Monday, January 19, 2009

Farmers Market Recipe - Applesauce

I love going to the Farmers market. The ones near me don't necessarily have the best prices on food all of the time, but there are some great tasting items you can't find in the normal grocery stores. Recently I picked up a couple pound of "second-rate" organic apples without wax for $1 a pound. I honestly have no idea what variety they were -- they were a molted red/green color. They were fairly sweet when snacking on little slices. I was excited to use organic apples as according to the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen list apples have one of the highest pesticide loads of a large variety of produce.

I'd never made applesauce before, but I set out to turn my second-rate apples to first-rate applesauce! It is super sweet considering I didn't add any sugar.

8 medium apples
few tablespoons of lime/lemon juice (I pick whatever citrus I can find in my neighborhood that is in public areas)
water
spices, as desired: cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger

Fill a large saucepan or pot with an inch or so of water. Add a couple of tablespoons of citrus juice.
Wash and core all apples. Do no peel! Cut into cubes and add to pot of water. Continue until all apples have been cut.
Cover apples in pot and turn on medium. Allow to simmer until the apples have become soft and begin falling apart, stirring occasionally.
Turn off burner. Using immersion blender (or some other device for mashing/pureeing), puree applesauce until it is the desired consistency. Season to taste with spices and additional lemon or lime juice.

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