Gala Applesauce (and two gifts)

I saw this in my Driskill Hotel cookbook and thought it was too cute.

The recipe in the cookbook uses 5 apples for the applesauce and six apples for baking. I made a test recipe with one apple and had to supplement the filling with jarred applesauce. The cooked applesauce is delicious.

Cut the top off an apple, leaving the stem intact. Scoop out the centers and remove the seeds, then place into a small saucepan. Add the following:

1 t. sugar

1/2 t. apple cider vinegar

1/4 c. apple juice

Bring to a boil over high heat. Turn down to a simmer and cook until the apples are soft, about 5 minutes. Mash the apples.

Instead of coating the inside of the apple with butter and sugar and baking in the oven as the recipe called for, I put the whole apple in the microwave for 1 minute, and the top in for 25 seconds. Then just fill the apple with the applesauce and top it with the stem.

By the way, the Driskill chef, David Bull, will be competing against Bobby Flay on Iron Chef Sunday, October 8 at 8:00 p.m. central time. I guess he wins because he's rented out a movie house and invited the public to come watch.

Here's two gifts I got this week - a loaf pan with a ruffled edge, and a genuine ulu knife my neighbor brought back from Alaska. I know the knife is supposed to be great for chopping herbs, but I need to find out more uses for it.