Apple butter recipes spread taste

smcclanahan

Over the weekend we traveled to Nashville, Ill., for our annual apple butter making day with family. My cousins, Bob and Helen Poirot, are the host family. We got off easy though, as they had all the apples peeled and in the kettle when we arrived. The cooking yielded about 45 quarts of fresh delicious apple butter, and a fun day filled with a lot of good memories.

In thinking about how I might use some of the apple butter, I ran across several recipes using apple butter in the ingredient list. I hope you can use some of these recipes using your own homemade apple butter.

Apple Butter Brisket

1 beef brisket, about 4 1/2 pounds

1 small onion, quartered

8 whole cloves

1 clove garlic, halved

1 cup apple butter

1/2 cup dry white wine

3 tablespoons prepared mustard, regular or spicy

2 tablespoons green onion, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Place brisket, onion, cloves and garlic in a large Dutch oven; add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove beef from Dutch oven; place in a large roasting pan. Combine apple butter and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Brush 1/2 cup of the apple butter mixture over brisket. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, basting several times with remaining apple butter mixture. Serves 8 to 10.

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 cup apple butter

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup evaporated milk

1 (9-inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust

Streusel Topping:

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, apple butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir in eggs and evaporated milk. Pour into prepared pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted 2 inches from the center comes out clean. Sprinkle streusel topping over the pie, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

To make the streusel topping: In a small bowl, combine butter, flour, and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Stir until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans.

Apple Butter Pork

3 (2-ounce) pork cutlets

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon finely chopped onion

1/4 cup diced or sliced apples

1 ounce Jack Daniels whiskey, or apple cider

2 ounce butter

Pinch of Chef's Salt, to taste (see recipe below)

1 teaspoon sugar

Chef's Salt:

3 tablespoons salt

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon onion salt

Procedure:

Cut pork cutlets from boneless pork loin. Heat butter in 10-inch skillet; dredge pork cutlets in the 2 tablespoons flour and sauté about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove pork from skillet; set aside. Add chopped onion, apples and sugar to pan; sauté.

Flame with Jack Daniels (being very careful with flame), and quickly shake in butter.

If using apple cider, heat through. Serve over pork cutlets.

Apple Butter Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine, melted

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

3/4 pint (1 1/2 cups) apple butter, divided

1/2 cup apple juice

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir in 3/4 cup apple butter, apple juice, margarine and egg. Fold in raisins and walnuts. Pour half of the batter into prepared pan. Spread remaining 3/4 cup apple butter over batter. Gently pour remaining batter over apple butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 65 to 75 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched in center. Cool 15 minutes before removing from pan and continue cooling on rack. Makes 1 loaf.

Enjoy these recipes and as always please send in your favorite recipes so other great cooks might enjoy them as well.

Have a great week and until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699; Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by the Southeast Missourian staff.