Ideas for using leftover apple cider?

I was leafing through a preserves cookbook and saw an apple butter recipe that called for lots of apple cider.

I would support the cider-for-soup crowd, but with what I think is a better taste match to the sweetness -- carrot soup! Personally I love this one: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Carrot-with-Toasted-Almond-Soup-236394

I have used it in this recipe for Venison Shoulder from Chef John Besh. It is fantastic! http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2009/11/venison-recipe-chef-john-beshs-roasted-venison-shoulder

Or -- my choice -- let it ferment and drink it! ;-)

Add it to queso! Ro-Tel, Velveeta, cumin, chili powder, and a good glug or two of cider. SO SO SO SO GOOD!

I suggest the following baked apple recipe - it's great! http://food52.com/recipes/7944-apples-baked-in-cider

I like Meaghan F's answer. I often use apple cider in by pork braises.
Also, I reduce it and use it in place of vinegar in salad dressings. Have you ever opened a dinner menu with a salad only to have the vinegar in the dressing throw off the taste of the wine?
That can be avoided by reducing apple cider and using it in place of vinegar in the dressing. It will have enough acid to add brightness for most greens but you can a tiny splash of cider vinegar if you feel you need a boost.

I've tried a recipe for white bean soup with kielbasa that used cider instead of water for cooking. Dried (presoaked) beans were combined with the sausage and cider and cooked until the beans were done. There was thyme in it and maybe a fried onion. Surprisingly delicious and easy. If my cider was super sweet I might substitute water or stock for some of it.

King Arthur Flour sells fancy bottles of apple cider concentrate, I'm thinking you should make your own. Simmer on the stove until it is the consistency you'd want to add flavor to pies and other recipes without adding too much moisture. Pancakes and breakfast-y things would benefit from a swirl or drizzle of this as well! Then store in fridge or freeze depending on how fast you think you'll use it up.

It freezes very very well. I own a home in Bucks County, PA, and our fantastic local orchard freezes their cider for sale throughout the winter (Solebury Orchards-you rock!). Its delicious and I can detect absolutely no degradation in flavor or composition. I'd recommend two other uses-first in baking, there are a number of great apple cider based recipes including cakes and donuts. The other is a pan sauce. Here's my recipe for a quick pan sauce "al Normandy" for pork-chops: Preheat your oven to 350. Brown two porkchops in a skillet, remove to a clean plate. Saute one sliced apple in the pan until removing the crunch from them. Deglaze the pan with a few tablespoons of wine (or if you have Calvados), until basically evaporated. Add 1/2 cup of apple cider, let it reduce. Chops back into the pan and into the oven to finish(I take them out at 130/135 degrees on a quick read thermometer). Remove chops and apple slices to rest. Continue to reduce the sauce on the stove top, turn off heat and swirl in a tablespoon of butter or cream to finish.

Epicurious has a recipe called "Cider-braised pork shoulder with caramelized onions" that is a real winner. It calls for unfiltered apple cider, but if you reduce your regular apple cider before using you'll get great results.