Too Damned Easy Bourbon Apple Butter

     My in-laws both have access to a fairly large collection of apple trees. This means that each fall we find ourselves in the possession of 40-60 pounds of apples. One of our go-to methods of working those apples is to render them into apple butter. Years ago I found a recipe online for how to do it and have tweaked it out for my own use. For the life of me I can't recall where I got this. If anybody knows, let me know and I'll give credit for the inspiration where credit is due. This variation uses brown sugar and bourbon and gives a sweet and mellow taste. About 35 medium apples will yield a little over 4 pints of apple butter. These can be processed in a boiling water bath for long term storage. If you are doing pint jars, give them 15 minutes in the bath. (Once again, please defer to the National Center for Home Food Preservation for clear instructions) As always, any notes are in blue.

Too Damned Easy
Bourbon Apple Butter

 Ingredients
per 10 apples

• 10 medium apples peeled, cored and thickly sliced*
• 5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water 
• 1/4 cup bourbon 

Directions

1. Load the apples in a large pot over medium heat. Add cinnamon, water, bourbon, and sugar. Cook until the apples get soft.
2. Use an immersion blender to blitz the apples until they are the desired consistency (if you don't have a hand blender, you're going to have to mash the apples up by hand. Good luck)
3. Load the sauce into a large slow-cooker (if you're like me and used 30+ apples, you're going to need at least a 5 quart slow-cooker). Prop the lid slightly off the cooker to allow steam to escape.  Cook on low overnight. 

   

   In the morning, you'll wake up to something like this.
   The same thing applies if you ate Taco Bell.

*NOTE: If you have a food mill, you can do this a lot quicker. When I used a mill I simply quartered the apples and boiled them for about 10 minutes. I then loaded them in the mill and basically made applesauce. If you do it this way the directions will change. Just load the milled apples into the slow cooker and mix in the remaining ingredients. You will need to cut the amount of water you use by half if you do it this way. Don't cut the bourbon. NEVER CUT THE BOURBON.

If there is an easier way to do something, I will certainly use that method.
Good times!

Tools of the Trade: Immersion Blenders

     I have found that there is a big difference between a kitchen gadget and a kitchen utensil.  Gadgets tend to be cute and not entirely necessary. They exist to simplify minor tasks, but mostly take up space in a drawer.  A utensil, by definition, is a useful tool. One of my favorite utensils is one I find myself turning to time and time again in the kitchen.

No, but it does get a lot of use.

     I'm talking about the immersion/stick blender.  This is such a ridiculously simple concept. It's just a little, whirling blade on the end of a stick. Fundamentally it's just a weed-whacker with a blade attachment (I do not recommend at all using a weed-whacker in the kitchen, but if you do, send pictures). The basic models have no features other than maybe a speed control.  The reason it's so useful is that it saves you from having to transfer ingredients to a blender or food processor. You simply blend right in the pan or pot (try to avoid using it in coated non-stick cookware as you might scratch the finish with the blender). It's a pain in the butt having to try to transfer hot soup ingredients back and forth when you're trying to make a cream soup. This saves you that step.

     There's all sorts of uses for a stick blender. I use mine for blending soups, sauces and milkshakes.  There's a ton of models to choose from, with a wide range of price points. I'll touch on a couple. At the lower end, is the Hamilton Beach 59738 "Proctor Silex" 2-Speed 150-Watt.

Hamilton Beach 59738 $20.00

     This blender costs a shade under twenty bucks. At 150 Watts, it's got a fair amount of power, but may struggle with heavier jobs like milkshakes and the like. It's got two speeds and will tackle most of the jobs you throw at it in the kitchen. It's a solid, bare-bones immersion blender. Moving up on the price scale is the Miallegro 9090 Mittuto 550-Watt.

Miallegro 9090 $70.00

     The Miallegro runs about fifty dollars more than the Hamilton Beach, but gives you far more to play with. It's a 550 Watt multi-speed blender. It's got more than enough power to do pretty much anything you ask of it. It has a whisk and blender attachment with multiple blades. It will do the job of a basic immersion blender, and electric whisk, and a small food processor. 

     My immersion blender of choice is the Braun model which is currently unavailable, which is a shame. It's an adjustable speed 400 Watt with two mixers, a whisk, and ice crusher attachment and a milkshake cup. I assure you it is awesome. And you can't get it. Enjoy!