Heather says:
We are swimming in apple cider at my house. While almost everyone I know enjoys hot cider simmered with cinnamon, my children were rather unimpressed. I refuse to drink the entire gallon solo.
Rather than letting it go to waste I began experimenting. Monday morning we tried apple cinnamon oatmeal, substituting 1/2 of the water with cider. Tuesday we were pleased to try apple cider pancakes, replacing 2/3 of the milk. This morning French toast was on the menu and excellent results were obtained using a 3/4 cider and 1/4 milk ratio. If you use lowfat milk, I would use a 50/50 ratio, as a little fat is necessary to improve flavor. It has been quite an enjoyable experiment and one I plan on repeating next October.
So, Home Eccers, it’s your turn. Do you have any creative or unexpected uses for apple cider?
I have a wonderful recipe somewhere for Cider Chicken. I haven’t made it in a long time. It works well with pork too. I will have to dig it out again and post it…
Oh that reminds me, I’ve used cider instead of water when sauteing cabbage with pork and onions. Thanks for reminding me. 🙂
We like to let ours sit for a month in the fridge and turn it into Apple Jack.
I used some this morning in my oatmeal. I used a little bit in place of water. Topped off with cinnamon and brown sugar, it really hit the spot!
I love to put apple juice or cider in my slow cooker with pork chops or pork ribs. It gives it a deliciously sweet taste and my kids love it. Plus it fills the house with a wonderful smell all day.
It makes a great base for a glaze on chicken or pork, basically seasoning and cooking it down. An apple cider glaze on ham is really tasty.
When combined with a good ginger ale like Vernor’s, it makes for a “kiddie cocktail” that is probably one of my favorite drinks. That same concoction also works well as the basis for a slightly different glaze/sauce. I’ve used the ginger ale glaze on carrots or green beans in the past and, depending on the ratio, might taste as good or better with some apple cider in the mix.
Lots of the home-made BBQ sauces that use canned soda as the liquid and some of the sugar source can work equally well with apple cider.
It doesn’t suit everyone, but I’ve also made what is essentially a gravy with apple cider as the liquid instead of broth or milk and regular butter/flour for the roux. It’s sweeter than normal gravy, so it’s better suited to being used over meat as a sauce than over potatoes *as* gravy, but if the rest of the meal is lacking that little sweet touch, it can round out a meal nicely.
Given the number of baking recipes that substitute applesauce for butter/crisco, I’m guessing that many of the muffin recipes would work well with apple cider for some of the liquid. I’m thinking pumpkin muffins and the like would be good candidates.
Apple cider reduction great with pork or chicken. It’s also great in some breads – I have a recipe somewhere for apple cider bread.
Yeah, send it to me. I wanted to make some for a party Friday night, but I can’t find any body that still has any. It will be nice after a cold walk to have some warm cider.
I decided to use some on pork chops recently.
mmm, these sound good!
the BHG red plaid cookbook has a great recipe for pork pot roast with apple cider–I do it in the crockpot and it’s really yummy.
Fresh applesauce. Boil peeled and sliced baking apples in apple cider under tender. Mash with 1/4-1/2 cup of sugar and sprinkle in some cinnamon and nutmeg. Chill.
Apple cider is excellent for braising pork chops. When the chops are done, whisk in some flour to make a nice gravy.
Personally, I can cheerfully guzzle the whole gallon all by myself.
I have a recipe for strawberry cider that uses apple cider and it’s so easy! (The crazy amount of sugar in it will appeal to your kids, I promise.) It’s on BHG.com – http://www.bhg.com/recipe/drinks/hot-strawberry-cider/
I am also tickled at how quickly it comes together. Since we don’t drink it all at once, I cool it and dump it back in the empty cider bottle or a pitcher, put it in the fridge, and warm up a cup at a time. I also have tried using a pound of frozen whole strawberries and then adding some sugar, but I figure I come out about the same as the sweetened strawberries.
Cider chicken
I put up the recipe. Looks like you got a lot of great suggestions!
Cider chicken
I put up the recipe. Looks like you got a lot of great suggestions!
Ah it is an html nightmare. I messed it up twice. I just put link in as my website! Sorry!
Beef stew – I substitute a cup of apple cider for a cup of the water. It makes it SOOOOO good. If I don’t have cider I use apple juice, but the cider is better.
Oh my….I’m so envious!! We usually have quite a bit of cider each year, but our trees produced so poorly this year that my husband says it’s not even worth getting out the press. Last year we had 30 gallons. Anyway, we always drink ours cold. The way we keep it throughout the winter & spring is to freeze it in gallon & half gallon jugs, & then I just ration it out as needed. It is great for cooking & baking, but I’ll admit, that’s never my first thought with our cider.
Brenda
i use my home made cider to make apple wiskey and man is it ever good half a coffee cup is all i ever saw anyone drink then they had to be carried to bed , i guess its strong at approx 190 proof tested at cornell cooperative rextension offices ithaca ny the sheriff came to me, and asked me to please not make any more of it, so i haven't made any untill this year , by way i moved to new county in other part of state love my shine simple and sooo goood