"It would be nice if the Food and Drug Administration stopped issuing warnings about toxic substances and just gave me the names of one or two things still safe to eat."~Robert Fuoss
Visiting my Godparents on their farm in fall means only one thing - home full of garden goodies. Most importantly - with no extra "vitamins", such as E-something or other substances I cannot even pronounce!
During our visit last weekend they almost begged to pick as many apples as we can - the garden was so full of them, some of the branches on trees could harly hold the harvest. So we picked and picked and picked. Needless to say - "appetite increases as you eat". I ended up with half of my fridge filled with ripe, juicy and super tasty apples.
Yesterday I decided they should be used in some way to preserve for winter. I love applesauce, but this time I wanted to upgrade it. Result - my home smells of apples, vanilla, lavender and honey - trully heavenly!
Ingredients:
* Apples (~3 kg)
* 1 orange
* 2 cups of brown sugarcane sugar (maybe a bit less, depending on how you like it - mine turned out quite (too) sweet)
* 1/2 vanilla pod
* 2 tablespoons of honey
* 1 tablespoon o of culinary lavender (blossoms)
* 1 cup water
Cooking time - around 1h 20 min.
Peel and core the apples, cut them into cubes. In a large pot combine water and sugar. Add the zest and juice of the orange, halve the vanilla pod and throw it in. Stir until sugar disolves and add the apples. Cook over low heat - just to keep it a bit bubling, so it doesn't burn. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom. When the apples start to soften, add honey and crushed lavender blossoms.
It took me about 1hr 20 minutes cooking time, but it may vary depending on apples. At the end fish vanilla pod out and if desired - puree with blender.
It turned out really good! Couldn't resist to spike it up with a dash of armagnac :).
I could say the goodies are prepared for winter, but there are a lot more apples to go through... :)
Visiting my Godparents on their farm in fall means only one thing - home full of garden goodies. Most importantly - with no extra "vitamins", such as E-something or other substances I cannot even pronounce!
During our visit last weekend they almost begged to pick as many apples as we can - the garden was so full of them, some of the branches on trees could harly hold the harvest. So we picked and picked and picked. Needless to say - "appetite increases as you eat". I ended up with half of my fridge filled with ripe, juicy and super tasty apples.
Yesterday I decided they should be used in some way to preserve for winter. I love applesauce, but this time I wanted to upgrade it. Result - my home smells of apples, vanilla, lavender and honey - trully heavenly!
Ingredients:
* Apples (~3 kg)
* 1 orange
* 2 cups of brown sugarcane sugar (maybe a bit less, depending on how you like it - mine turned out quite (too) sweet)
* 1/2 vanilla pod
* 2 tablespoons of honey
* 1 tablespoon o of culinary lavender (blossoms)
* 1 cup water
Cooking time - around 1h 20 min.
Peel and core the apples, cut them into cubes. In a large pot combine water and sugar. Add the zest and juice of the orange, halve the vanilla pod and throw it in. Stir until sugar disolves and add the apples. Cook over low heat - just to keep it a bit bubling, so it doesn't burn. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom. When the apples start to soften, add honey and crushed lavender blossoms.
It took me about 1hr 20 minutes cooking time, but it may vary depending on apples. At the end fish vanilla pod out and if desired - puree with blender.
It turned out really good! Couldn't resist to spike it up with a dash of armagnac :).
I could say the goodies are prepared for winter, but there are a lot more apples to go through... :)
Bon appetit!
