Sous Vide Pork Chops with Hard Cider Glaze

I love pork chops and apple. Apple-stuffed might be my favorite, but this recipe is delicious and simpler. If you don't have a sous vide, you can just cook pork chops normally and finish with the glaze. They're really juicy and flavorful and a great fall dinner. I served them with Ina Garten's roasted cauliflower with pecorino and panko - a great side! (Taken from this recipe.)

Pink Applesauce

It seems that half the people I've spoken to recently have a plethora of apples from either weekend apple picking, or someone else's weekend apple picking. My sister-in-law gave me a whole bunch of apples from her uncle's apple tree - thanks Uncle Bobby! They were little and bright red. Not entirely sure what kind of apples they were. I've made a few things, but this weekend I made some really delicious, and pink, apple sauce! I read somewhere that as long as you use a food mill, you don't need to peel or even core the apples. Makes it so much easier, and you also get all the good flavor (and in this case color) from the skins. The bright red skins gave the apple sauce such a pretty color, and the cinnamon stick I cooked them with gave it just a little bit of a cinnamon flavor. Yum! Also, it's only three ingredients. Very simple. 

Apple Butter

We stopped at a farm stand and they had a bin full of bruised apples that were super cheap, so I thought it was a perfect time to make apple sauce. When we got back, I thought I'd try to make apple butter instead. It's basically apple sauce cooked down to a thick spread. It makes the entire house smell like apples and cinnamon and fall amazingness. I can't wait to spread it on toast or an English muffin tomorrow. Using a food mill makes it so you don't have to peel the apples, and adds extra flavor to the sauce. I also use cider instead of water for a more intense apple flavor.

Makes one small jar and 

Ingredients:

6 apples, cored 

2 cinnamon sticks

about 2 cups of apple cider

1/4 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

Halve the apples, slice and chop in half. Throw them in a heavy-bottomed pot and pour in enough apple cider to start coming up the sides. Throw in a pinch of salt and the cinnamon sticks. 

Apple Sauce

Right before Sandy struck, I pulled out the trusty food mill and decided to make some apple sauce. It just seemed good for stormy weather. I went to Gristedes, which was hopping and didn't have any carts or baskets, and piled lots of apples in my arms hoping they wouldn't tumble before I could check out. The apple sauce was so tasty, and the food mill makes it velvety and smooth. It's also really simple. It took about half an hour and it was way better than store bought. I went off the Cook's Illustrated basic apple sauce recipe; fool proof, really. Leaving the skin on while you cook gives it a lot more flavor.