You Put Beer In That?! or My Time Has Got to Be Worth More Than This

The rain is coming. As the last day of this unusual warm spell is coming to a close I have to say that it was very nice. Unexpected, perhaps even confusing to some of the plants. It did get us all to clean off the grill a month earlier than usual, so next time we will be ready to grill.

I was in the mood for culinary adventures today. We were eating pork chops for dinner, so I decided to make some apples to go with them. I started making my own applesauce many years ago. I found that I was usually happy with the flavor and sweetness without adding much sugar. Tonight, however, I was a little more creative. I made Browned Apples in Cinnamon Beer Sauce. Super delicious and not terrible for you, not that it is healthy. Here is what I did:

First I peeled and chopped the apples. Then I put them in a pan with a little butter and cinnamon.

I cooked them until they started to brown like this:

Then I added some water and reduced the heat. I cooked the apples about 15 minutes. Until the water was almost all cooked away. Then I added about 1 cup of beer. I chose an ale. I would imagine any medium or dark beer would be good in this, if you used a light beer the flavor might be lost.

I cooked these apples for another 15-30 minutes. Adding water if necessary to keep them from burning. At the end I tasted the sauce, it was a little bitter so I added a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar. I would definitely taste before adding the sugar because the difference between apples and beers is going to make this a little different every time.

Then I added a little cornstarch and water mixed together to thicken the sauce.

Super amazing.

While I was fixing this amazing apple dish, my sons found several packs of seeds. They dumped them all over the patio table. Sigh. So now I am off to try to sort these out.

Browned Apples with Cinnamon Beer Sauce

4 large apples

1 Tbsp Butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup medium or dark beer

0-2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1. Peel and chop apples.

2. Combine butter, apples and cinnamon in a large fry pan.

3. Brown in butter over medium high heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add 1 cup water. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes.

5. Add 1 cup beer. Turn heat up to bring to boil, reduce and simmer 15 more minutes.

6. Taste, if necessary add brown sugar to taste.

7. Mix cornstarch with ½ cup of cold water. Add to apples and stir. Remove from heat when sauce begins to thicken.