Spiced Cranberry Poached Apples

Tart cranberries and sweet apples pair up in a dish that works as a dessert, side or at your breakfast table.

Spiced Cranberry Poached Apples

Have we moved away from poaching fruit? Such a pity, because there’s something comforting and elegant to this method of cooking firm fruits, such as apples or pears. What I like about this recipe for Spiced Cranberry Poached Apples is the flavors get better the longer they hang out together. It’s also a wonderful way to use apples that are starting to look a little sad.

Mom and Bubba (granny) sometimes served “stewed apples,” which basically were slices of the fruit cooked in butter, sugar and covered with enough water to help soften the apples. In our house, it was served as a side to braised meat, roast pork or a with a sauerkraut supper. Delicious.

Pears poached in red wine, sugar and cinnamon is a recipe that dates to 18th-century France. Poached fruits and custards were common desserts, and pies and tarts showcased seasonal fruits. As more families gained access to commercially milled flour in the mid-19th century, cakes and cookies—as we know them today—became popular.

In the 1920s and 1930s, “quick mixes” hit the market—usually spice, yellow and white varieties—and in 1948, Pillsbury introduced a chocolate cake mix. Then came home baking trends (now classics) like Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Dump Cake and cobbler and Poke Cake. Intricately sculpted cakes of today are works of art, and innovations continue.

Pastry Arts magazine this spring reported several trends for 2021, including drinkable desserts (think of those monstrous milkshakes covered with candies and bits of cake or pie), cocktail desserts (strawberry daiquiri cheesecake), and savory desserts—sorry, peppered ice cream is just wrong.

I think Americans often forget that we really need just a little sweet after a meal to satisfy, yet restaurants continue to bring slabs of cheesecake and huge hunks of chocolate cake to the table. Yes, we could always say to the server “please bring four forks” and share it with the table, but we don’t always do that.

Now, I love a chocolate lava cake as much as the next guy or gal, but the lovely thing about fruit for dessert is it satisfies our sweet tooth but saves us some calories. For example, the one-cup serving of Spiced Cranberry Poached Apples is 520 calories and almost no fat, while a slice of chocolate layer cake can be 700 calories and almost 40 grams of fat. So, let’s get cooking.

For this recipe, which will generously serve two people, you will need:

• 1¼ cups water

• ¾ cup sugar

• 3 apples (medium size)

• 2 star anise

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• ⅓ cup fresh cranberries

• ⅓ cup golden raisins

Any apples you have on hand will work for Spiced Cranberry Poached Apples.

Bring the water, cinnamon, star anise, sugar and cranberries to a boil. (You’ll love the aroma that fills the kitchen.) Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the berries pop. Meanwhile, peel and core apples; I had a couple of Red Delicious and a Jonathan apple left from my apple picking haul to prep. Depending on what you want your presentation to look like, cut the apples in half or quarter them, which is what I did.

Add the apples and simmer until tender (10 minutes or so). Be sure they are submerged into the liquid; you can crumble parchment paper, open and place on top of apples to help with this.

Remove the apples and set aside. Then bring the spiced liquid to a low boil and let it reduce in volume. It will thicken as it cools.

Remove the star anise and cinnamon sticks. Add the apples and raisins, stir, cover and refrigerate overnight. To serve, spoon fruit into small bowls and drizzle the syrup around them.

Chilled apples with a dollop of vanilla yogurt works for breakfast, or warm a few with the spiced syrup and top your morning oatmeal with the fruit. I think a mix of apples and pears would work in this recipe, too.

If you’re making it for more than two people, use ½ pound of apples and two cups of water. You may want to bump the sugar up to one cup, too.

And like the Slow Cooker Apple Butter, Spiced Cranberry Poached Apples would make a good food gift. It also would be a nice addition to a holiday brunch; I think I'm going to swap cranberry poached apples for my usual fresh cranberry relish for Thanksgiving this year.

Is there room at our tables for poached fruits and baked desserts worthy of a magazine cover? I like to think so, and I hope you'll give Spiced Cranberry Poached Apples a try soon.

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Slow Cooker Spiced Apple Butter

Apples, cinnamon, clove and other warm spices slowly come together to create a comforting condiment for your autumn table.

Slower Cooker Spiced Apple Butter

Midwestern folk are serious about apple butter. Often cooked outdoors over a wood fire in large caldrons and stirred with long wooden paddles, making apple butter takes time and careful attention.

Folks often stew about whether apple butter should be chunky or completely smooth, and they'll argue about the best mix of apples to use. However, we all agree that apple butter is an essential condiment for our fall tables.

I usually purchase a few jars each year—most recently from the apple butter ladies at the church I attend, but the pandemic put an end to that tradition. So, when I tried this recipe for Slow Cooker Spiced Apple Butter, I was curious how close it would come to the pros’ versions. In short, it’s darned delicious.

You may trade the hint of woodsmoke in apple butter that’s cooked over a fire in an iron pot, but you gain the aroma of apples and spices melting in your slow cooker that will fill your kitchen. If Yankee Candle Company doesn’t already have an apple butter scent, I may try to sell them this.

Another thing this recipe has in its corner is after prepping the apples and combining ingredients for the cooker, the appliance does all the work while you go about your day. It makes four pints of comforting apple butter that will keep in your refrigerator for a couple of weeks without a problem; you even can freeze the apple butter, but more on that later. If your mouth is watering now and you simply want to print the recipe, jump to the end. Let’s get cooking!

Cinnamon, clove, star anise, red and golden delicious apples plus brown sugar are the hero ingredients to Slow Cooker Spiced Apple Butter.

For this recipe you’ll need:

• 5½ pounds apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces

• 3 to 3½ cups brown sugar (adjust, depending on sweetness of your apples)

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (or 2-3 cinnamon sticks)

• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 2 star anise

• 1 teaspoon butter

This recipe started with a trip to Eckert’s orchards in Grafton, Illinois, in late September. Most of apple varieties had been picked, but there were plenty of Red and Golden Delicious apples on the trees. A few rows of Jonathan apple trees also had fruit. It was a perfect trip to the orchard; the sky was blue, the sun warm and a heady scent of fresh apples was in the autumn air.

(Bit of Missouri culinary history: Stark Bro’s Nursery in Louisiana, Missouri, is credited with cultivating Red Delicious apples in the late 19th century, followed by developing the Golden Delicious in 1914. The nursery dates to 1816.)

Look at this beauty from Eckert's orchard in Grafton! Red Delicious apples when locally sourced are great to eat and cook with.

Assemble ingredients for your cooker

Peeling, coring and chopping five pounds of apples took me about an hour. My friend Barb, an excellent home cook, found a Pampered Chef apple peeler in a thrift store for me after the apple butter was made. I’m ready for next time, Barb!

After peeling apples, I cut around the cores and then finely sliced each quarter; if you want smoother apple butter, you might want to dice the apples. I also rubbed a teaspoon of butter around the lower sides of the slow cooker to prevent anything from sticking and to add flavor.

Other slow cooker apple butter recipes call for white sugar, but I prefer using brown—dark brown sugar will produce the molasses flavor in the apple butter.

The remainder of ingredients are combined in a bowl, sprinkled over the apples in the cooker and mixed together. Note there is no liquid added. The apples are cooked on the high setting for an hour and finished on low. When I made the apple butter, I started the slow cooker around 8 a.m. and stirred about every three hours until it was finished around 7 p.m.

I slightly mashed the cooked apples before spooning the apple butter into sterile glass containers. They cooled uncovered on my counter for about an hour before I put the lids on the jars and popped them into the refrigerator.

As mentioned earlier, you can freeze the apple butter. If you use glass jars, remember to leave room at the top for any expansion of content. However, I’d feel safer using plastic containers. Honestly, I’d rather gift a few extra jars of delicious apple butter than freeze it for later!

Give a jar of Slow Cooker Spiced Apple Butter to a friend a make her day.

How to enjoy apple butter

Apple butter is wonderful on morning toast, muffins or cinnamon bagels. Here are a few other ideas for using apple butter in your kitchen.

• Stuffed French toast: Spread a tablespoon of apple butter on each slice of bread. Make a sandwich before dipping bread in egg mixture and frying in your buttered skillet. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

• Dress up morning oatmeal: Swirl a few teaspoons into your cooked oats and top with a pat of butter.

• Crown a pork chop fit for a queen: Apples and pork are best buddies, and if you are into the sweet-savory combo, I’ve grilled pork chops and topped them with a dollop of apple butter and some fried sage.

The apple butter ladies at my church may be on hiatus, but Slow Cooker Spiced Apple Butter steps in to fill the gap for me. And if you live in the St. Louis metro area, the delightful small river town of Kimmswick, Missouri, hosts its annual Apple Butter Festival on Oct. 30 and 31 this year. It’s one of the town’s most popular events. Watch apple butter being made and purchase a few jars to bring home. Kimmswick is located about 25 minute south of St. Louis off Interstate 55.

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Here’s another apple recipe you will like: Apple Cinnamon Quick Bread

Pork Chops in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Succulent pork chops are smothered in a mushroom sauce flavored with garlic and thyme and on your table in about 30 minutes.

Pork Chops in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

It’s been a while since I shared a pork recipe with you, but I think you’ll agree this one was worth the wait. Pork Chops in Creamy Mushroom Sauce is versatile dish that would make a wonderful dinner during the week, and—with a few additions—would wow dinner party guests.

October is National Pork Month, which usually means pork producers roll out their yearly statistics and some new recipes. Americans eat a lot of meat, and per capita, consume about 66 pounds annually of pork.

Do I believe all of us could eat less meat and more vegetables and vegetable-based proteins, plus grains? Yes. Are there issues around “Big Ag” in regard to practices and environmental pollution? Yes.

So, my suggestion would be if you choose to eat meat for your meal’s protein—and pork is wonderfully versatile in many recipes—buy from local, smaller producers. Typically, the product will be better, there’ll be less of an imprint on the planet and more of your money goes to a farmer to benefit his/her family.

Visit your farmer’s market to find the best local food producers. I like to buy pork from Geisert Farms and Farrar Out Farm, both of which are located less than two hours from my home.

In addition to intelligently sourced pork, you’ll need these ingredients to make Pork Chops in Creamy Mushroom Sauce:

• 2 cloves minced garlic

• 2 cups sliced mushrooms

• ¼ cup chopped onion

• 3 tablespoons flour

• 1 cup chicken stock

• 1 cup cream (at room temperature)

• 2 tablespoons dried thyme

• olive oil

• salt and pepper

Pork chops, button mushrooms and cream are the hero ingredients to Pork Chops in Creamy Mushroom Sauce.

I bought three bone-in pork chops for this recipe that were about ½-inch thick. Let’s get cooking!

Season the chops with salt and pepper. Put a large skillet on medium-high heat with a tablespoon of oil, and when it’s up to temperature, add the garlic and cook for 15 seconds. Add the chops. Sear for about four minutes on each side; should achieve a golden color.

Get good color on the chops before you transfer them to a plate to finish this one-pan recipe.

Remove the chops and garlic to a plate for now, add another tablespoon of oil, turn pan to a medium heat and add onions and mushrooms. Cook about six minutes until onions are soft and mushrooms are browned.

Sprinkle flour over vegetables and coat them well. Slowly stir in broth until well blended. Add thyme. If you don’t have this herb (fresh or dried), chopped rosemary would be nice; even parsley (dried or fresh) could be swapped.

Turn heat to simmer and stir in the cream. When sauce has thickened slightly (it’ll need about ten minutes), add the chops. Cover and cook to warm pork chops.

You might serve these succulent pork chops with whipped potatoes (yes, please) or with white rice. With a vegetable side or a green salad, you have a comforting weeknight dinner for your family.

If you wanted to make this a more impressive dish for a dinner party, add a cup of frozen peas before adding liquid to the pan. Reduce the chicken stock to ¾ cup and add ¼ white wine. Simple, yet elegant.

The pork in this recipe turns out tender and juicy. The creamy sauce is comforting, and the mushrooms and herbs add so much depth to the dish. It reminds me a bit of the traditional Southern recipe of smothered pork chops, but we skip the step of dredging meat in flour and egg. I think Pork Chops in Creamy Mushroom Sauce is a refined version of Smothered Pork Chops.

Frequently asked questions:

My family won’t eat pork, so what other protein can I use. Chicken breasts would do well in this recipe.

Can I freeze leftovers? Wouldn’t recommend it because of the cream in the recipe. Since the recipe makes three servings, if you’re cooking for one or two people, just reduce number of chops you use. Use 1 to 1⅓ cup of mushrooms and cut the liquid down by ¼ cup.

What mushrooms should be used in this recipe? I used the white "button" mushrooms often found in any grocery store, but a mix would be lovely in this dish. Incidentally, Mushrooms Naturally, an urban farm and grow room based in St. Charles County, Missouri, is a great source of fresh and dried 'shrooms. You'll find them at the Lake St. Louis Farmer's Market or shop the store in person or online.

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Give this recipe a try; I'll bet it'll be in your regular dinner rotation. If you liked that, here’s another delicious pork recipe:

https://www.threewomeninthekitchen.com/post/german-pork-schnitzel-with-sauerkraut