pan 
    about 1/4 inch, until the apples are broken down. depending on the
    tartness of the apples you may add a little sugar, stir until you
    have a chunky sauce. Because I never use a recipe, I am trying to
    write this on recall, I just have never thought about measurements,
    I just do it. If any clarification is needed, send me mail.
    
    +pat+              
    

    I don't use a recipe either.  I just cut up enough apples to fill
    the pan, usually using a combination of Macs and Cortlands.  Add
    a little bit of water to cover the bottom of the pan and cook uncovered
    til the apples become mushy.  I add about a few tablespoons of sugar,
    some cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg.  Adjust the quantities depending
    on how much you are making.  I always taste as I go, so I usually
    can tell what I need to add.  I prefer my applesauce chunky and
    served warm (I even reheat it in the microwave when I have it with
    my lunch). 
    
    Applesauce freezes very well, so since I live across the street
    from an orchard, I tend to make it fresh in the fall, and then make
    one big batch which I freeze so that we can enjoy it throughout
    the year.  It's really quite easy to make.
    
    Cathy

    I use dry white wine (pinot or riesling) instead of water, and I
    cook the apples until the sauce becomes a cream, without adding
    anything else. Eventually, but this is up to your taste, you can
    put also some onion (10-20%).
    This sauce is right for pork meat.

    Rather than cooking apples, I wash, core, and quarter maybe a half
    dozen apples (leaving the peels on), and put them into the blender
    and blend until the desired level of smoothness.  The advantages
    of this method:
      .  no loss of vitamins by cooking
      .  speed
    
    If you like, you can add whatever sweetening and/or spices you desire.
    
    
    					Joanna

    >>>>>How about a combination recipie? This is like apple
    sauce/butter.<<<<<

                      
    2 # apples (cooking)
    
    2 Tbls lemon juice 
    
    1 c apple juice
    
    1/2 tsp ground cloves
    
    1/2 tsp allspice
    
    1 tsp lemon peel
    
    2 Tbls cider vinegar
    
    add (to taste sweetener of choice)
    ***
    wash core and quarter the apples leaving on the skins
    in a 22 qt uwave proof bowl combine apples,juices,
    and vinegar. Cover and cook in uwave on high until apples
    are soft-- about 9-10 minutes.Stir every 2-3 min.
    
    Put cooked mixture thru a blender and add spices and lemon peel
    uwave again 10-15 min. until thickened, stirring every 3 min.
    (to test for thickness place a "bit" on a saucer and observe no
    water seeps along the edges)
    Let mixture set for 10 min. add sweetener to taste approximately
    1/4 c 0f sugar or equivilant artificial sweetener..Refrigerate --or--
    freeze in plastic or glass containers--in the freezer we have kept
    it for 6-10 months-- really is delicious.    <DICK>
    
    
    
    
    

    Referance my .5>> The container  is TWO (2) quart ---not 22  my
    keyboard must have a bounce--- sorry--- <DICK>

I think this is discussed somewhere else in this file but....

Recently I heard on the radio a commercial for Motts applesauce
that says you can substitute it for the oil/shortening/butter
in all your favorite baked recipes (the sweet ones of course).

I was wondering if anybody had tried this.  Recently, I made a couple
of loaves of pumpkin bread which called for over 2C of sugar and 2/3 C
shortening (I used 1/2 C margarine plus some shortening).  It also
called for 2/3 C water in addition to the pumpkin.  The recipe
came out delicious but I am very fat concious and would like to try
the substitution.  

However, it seems to me that just a straight substitution would
not work because applesauce has a higher moisture content and also
is sweeter.  Would a straight substitution work or should I cut down
on the quantities of water and sugar to compensate?

Karen

P.S.... if anybody has a pumpkin bread recipe that they KNOW works
with applesauce, please post it here (or in the pumpkin note) 
and I'll use that instead.

�(I used 1/2 C margarine plus some shortening).  
    
    Substituting margarine for shortening does nothing in terms of reducing
    fat or calories.  Shortening is vegetable based, so cholesterol
    reduction isn't achieved either.
    
    

    re .13
    Although the description of ingredients used in this pumpkin bread
    mentioned that margarine and shortening were both used, I believe the 
    noter in .12 was asking about substituting apple sauce for butter or
    margarine or shortening.  I've heard of this being done, but haven't
    tried it myself.  I would think it would make the final product denser
    (not necessarily a drawback...).

    It was mentioned that margarine was substituted for shortening when the
    recipe was originally made, thus my comment.
    

applesauce "holds" moisture...so, it can help prevent the crumbly, dry
texture of low-fat baked goods.  The rule is:

look at the flavor of the subject...if you are baking a sweet, highly
flavored bread, applesauce is a good substitute for some of the fat...
i generally use 1/2 replacement - some fat is needed for ultimate
flavor and feel on the tongue. I would not try complete replacement. 

If you are baking a more subtle flavor, other substitutes for fat
may be low-fat cottage cheese, blenderize until smooth...or even
LOW-FAT yoghurt, drained in cheese cloth for 4 hours.    

    I tried a specific recipe for brownies that called for applesauce
    instead of margarine or butter. It actually used a brownie mix. I don't
    remember what the ratio of the applesauce to replace-fat was, but I did
    notice that the brownies were sweeter than usual (if that's possible).
    I also used the cinnamon-flavored applesauce, so maybe it has sugar
    added. Anyway, they turned out very good, moist and chewy. But I would
    suggest, if you're experimenting, to use either less sugar or less
    applesauce in the recipe to keep it from being too sweet.
    
    Debbie
    

>    I tried a specific recipe for brownies that called for applesauce
>    instead of margarine or butter. It actually used a brownie mix. I don't
>    remember what the ratio of the applesauce to replace-fat was, but I did
>    notice that the brownies were sweeter than usual (if that's possible).
>    I also used the cinnamon-flavored applesauce, so maybe it has sugar
>    added. Anyway, they turned out very good, moist and chewy. But I would
>    suggest, if you're experimenting, to use either less sugar or less
>    applesauce in the recipe to keep it from being too sweet.
    
no sugar-added applesauce, and a recipe from-scratch that allows you
to add slightly less sugar is the best approach to solving this...I
would reduce sugar by approx. 1 tablespoon for each 1/2 cup of sweetened
applesauce/1 cup of unsweetened applesauce.  I tried a recipe designed
to use applesauce and I had no problem....I'll look for the recipe again
and post it here if I find it.