Summer’s bounty of fruits and vegetables is so wide and plentiful that it’s easy to forget how to cook. A fresh-picked tomato and an ear of corn hardly need more than a little salt and pepper to taste divine.
But as autumn sets in, we begin to dress our food for the coming colder months. Cold-storage squash, onions and sweet potatoes don myriad spices. We throw a mantle of ciders, syrups and glazes over heavier fruits such as apples, quince and pears. Fall’s gastronomic wardrobe lets us get back to mixing and matching the creativity we didn’t know we were craving in the kitchen.
Apples are the quintessential fall fruit – the culinary equivalent of that perfect pair of ankle boots that go with, well, everything.
But what of apple cider? Sure, everyone drinks it – it’s delicious and refreshing. Unlike apple juice, cider hasn’t been heated to flash pasteurization to make it shelf stable. It’s also not strained, so you’ll usually find sediment at the bottom of the bottle.
It’s just mashed, pressed apples. So how about cooking with it?
Cider is a great way to add nuanced apple flavor to just about anything. Use it in baking to boost apple flavor, in glazes and vinaigrettes for winter vegetables, meats and salads. Drizzle a cider reduction over ice creams and desserts to add a layer of warmth. Consider it the feather in the cap of your fall and winter pantry.
How to make your own apple cider
Anyone who’s ever Googled “making apple cider” (as I did) will get a plethora of pictures showing how complicated it is to make. It takes a ton of apples. It takes equipment most people don’t have lying around (apple press, anyone?). There’s cheesecloth involved.
Okay, stop. Just STOP. There is an easier way. It takes a little time to make it properly, but schedule accordingly, and you’ll be saying “how ‘bout them apples?”
Adapted from Darina Allen’s cooking bible, “The Forgotten Skills of Cooking,” this “brilliantly easy” method dates back to the 19th century, according to Allen. The cider will keep, refrigerated, for up to two weeks before it will begin to ferment. Using a wide range of apple varieties will result in a more flavorful cider, but any apple of medium sweetness will do.
Easy Apple Cider
7 pounds apples
2 gallons water, filtered or distilled
4 cups granulated sugar
¼ cup grated ginger
3 cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
Grate the apples (don’t peel!) and place them in a large stainless steel pot. Cover with 2 gallons of water. Refrigerate, and stir with a sterilized spoon once a day for a week.
Strain the apples and reserve the juice. Stir the sugar into the juice and add the ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Let the mixture macerate for one day.
Strain the juice through cheesecloth. Pour into sterilized bottles and seal. Hermetically sealed cider will keep, refrigerated, for up to 2 weeks.
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