My two year old nephew seemed bored with his usual baby gruel, so I thought I'd whip up a little something. The crab apples shown are peaking here (6800 ft.) and the trees are about 15 years old. The fruit is not too tart, and the meat is the consistency of a Bartlett pear. I picked this cluster and about 30 other apples, and made him some sauce as follows:
- Pick 50 crab apples, de-stem, remove fur from opposite end of stem with a swipe across a cheese grater, rinse.
- Blanche the apples, three minutes, or so. Using a potato masher, make a mash, but don't overdo it as you don't want the core and bitter seeds to get too crushed (you'll get a bit o' seed oil, no worries).
- Spoon about one cup at a time through a medium mesh strainer, making sure to get as much pulp through without too much peel, seed, or core. Repeat, trying isolate the unwanted bits by hand. This is a labor of love, mind you, and time well spent with the kids on a seasonal activity. The resulting mash yielded about four cups.
- It began to oxidize rapidly so I put 1/2 teaspoon lime juice in, and one tablespoon brown sugar.
The mash was distinctly homemade: a bit watery, but very tasty. I would put cinnamon in it for myself, but not the toddler. Also, I've been told not to sweeten baby foods with honey for fear of botulism...but this kid is two. Next year I will use honey. You'll wind up with a one-off, that is, if you freeze this sauce it will be a tasteless, separated mess when thawed.
Fall is here in the high country. "Eat your view".
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