Mom always made applesauce from scratch. Her apple of choice was the McIntosh, and she cooked them with the peel. It generated a pretty pink color when strained through a food mill.

When we first had commercial applesauce from a jar (that would be you, Mott’s) at a friend’s house, we couldn’t believe the difference in flavor and texture. That is to say, Mom’s was the winner by far.

For breakfast, lunch or a healthful dessert or snack, set up an apple sauce bar with custom toppings.

We share our Mom’s stove top recipe—so easy!—as well as a slow cooker recipe from the U.S. Apple Association.

If you’re avoiding refined sugar, you can cook the apples without sugar and sweeten the cooled applesauce with a noncaloric sweetener, agave, honey, etc.
TOPPINGS BAR

This applesauce is delicious in its natural state, but if you like to experiment you can try adding spices or lemon zest. Test your preference by seasoning half the batch after you remove it from the heat.

We easily devoured the two quarts of applesauce in a week; but if it’s too much for you, rather than reduce the recipe, stick it in the freezer. It freezes beautifully.

Ingredients For 2 Quarts

 
Preparation

1. QUARTER and seed the apples; don’t peel. Add to a pot of boiling water that covers the apples, top the pot with the lid, reduce the heat to simmer and cook slowly, until the apples are mushy, about 15 minutes.

2. TASTE and adjust the sugar if needed. If the texture is too thick for you, add water, a tablespoon at a time, until the desired thickness is reached. After adjusting either, re-boil for a second or two to blend.

3. LET cool. Process through a food mill. (If you remove the peel before cooking, you can pulse in a food processor). Serve at room temperature and refrigerate the extra.

Ingredients For 3-3/4 Cups

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the peeled apple chunks in the slow cooker and sprinkle with sugar, lemon, vanilla and salt. Stir to mix. Cover the cooker and cook on low for 4 hours.

2. UNCOVER the cooker and use a potato masher to coarsely mash the apples. For a really smooth sauce, you can purée in a food processor or blender, or use a food mill. Be careful when handling the hot apples and juice, cover the lid of the processor or blender with a folded towel and hold it closed as you turn on the machine.

3. TRANSFER the applesauce to sterilized jars and let cool. Cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

McIntosh apples, Mom’s favorites for applesauce. Photo courtesy Baldor Food.

APPLE STATISTICS

The U.S. Apple Association tells us that the United States has approximately 7,500 apple producers who grow nearly 200 varieties of apples, on approximately 328,000 acres. Nearly 100 varieties are in commercial production; the remainder are heirloom varieties grown in backyards and small-scale farming, generally sold at farmers’ markets.

The 2013 crop was estimated at 248.6 million bushels, with a wholesale value of the U.S. apple crop is more than $2.7 billion. Sixty-seven percent of the crop is grown for fresh consumption and 33% goes for processing (applesauce, pie filling, juice, fresh slices, etc.).

Apples are grown commercially in 32 states. The top ten apple producing states are, in order of size of crop:

 
The Top 10 apple varieties grown in the U.S. are, in order of crop size:

[1] Classic tuna poke. You can buy it ready-to-serve from Pete’s Seafood Club.

[2] At better restaurants, you may have a large choice of vegetables and seasonings to mix with your poke (photo © Dons Bogam | NYC) .

[3] This salmon poke bowl is packed with shredded crab leg, tobiko roe, avocado, black, red and green seaweeds, and spinach leaves (photo © Kabuki Restaurant).

[4] Tofu poke. The recipe is to the right (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[5] A poke “take” on musubi, Japanese rice balls (photo © Hoku’s At The Kahala | Kahala Hotel & Resort).

[6] Poke on a pizza (photo © Pizza Corner Hawaii).

[7] Poke tartare, chopped into tiny pieces. Unlike tuna tartare, poke retains all of the marinade and other seasonings (photo © Allison Tong | Flavor & The Menu).

[8] A colorful salmon poke bowl with cucumber, carrots, chives, corn, edamame, red cabbage, and summer squash, sprinkled with sesame seeds (photo © Miu Sua | Unsplash).

[9] Poke pizza from the Makai Poke Co. in Hoboken, NJ, alas, now closed.

[10] Chicken poke bowl. Here’s the recipe (photo Abacus A.I.)

Our colleague Hannah Kaminsky is on a food safari in Hawaii, the land of abundant produce and poke. A vegan, she discovered a tofu poke bowl and was inspired to create her own (the recipe is below, and you can certainly substitute tuna).

Poke is first and foremost a raw fish and vegetable dish served as an appetizer or salad course in Hawaiian cuisine. A relative of ceviche, crudo, tartare, and tataki, it’s a combination of raw fish and vegetables that becomes a salad appetizer.

Actually pronounced poe-KEH, it is mispronounced poe-KEY by enough people that the latter pronunciation is becoming an accepted alternative.

Poke is Hawaiian for “to section” or “to slice or cut.” Another meaning is “chunk.”

The most popular recipe, ahi poke, is made with yellowfin tuna cubes marinated in sea salt, soy sauce, roasted crushed candlenut (inamona), sesame oil, limu seaweed, and chopped chili pepper. Alternatively, it is served sashimi-style with wasabi and soy sauce.

Other types of tuna can be substituted for the ahi, or you can use a different seafood entirely: Raw salmon and octopus are popular. Vegetarians can substitute tofu—as in the recipe below.

Other accompanying condiments include furikake seasoning*, garlic, hot sauce (such as sambal olek), ogonori (ogo) or other seaweed, sesame seeds and tobiko (flying fish roe).

September 28th celebrates the traditional Hawaiian dish of raw, marinated fish. There’s a second holiday, National Fresh Poke Day, celebrated on August 15th**.

> The history of poke is below.

> Chicken poke bowl recipe with grilled chicken.

> The history of sushi.

> The different types of sushi and sashimi: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 6 sushi holidays.

> The year’s 56 fish and seafood holidays.
 
 
RECIPE: TOFU POKE

How about a variation for vegetarians? This recipe was “ever so slightly adapted from Aloha Tofu,” by Hannah. “Like some of the best dishes,” says Hannah, “this one couldn’t be simpler to prepare.”

“The basis is a classic dish made by the tofu masters themselves. Their rendition adheres very closely to the traditional fish-based formula, substituting fried tofu cubes for the raw fish—a move that should appease those who can appreciate tofu well enough, but not so much that they care to eat it raw.

“The finished dish is sold in their brand new eatery, but since I didn’t have a chance to scope out that scene as well, I’m grateful that the full recipe is published on their website as well. No strings attached, no gimmicks or marketing ploys; just the desire to share their tofu and new ways to enjoy it. Now that’s the Aloha Spirit in action.”
 
 
Ingredients For 4-6 Side Or Appetizer Servings

 
Preparation

1. TOSS the tofu, all of the chopped vegetables, and seasonings together in a large bowl. Thoroughly combine all of the ingredients and coat them with the marinade.

2. COVER and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving, or up to a day. Serve cold.
 

[9] Serve poke with sweet potato chips or mixed vegetable chips. In a pinch, pita chip or tortilla chips will work (photo © Blue Water Grill).
 
 
POKE HISTORY

Poke’s origins lie long before Western contact—which was the arrival of Captain James Cook to the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. How many centuries prior to then, we don’t know; but the dish may be ancient.

Initially, it was made with raw reef fish, seasoned with sea salt and seaweed, and combined with inamona—crushed kukui nuts (candelnuts). Salting also helped to preserve the fish for a subsequent meal.

Poke (rhymes with okay) literally means “to cut crosswise into pieces.” It has long been a simple dish made of chopped seafood†, often tuna, today marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil, which arrived with Japan immigrants in the latter half‡‡ of the 19th century. Onion and tomatoes, now also common ingredients, were some of the mainland vegetables introduced during the 19th century.

Today there are many variations of poke, including different fish and shellfish. Don’t be surprised to find octopus and mussel poke.

Beyond the original simple recipe of marinated fish with onion (photo #1), poke can now include avocado, cilantro, cucumber, crispy onions, mushrooms, pineapple, plain or pickled jalapeño, ponzu sauce, teriyaki sauce…and a much longer list.

Each group immigrating to Hawaii has added ingredients to poke, creating bacalao poke (made with Portuguese dried salt cod), furikake salmon, kimchi shrimp, miso tako (octopus), pipikaula (dried beef), and spicy ahi poke [source].

Everyday fusion spicing with wasabi and/or kimchee is common—as is poke mixed with mayonnaise.

Most historians agree that it wasn’t until the 1960s and 1970s, that the name “poke” was given to the dish. The name means “chunk” in Hawaiian. In the past poke was typically any meat or seafood that is cut into small chunks and marinated [source].

The naming poke coincided with ahi tuna becoming more readily available [source]—but we haven’t been able to connect the dots and explain why the coincidence.

The bright pink hue of ahi was far more aesthetically pleasing than dull, grey reef fish and it tasted better (although pricier).

In 1991, Chef Sam Choy, a promoter of the Hawaiian regional cuisine movement of the early 1990s, launched the first annual poke contest, which showcased inventive poke recipes from across the state.

When it arrived on the mainland (the Continental U.S.), poke took a path beyond the traditional marinated fish. Poke bowls emerged with added almonds, bamboo shoots, cauliflower, chicken, corn, kale, mango, orange slices, quinoa, zucchini noodles, and more.

It is now often served atop a bowl of rice, like chirashi sushi.

While those bowls would be unrecognizable in Hawaii, the state has created ahi poke musubi (rice balls—photo #6); poke inari sushi and sushi sliders (filled with poke); poke burritos, nachos, tacos and tostadas.

And yes, there is poke pizza (photo #7).

Today poke can be cooked or raw, cubed or scraped: It doesn’t even have to be fish or seafood, as illustrated by the Tofu Poke recipe above (photo #4).

The good news is that, in whatever form, poke has arrived.

________________

*Furikake is a dry Japanese seasoning meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. It typically consists of a mixture of dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and MSG. There are different blends, including Ebi Fumi Furikake, Katsuo Fumi Furikake, Nori Fumi Furikake, Noritamago Furikake, Salmon Furikake, Seto Fumi Furikake, Shiso Fumi Furikake and Wasabi Fumi Furikake. You can find them at Asian food stores or online.

**Why is there a Fresh Poke Day? Isn’t poke always fresh? Well…poke can be purchased frozen and thawed, as can sushi, and often it is pre-made in grab-and-go sushi in certain markets. Also, the fish can be pre-sliced, waiting to be mixed. So this holiday emphasizes the freshness front and center: You order it and it is sliced and mixed for you. “Fresh” signals an elevated experience, with fish that’s just been cut, and is vibrant and bursting with flavor (exactly how poke was meant to be!).

†In less civilized times, some Hawaiians would suck the flesh off the bones and spit out the skin and bones.

‡1778: Captain James Cook landed at Waimea Bay on the island of Kauai, becoming the first European to make contact with the Hawaiian Islands. Cook names the archipelago the “Sandwich Islands” after the Earl of Sandwich. A year later, Cook was killed by an angry mob at Kealakekua Bay on the island of Hawaii.

‡‡The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii in 1868 [source].

Six large meatballs are tucked under a
blanket of smooth tomato sauce. Photo by
Faith Tomases | THE NIBBLE.

The Flying Meatballs is a side business established by an elegant restaurant in Whippany, New Jersey, Il Capriccio. The restaurant’s meatballs have been a perennial menu favorite, with patrons always asking for orders to go.

The Grande family, owners of the restaurant, decided that the meatballs were ideal for selling directly to consumers—that they would literally “fly off the shelves.” Hence the brand name.

Made in small batches, the meatballs are now sold direct-to-consumers at TheFlyingMeatballs.com). They’ll also be at a growing list of deli counters, currently at Balducci’s and King’s (listen up, Fairway!).

Six meatballs, blanketed in sauce, include a choice of:

Everything is made from scratch, including the breadcrumbs. Just as at the restaurant, prime, natural cuts of meat and premium ingredients are combined into a dense yet tender texture. You get lots of great meat for the money.

Chef Grande has a degree in engineering, which enabled him to design and build a proprietary meatball extruder. The technology creates a replicate a perfectly hand-rolled meatball, just like his grandmother makes.

The meatballs are flash frozen after being made and keep their flavor and consistency until thawed and cooked.

“We’re bringing the comforts of Nonna’s kitchen to customers’ doorsteps,” says chef Natale Grande. The recipe, handed down through generations, rocks. We must give a shout out to the wonderful sauce. A velvety purée, more a gravy than a conventional chunky sauce, it is so good we would like to buy buckets of it and put it on everything.

Pasta

The company also sells premium imported pastas from Rustichella d’Abruzzo:

 
Grating Cheeses

For a primo pasta experience, there’s a choice of six aged Italian cheeses:

 
You can see that it’s not all about Parmigiano-Reggiano. The next time you make pasta, consider one of the others. Check out our article, Italian Grating Cheeses.
 
Pasta Sauces

The same is true with the sauce. Much as a tomato sauce is beloved on pasta, consider other favorites from the Grande family, including:

 
Along with some fine olive oils and a mac and cheese (a blend of Gruyère, provolone and marscopone with a touch of nutmeg over imported gemelli pasta—we can’t wait to try it), TheFlyingMeatballs.com is a treasure trove for delicious Italian comfort food.

For a treat or a gift (the packaging is quite attractive), order a slew of meatballs. All are delicious, although our personal favorite was the complex layering of Three Meats.
  

Yes, it’s colder here than in Fargo!

So some warming comfort food is required. We recommend hot chocolate made from scratch.

No matter how much you enjoy hot chocolate from packets—even the pricier ones—making it from scratch produces a far superior product. It’s richer and more chocolaty, with a sweetness level you can adapt and your choice of milk (lactose free, nondairy, whatever).

EASY HOT CHOCOLATE FROM SCRATCH

Unwrap a bar of your favorite good-quality chocolate (or leftover solid Valentine chocolate) in a mug of steamed milk. Like hot chocolate on a stick, you stir until the chocolate melts.

If you don’t have a steamer, just heat the mil

Mora Iced Creamery, on Bainbridge Island outside Seattle, serves something like this called a Submarino” in a glass mug. The chocolate “submarine” melts and turn the “oceand” from white to chocolate brown.

In Columbus, Ohio, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams serves a variation called Hot Chocolate Soup: hot chocolate in a café au lait bowl, served with animal crackers and a handmade marshmallow.

Art Pollard of Amano Artisan Chocolate in Utah favors a Chocolate & Cream, a preparation of 2 ounces of his delicious chocolate bars melted into a mug’s worth of whole milk combined with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream.

The City Bakery in New York City adds two tablespoons of butter instead of the heavy cream. (Try it if you like things really rich.)

When you use actual chocolate, including ground chocolate (often labeled as drinking chocolate) instead of cocoa powder, you are making hot chocolate. Here’s the difference between cocoa and hot chocolate.

RECIPE: HOT CHOCOLATE FROM SCRATCH

Ingredients Per Large Cup/Mug

 
*You can substitute lowfat or nonfat milk. The drink will simply be less rich. Similarly, you can substitute light cream or half and half for the heavy cream.
 
Preparation

2. HEAT 3/4 cup whole milk plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream (or 3/4 cup milk plus 2 tablespoons of water) in a small, nonreactive saucepan. If using the cream mixture, stir frequently, preferably with a small whisk, until the mixture is steaming hot. If using water, the mixture should be almost at a boil.

3. ADD the processed chocolate mixture. Whisk in well until it is dissolved and the mixture is steaming hot.

4. GARNISH as desired and serve immediately. Yields one large or two more reasonable servings
 
Here are 30 different ways to alter the recipe.
 
MORE HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPES

Heading out to the liquor store to pick up a bottle for Valentine’s Day? Here are some tips:

Don’t purchase a vintage year Champagne. Vintage champagnes typically need to be laid down for 10 or 15 years to reveal their glorious nuances. Knowledgeable people who buy them don’t plan to drink them anytime soon. Instead, you’ll save money and have a better taste experience with nonvintage Champagne.

Do look for rosé Champagne, as “real” pink-hued Champagne is called. Fuller in body with a deeper flavor, it’s our personal favorite. (It’s also pricier due to the extra steps required to extract the pink color. Taittinger Brut Prestige Rosé is a beauty, with the greater roundness that rosé Champagnes have. It’s priced in between the nonvintage and vintage Taittingers, around $65.00.

Don’t buy anything called “Pink Champagne.” It is not French but inexpensive wine, carbonated and colored pink. Authentic rosé Champagne (and other natural rosé wines) get their color by extracting it from the grape skins into the white juice.

Do look for non-Champagne rose sparklers. Two of our favorites: [yellow tail] Bubbles Rosé from Australia (yes, it’s spelled lower case and in brackets) and Martini Sparkling Rosé Wine from Italy. Both are not much more than $10 a bottle, but don’t let the price fool you. They’re delicious! Another favorite, Chandon Rosé, from California is about $22.00.

If you don’t want sparkling wine, buy rosé, a pink still wine.

MORE VALENTINE WINE IDEAS

Here are some of our favorite Valentine wines.

More of our favorite rosé Champagnes.

Whatever is in your glass, have a delicious Valentine’s Day.

 
*While sec means “dry” in French and demi-sec means “half dry,” as the terms refer to Champagne, they indicates sweetness.