Cooking with Corina

As a Peace Corps Volunteer, we have 3 options when it comes to food. 1. We can exist on pasta/rice/bean-based dishes that neither cost a lot of money, nor take a lot of ingenuity to cook. 2. We can shamelessly whore ourselves out to our host country national friends & neighbors for guesting experiences (no actual shame in this), or 3. We can get creative with the things we're given/are native to our area. 

I choose Option 3

I would like to make "Cooking with Corina" a semi-regular guest topic. I hope there are no objections!  

 ( I need something to do this Winter :D )

Today we will start with something I have an abundance of. Apples. Quba (my town, for those of you who don't know) is known for it's apples. Autumn time the whole region is filled with apple orchards, and people start giving you bag after bag of them. What to do? I can only eat so many. So I started thinking....


Apple Cider

Ingredients
8-10 Apples (whole)
1/2 - 1 cup Sugar
4 Tablespoons Cinnamon
4 Tablespoons Allspice (May have to be sent from home)
*Optional - Caramel

Steps
1. Cut the apples in quarters. (Apples can be cut unpeeled, and complete with seeds) Put in Pot.
2. Cover with (filtered!) water, just over the top of the apples.
3. Add Sugar
4. Wrap Cinnamon & Allspice in cheesecloth and add.
**Side note, who has cheesecloth in the PC, I mean really? If you have a woman's clean/new cheap knee-high or stocking, cut the foot out and put spices in. Tie closed. Viola!)
5. Boil for 1 hour uncovered
6. Simmer for 2 hours covered
7. Let cool & then mash the apples in pot. (A clean glass jar makes for a great masher)
8. Strain liquid out & Enjoy!

So after this delicious recipe was completed, I was left with a bowl of spiced apple mush. Looked kind of something like applesauce...what to do?? No sense in wasting it...

Mush on left. Cider on Right.

Applesauce Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups Apple Mush (complete with seeds, you won't notice them)

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cups Oil (vegetable/corn/sunflower)

2 eggs

3 Tablespoons Milk

2 cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Nutmeg

(Normal recipe also calls for 1 Teaspoon each Cinnamon & Allspice, but as it's already in the mush, no need)

Steps
1. Pre-heat Oven to 125C (about 260F)
2. Mix all ingredients together
3. Put in muffin pan
* Can cook in normal bread pan also, just may need to cook for longer)
4. Sprinkle sugar on top
5. Cook for about 15-20 minutes (watch carefully, when fork comes out clean, they are done!)

As the Azerbaijani's would say, Nuş Olsun! (Enjoy!)

And if you're really ambitious.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pack Cream Cheese (Philadelphia can be bought in many big markets)
1/4 cups Butter (soft)
3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Mix all together and spread!