Applesauce Flavored with Black Tea and Other Fine Spices

I'm just coming off of a 9 hour "shift" in my kitchen and I am very tired. I've been sitting here trying to think about what to write and am having more trouble with it than usual. I don't want to leave it for tomorrow though because I have a HUGE post in the works for tomorrow. weeee!

I made pierogi today, lots of them, every available surface in my entire kitchen was covered with pierogi, but that story is in fact for tomorrow so I wont say more. We like to eat pierogi boiled, with applesauce... and because I make it from scratch I'm always looking for ways to improve the flavors and make them more bold without being overpowering. I was inspired to try black tea as a flavoring after it fell out of a cabinet and onto my head while I was looking for something totally unrelated.

The tea was a gift from Tom's Uncle, I forgot to ask him for a translation so I don't know what the bag says, I can tell you that it's very delicious tea. I originally thought it was green tea because of the way the leaves look green after they become wet, but Tom says it's really black tea because the leaves are black when it's in it's dry state. It was a bold move on my part, aside from making tea eggs I've never used tea as a flavoring before, it could have gone wrong but it didn't and I'm glad I trusted myself enough to try something new again.

We like our applesauce on the tart side, so I peeled, cored and diced 4 Granny Smith apples and 3 Jona Gold, placed them in a bowl and added the juice of 2 lemons, a capful of orange-flower water, a capful of pure vanilla extract, a large dash of allspice, and a lot of freshly grated nutmeg. The lemon juice not only makes it a bit more tart but it keeps the sliced apples from turning that awful brown color. Placing a pot with 2 cups of water on the stove I added a large pinch of the black tea, 2 large sticks of cinnamon, a few black peppercorns, cloves, and star anise, then let the whole thing slowly come to a boil. I then removed the tea leaves with a strainer, leaving the other spices and adding the apples. I tasted for seasoning and found it to be too tart. To add sweetness without a lot of added sugar I decided on a combination of nutmeg syrup, turbinado sugar and brown sugar in small amounts-this turned out to be just the right touch for cutting some of the tartness. I should have used less lemon, I now know to add less for the next time. Once the apples start to look bloated like they do here remove with a strainer reserving some of the liquid. In a bowl, mash up the apples until they are the consistency you prefer (I like a few chunks) add the reserved liquid if needed, let cool, then serve, or refrigerate until chilled.

Final thoughts: There is definitely a slight taste and faint aroma of tea that is very pleasing. I think the subtleness of the flavor comes in part from using good quality tea as well as using it sparingly. I'd like to experiment further, perhaps using more tea and eventually trying green tea which I'm sure will alter the flavors even further. Overall I think it was a good first try, even if I do say so myself!

Written by Deb on February 3, 2003 12:00 AM