Five-Spice Apple Sauce

I needed a great side dish to go with my Crispy Pork Chops the other night. The classic pairing is apple sauce, but this is Corcoran Street Kitchen. Motts simply won't do. I recently took a trip out to Falls Church with my friend, blog contributor, and graphic artist extraordinaire, Sarah. She took me to the Asian Grocery Store where I was like a kid in a candy shop. I think I blacked out for a few minutes from sheer joy at all the fantastic spices and ingredients. When I finally came to, I was putting away about a years worth of Asian sauces, spices, pastes, and powders. Lucky me!! Among them is a very traditional Chinese 5 Spice blend. It is fragrant, and musky. Almost a savory pumpkin pie spice blend that is usually used for meats. It has Chinese cinnamon and (presumably 4) other spices that I don't stock on my spice rack. I think it was amazing with apple sauce and it complimented the pork perfectly.
Five-Spice Apple Sauce
Ingredients:
3 medium apples
1/2 tsp. Five-Spice Powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon water
salt
1. Peel apples, chop into small-ish cubes and toss into a saute pan with sugar, five spice powder, water, and a scant sprinkle of salt.
2. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 20-30 minutes until tender. I like chunky applesauce so you can either mash it up only a little with a fork, like I did or you can pass it through a food mill if you like yours to be very smooth.
3. Serve with Crispy Pork Chops or I bet it would be great with a dollop of vanilla ice cream...