Spiced Crab Apples

Spiced crab apples and spiced peaches, as well as pickled eggs and pickled onions, were things I grew up with. I never really thought about their origin, but given my mother's origins, I'm wondering if these foods are British. 

I had childhood friends whose mothers were from various parts of the world, but I never encountered any of these foods on their tables. Suppose I could Google it, but maybe one of you can tell me.

Crab apples are, I'm told, called such because of their size and not their cultivar. Crab apples are 2 inches or less in diameter, and the ones I used for this recipe, an organic heirloom variety, were way less than 2 inches in diameter.

If you do canning, I'm sure you could do that with spiced crab apples. But my mother was not into canning for long-term shelf storage, so she made this kind which you can store in the refrigerator for up to a month. She served them with things like pork roast and turkey. 

This seems like a lot of bother for something so small as to be more of a garnish than a side dish! But the spiced crab apples are rather adorable and quite fun to serve for a special occasion. They also work well on a cheese board or charcuterie platter.

But plan ahead. They're ready in a week, but even better at 2 or 3 weeks, and they keep for up to 4 weeks in the refrigerator. I just made 1 quart, but you can easily double or triple the recipe.

If you like it, please remember to Pin it and share it!

Spiced Crab Apples

(Makes 1 quart)

1 3/4 cup (12.25 ounces/347 grams) sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cloves
7/8 cup (7 fluid ounces/207 ml) apple cider vinegar
7/8 cup (7 fluid ounces/207 ml) water

1 pound (16 ounces/454 grams) tiny crab apples

1 Have ready a wide mouth 1-quart canning jar. In a 3-quart stainless steel saucepan, whisk together the sugar and spices. Whisk in the vinegar and water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Take off heat for 5 minutes.

2 In the meantime, wash the apples well, leaving the stems intact but removing the fuzzy blossom ends. Pierce the blossom end twice with a skewer or very sturdy toothpick. 

3 Add the apples to the slightly cooled liquid. Bring up to a gentle simmer and simmer the apples for about 15 minutes. Don't let the mixture boil or you might end up with skins falling off the apples and the apples getting overcooked. 

4 Carefully remove the apples from the liquid and put them in a wide mouth 1-quart canning jar. Pour the pickling liquid into the jar. The apples should be completely immersed. If some are floating above the liquid, you can weight them down with something. I have a bunch of 2.6-inch porcelain ramekins and use one of those. These 2.6-inch porcelain dipping sauce dishes would probably also work well. Put on the lid.

5 Let cool for an hour, and then refrigerate for at least a week or up to 4 weeks.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. We are a ThermoWorks affiliate, earning a small commission at no cost to you on purchases made through our links. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support. 

Jean

Chicken and Dumplings - Instant Pot (or Not)

Chicken and Dumplings is a real comfort food classic! And if you’d like to make it on the stovetop rather than in the Instant Pot, go to my original Chicken and Dumplings post. 

Also, go to that post if you’d like to read about the great dumpling controversy—you know, fluffy versus flat, dropped versus rolled. As you can see, I make fluffy dumplings. 

And fluffy they are. Never stodgy (unpleasantly solid and heavy). Sometimes I use a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in the milk, and sometimes not. Either way, they come out light, fluffy and delicious. 

Thing is, the Instant Pot is narrower in diameter than my Dutch oven, so there’s really only room for half the dumplings. If you’re serving it all at once (dinner for at least 6), you could transfer the finished stew to a wider pan that will hold all the dumplings. 

I’ve often used bone-in chicken breasts and thighs rather than cutting up a whole chicken, but for this Instant Pot version I went with a whole chicken and did not cut it up. 

You see, I’m still on my Streamlined Cooking kick and not cutting up the chicken and not browning the pieces was a huge timesaver. The chicken comes out fall-apart tender and easy to remove from the bones. 

I was prepared to have to remove a lot of fat from the broth, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of fat, so I just went with it. That was another timesaver.

I hope you’ll try it soon and let me know how you like it. And, tell me, which dumpling team are you on, fluffy or flat?

Chicken and Dumplings - Instant Pot

(Serves 6 to 8)

The Chicken Stew

1 whole organic free-range chicken (3.5 to 5 pounds/1.6 to 2.25 kg), giblets removed

1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 medium (about 12 ounces/340 grams) yellow onion, quartered and sliced (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups thinly diagonally sliced carrots (about 12 ounces/340 grams)
3 stalks (about 4 ounces/113 grams) celery, thinly diagonally sliced (1/2 cup)

2 cups (16 fluid ounces/473 ml) water

1/4 cup flour shaken with 1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

The Dumplings

(Makes 18)

2 dip-and-sweep cups (10 ounces/283 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon non-GMO baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (2 ounces/57 grams) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup (8 fluid ounces/237 ml) milk (1 tablespoon of which can be apple cider vinegar)

1 In 6-quart Instant Pot inner cooking pot, place the chicken (mine was an even 4 pounds); sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt, 3/4 teaspoon pepper, marjoram and poultry seasoning. Top with onions, carrots and celery; pour in the water.

2 Put the lid in place and turn the steam valve to Sealing. Plug in the Instant Pot. Press the Pressure Cook key. Leave the indicator lights on High Pressure and Normal temperature, and change the cooking time to 25 minutes.

Note: It took about 25 minutes to come up to pressure and begin the cooking time.

3 When the "It's done" beep sounds and the indicator says "Off," set a kitchen timer for 25 minutes and allow the pressure to release naturally, then do a quick release by turning the steam valve to Venting. 

4 When the float valve drops down, carefully remove the lid. Transfer the chicken to a large plate or bowl and let cool for about 20 minutes. When it's cool enough to handle, use 2 forks to remove the skin and take the meat off the bones. Cut it into bite-size (about 1-inch) pieces.

5 Shake together flour and water until mixture is as smooth as possible; then pour it through a strainer into the stew. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding the additional 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, if needed; press Saute and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes to thicken. Stir in the chicken.

Note: You can stop right here if you want to and finish the dish tomorrow or the next day. See the Note at the end before proceeding.

6 While stew returns to a simmer, make dumplings. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Drizzle melted butter over flour mixture, stirring with large fork. Stir in milk. Let stand for 5 minutes before scooping onto stew.

7 Stir in the parsley (and a cup of frozen peas, if you like). Spray a #40 scoop (about 1.5 tablespoons) or round measuring tablespoon with cooking spray. Drop level scoops or rounded tablespoons of dough onto simmering stew. Cover and simmer dumplings for 20 minutes, then test one to see if toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If not, cover and simmer an additional 5 minutes.

Note:  Only half the dumplings will fit in the Instant Pot. If you want to cook all the dumplings, you will need to transfer the stew to a wider pot, such as a 5.5-quart Dutch oven. And, if you are not an experienced dumpling maker, you will likely find it easier to do that anyway because cooking the dumplings is a bit tricky in the Instant Pot. You have to go back and forth between Saute and Slow Cook to keep the stew at a simmer. I did it one time, just to see if and how it could be done, and it worked. But I'll do the dumplings on the stovetop next time.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. We are a ThermoWorks affiliate, earning a small commission at no cost to you on purchases made through our links. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support. 

Jean