I have such a love/hate thing with Martha Stewart but today, it's all about the love. Her recipe for Pink Applesauce which requires NO peeling of the apples, has put just a teensy bit of love back into that tiny black space in my heart reserved for it's-a-good-thing-Martha.
Mom and I just got back from spending some time visiting family in South and North Carolina - flying (which I hate, almost as much as cruise ships, bridges, sharks, snakes and moths) from Seattle to Atlanta to Charlotte to Durham to Salt Lake and back to Seattle gave me plenty of time to read magazines, including Martha Stewart's Living Magazine, where I found the Pink Applesauce recipe. Mom had already put up some applesauce, peeling and coring apples until her hands barely worked! If only she'd known about this recipe sooner!!
Once we were back on the ground in Salt Lake, the canning bug bit big time...we made apricot jam (with green apricots from mom's tree) and chili sauce (with tomatoes from dad's garden) and apple butter (with apples yours truly picked from mom and dad's tree - every year, like clockwork!) Even dad got in on the action and everything turned out great! In between filling the jars, we had Elsabear to entertain us...she is 2 1/2 and so, so smart and sweet, with a face that lights up my heart!
By the time I got back to Seattle I thought I was done with canning, but I couldn't forget about this recipe - it sounded so easy and quick that I just had to try it!
Granny Smith, Fuji, Red and Golden Delicious apples were my picks, but you can use any apples you like. After coring the apples with an apple corer, the apples are put into a large pot and lemon juice, water and sugar are added. It cooks for about 40 minutes - long enough for your entire house to smell like a potpourri factory.
Martha recommends using a food mill, but since I don't have one I used a strainer and wooden spoon and it worked great - notice in the pic on the right how few peels are left in the strainer! If you use mostly red-skinned apples the applesauce will be more pink.
It IS a good thing! This recipe makes about four cups, not enough in my opinion, so double the batch you make!
Pink Applesauce - From Martha Stewart Living Magazine, October 2014
6 lbs. apples (such as 4 pounds McIntosh and 2 pounds red-skinned apples with white flesh, like Cortland or Empire or Fuji)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar (while sugar is optional, you should know that 1/4 cup will not make this very sweet, for a sweeter sauce, add twice the amount of sugar)
Quarter and core apples. Put apples in a large stockpot. Add 1 1/2 cups water, lemon juice and sugar. Cover mixture and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and cook, partially covered, still stirring occasionally, until apples are very soft, about 35 to 40 minutes.
Puree apples and strain out skins, use a food mill with a fine disk, or push apples through a medium strainer with a wooden spoon. Transfer applesauce to containers and refrigerate for up to one week, or freeze for up to three months. Or can the applesauce for longer storage, click here for directions.
"An apple a day will keep anyone away - if thrown hard enough!"
