SC - American food

[Brian L. Rygg or Laura Barbee-Rygg]

I also have experimented with the Cider sauce for a Birthday party for
the Baron of Bryn Madoc (it wasn't
really his birthday, but it is his perogative to have a party whenever
he wishs <g>).  IT came out quite nicely,
and I'll offer my comments along with these.  I made a double batch that
came out to two liquid US cups (16 fl. ounces).

My recipe:
4 cups sweet apple cider (plain store brand stuff . . . Thrifty Maid)
1 lb. sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup dry hard cider (Woodchuck Granny Smith Apple)
1 ounce cinnamon sticks (zeylanicum)
1 whole nutmeg (cut into 8 pieces)
8 whole cloves

1)  I used a kitchen scale for everything, so cannot speak to volumes
except that 2 cups to the pound (US measure) is pretty much standard.

2) I thought that apple cider vinegar would be even more appropriate,
though I just have used white
wine vinegar if that was all that was on hand.

3)  For wine, I figured a white would be better, but I didn't have one
in house.  SO, I used
the hard cider.  I believe it was Woddchuck Granny Smith Apple.  It was
a little fizzy, so I let it go
flat in the heated pan before use.  That way I got the full measure.  It
changed the original recipe,
but came out quite nice.  For a white grape based wine, I suggest one
not bone dry that has some
fruity character left to it.

4)  I used zeylanicum sticks for cinnamon.  they tended to splinter in
the boil, but they  were all strained
out at the end anyway.  The character was noticable in the sauce . . .
bright, sweet and spicey rather than the
darker, earthier taste the cassia would tend to add.

5)  My boil was as high as I could get and not get a boilover.  I was
impatient, and also wanted to add a little
caramalization in the boil.  I also did not use a candy thermometer as
that would not have been available to them.
It took about 70 minutes to get the half volume.  If I had done a single
batch in the same pan, I figure the time
would have cut down a bit.  A saucier would be even better with the
shallower and wider configuration . . . more
surface area to evaporate.  More stirring toward the end so it didn't
stick and scorch.  I just went until it looked to be half and was syrupy
on my wooden spoon.

6)  I strained it through a cheesecloth to get the spices out.  Lost
some of the sauce to the cloth, but not so much
that it was worth crying over.  It did give me a less 'chunky' product.
Nutmeg was chopped, cinnamon broke up and the cloves did a little as
well.  I got the same cherry amber color reported by others.  It did not
jell, but certainly was thickened and syrupy.   Had I used a fresh
pressed cider, I suspect a little more thickening from pectins.  Though
maybe not whole lot more.  I plan to try that soon . . . North GA has
great ciders available.  I'll also play with the sugar/vinegar
proportions to see what they do to the consistency and flavor.

The sweet/sour flavor was nicely punctuated by the bright spicing of the
zeylanicum and other spices.  Breaking up the nutmeg, I believe made a
big difference.  Grating it all down may have been too much, so I'm
going to stick with the broken up.  The apple flavor I got was very
clearly there.  Maybe the cder instead of wine helped that a little.
The leftovers are aging nicely in the fridge.  I plan to use it to
marinade a pork loin roast overnight and then slow grill this weekend .
. . lucious visions are jumping in my taste buds.

<<<<<<<<<I should point out that I don't know if my redaction with fresh
cider
is exactly what the Spanish made.  Granado says to start out with
whole unpeeled apples and crush them.  Then let the juice stand
and take the clearer part.  I don't know if apples treated this way
would result in something closer to cider or to filtered apple juice --
perhaps something in the middle.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Modern and even historical Cider is made by pulping the apple in a sort
of monster toothed roller item and
then piling it into a cheesecloth (the pulp is called cheese!) and
pressed for cider.  We press ours in house by
freezing the apples whole until rock solid, thaw them out and press with
12 ton hydraulic press.  the freezing
makes them almost much in the skins.  We get nigh on 85% juice out of
the apple.  the rest is a dried out hull.

I want to thank Brighid for making this available.  I needed a fruit
sauce to play with during the holdays, and this
is a grand one so far.  It was quite popular for the crowd who had it.


niccolo difrancesco