Taco Tuesday: Apple Cider Recipe

Now for the alcoholics out there, this is not your boozy version of cider, this is the at-the-apple-farm-warm-up-cuz-its-freezing cider. This recipe will give you that sweet apple nectar that you so crave as soon as the first October wind blows (yea that was a little melodramatic, but you get the point). In reality, this stuff is boom. It’s tasty, it’s sweet, and it can be served hot or cold. Although, I’m pretty sure if you serve it cold, it’s simply called Apple Juice. Creative. I know.

This is a timely procedure but not really a very demanding one so set this on the back burner if you don’t have a quality 3-4 hours to spare (yes, the pun was intended). That being said, it can be easily made on a lazy sunday because most of the time is just spent letting it simmer. Oh, side note, this recipe will produce a rather tasty recipe within itself as well as provide the basis for many other recipes to come! Yea, it’s like a recipe on a recipe, so stay tuned for more.

This recipe makes about 10 cups

Ingredients:
10 medium sized apples (I used the ones I had picked so McIntosh, Red Cortlands and Empires)
1 cup of sugar
Water (just enough that you cover all the apples … or they start to float)
4 Sticks of Cinnamon
3 tbsp of All-Spice
Juice of one Lemon
Peel of one whole orange

Method:
Cut the apples into quarters
Place them in a large pot
Cover them with water
Add in the Sugar, Cinnamon, All-Spice, and the Orange peel
Bring to a boil for about an hour
Stir the pot a little and reduce the heat to low
Let simmer for about 2 hours
Take off the heat and let cool
Remove the cinnamon sticks
Add in the lemon juice
Using a potato masher or a wooden spoon mush the apples
Now you’re going to use a strainer to strain the juice away from the pulp
Repeat this process several times until you feel that you can’t get any juice anymore
Now grab a cheese cloth and do it all over again (Make sure you’re only getting juice and not pulp)
Be sure to save the pulp (this will be useful later on!)
Once you’ve fully strained the cider place into an air tight container and this can be kept for up to a week!
Enjoy