Written by Iris Puthoff A few weeks ago, the Oxford Museum Association put on its annual apple butter festival at Hueston Woods in Oxford Ohio. The festival features the colonial creation of apple butter in the pioneer fashion. Focusing on the production of apple butter might lead one to wonder what apple butter exactly is. Apple butter is basically a highly concentrated form of applesauce. It is cooked slowly for a long period of time to allow the sugar in the apples to completely caramelize. This is what gives the apple butter its dark brown color and rich texture. Apple butter can commonly be used as a spread for toast and muffins or in marinades and dips. However, if you happen to have some extra apple butter laying around, there are many other recipes it can be used for, both sweet and savory! One of the most innovative ways to use apple butter is in baking. Whether you're making muffins, cakes, or breads, apple butter can be added for an extra apple flavor. Because apple butter has similar properties to apple sauce, it can also be used as an egg replacement in baking. If you are looking to replace eggs with apple butter, substitute ¼ cup apple butter per each egg in your recipe. It might be helpful to add in ½ teaspoon of baking powder when making this substitution as well. Another method of substitution would be to replace some of the butter the recipe calls for with apple butter. It is a good idea to start with replacing half of your butter with apple butter, and then see if increasing the ratio will work for your baking product. A higher ratio of apple butter to regular butter, will lead to more dense baked goods and will have less calories and fat. Apple butter can also be used in savory recipes. Some ideas include an apple butter honey mustard sauce, chipotle apple butter tacos, apple butter onion chicken burgers, and baked apple butter ham and cheese sandwiches. Whether you are using the apple butter as a glaze or as a mix in with your meat or veggies, it can make for a sweet complement to a tangy dish. The sweet apple butter taste can go well with savory barbecue and maple meat dishes, but you can also experiment to come up with your own sweet and savory apple butter combination!
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Written by Emma Hendy With the cold weather finally here, there is nothing I want to do more than cook warm comfort food to combat the 30-degree weather. Over fall break, I visited a pumpkin patch with my family that had fresh picked apples. The crisp breeze and gala apples gave me the idea to make apple fritters! I was hesitant at first as baked goods can be daunting but I’m here to let you know its easier than you think! The recipe on Souffle Bombay has perfected apple fritters. This recipe is so fast, in fact peeling the apples was the longest part. You will start off by peeling and dicing the apples of choice. I chose to use gala apples as they're great when cooked. The batter itself will take 5 or more minutes to make. To start, you should combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in one bowl. Next, combine milk and egg in another bowl and finally, put the dry ingredients into the wet. I chose to combine some cinnamon and sugar for the topping. After testing it out, I found that½ cup of sugar to 3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon is a good ratio. I next tossed the cut apples with this cinnamon sugar mixture. Then I combined the apples in the wet mixture. This batter immediately began to give off an aroma that would remind anyone of fall. The spice of the cinnamon and the crunch of the apples is the best combination. With a fryer, I heated up the oil and used an ice cream scoop to place the batter into the fryer. Surprisingly, there was no splash and the ball quickly began to float as it turned a golden brown. At times, I had trouble telling when the batter was fully cooked since the bigger scoops needed longer to cook, which then made them turn a dark brown. I recommend using a smaller amount of batter to make sure the fritters stay golden brown and are fully cooked. As a finishing touch, I sprinkled leftover cinnamon sugar over the hot fritters which allowed it to melt into the fritter. This made for the perfect combination of sweet and crunchy. At the last minute, I decided to make a simple icing which consisted of three ingredients: vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk. The icing may have needed to be refrigerated because it instantly seeped through the fritter and made the fritter soggy. Next time, I would stick with only the cinnamon and sugar for a warm and sweet end result. Written By Mackenzie Currie Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Cloves are the dynamic trio of spices this season. Cinnamon is one of the best known and widely used spices in this trio. Cinnamon can be used either whole or grounded. You could use it whole in hot cider or you can add ground cinnamon to apple pie or applesauce. Cinnamon also has some amazing health benefits! There have been research studies that show cinnamon can help with Type 2 Diabetes because it helps regulate blood sugar and lipid levels. The second spice in the trio is nutmeg which is grated into food items such as puddings, custards, and sauces. It can be added to other baked good like pumpkin pie and apple crisp pie to add a warm flavor. Like Cinnamon, Nutmeg also has health benefits. Research shows that it can stimulate the brain to cope with stress and fatigue which could be useful as exams and the holidays are approaching. The last (but not least) spice in the trio is Cloves. Cloves can be used in recipes like pumpkin pies and spice cookies. Cloves have anti-inflammatory properties, anti-clotting properties which is beneficial for arthritis and heart health. Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Cloves are not the only spices that provide health benefits. There has also been research that shows that spices such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, and cayenne also can help solve health problems.
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Resources: The Yellow Table A Healthier Michigan Hopkins Medicine The Herbal Academy |
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November 2019
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