Cranberries in the Snow

The holidays are here, whether we are ready or not. Thanksgiving Day marks the end of "fall" and many people jump both feet into Christmastime the day afterward, like so many children into piles of autumn leaves (which are still blowing freely around my neighborhood). Admittedly, I too am eager to make the transition, clearing my mantle of gourds and pilgrims and really dusting (for the first time since September, if you must know).

This Thanksgiving I tried out a new cranberry sauce recipe that I was hoping could make the transition to Christmas with the rest of us, using up the very last of my Annie's Crannies. It was everything I'd hoped for--simple, sweet-tart and positively lovely. Sure, I love cranberry-orange relish, and cranberry chutney too, but on this day, I really wanted to highlight the flavor of the cranberry alone.

What I love about this sauce, besides the amazing burst of cranberry flavor, is that it is baked, freeing up one of my burners. And as you know, stove-top space is at a premium during the holidays. The cranberries are simply sprinkled, smothered rather, with sugar (is it just me or have you found that the cranberries are especially tart this year?), then baked for awhile until their crimson juices run and the cranberries have softened like jellies. Mmmmm, tastes like Christmas, indeed!






Christmas Cranberries
Printable Recipe

The cranberry stands alone in all her ruby-red glory in this simple recipe, adapted from here. Baked instead of simmered in the saucepan, this sauce tastes wonderful with roasts of all sorts, or even over ice cream. Try stirring some of this into your favorite orange marmalade to create a pink-hued marvel to spread over scones...or give as a gift.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Yield: about 1 half-pint of sauce

Ingredients:

3 cups of fresh cranberries (frozen would work too, but you may need to increase the baking time)
1 cup of granulated sugar

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place cranberries in a 8x8 inch square baking dish and sprinkle with sugar. Do not stir.

3. Bake cranberries for 35 minutes, stirring twice during baking. Remove from dish into a bowl, cover and refrigerate.

Cranberry Cocktail

I just hate it when a recipe I love gets bad reviews (especially recipes I've written). Jeesh. People need to get a grip and stop being so harsh...and learn how to cook for goodness sake. And if you modify a recipe, adding or subtracting or, god forbid, substituting ingredients then you can't really say whether the recipe as it was written was good or not, can you? Do these people actually have taste buds? Or common sense? I think not. And I'm pretty sure that most reviewers haven't passed third grade grammar either. I assure you that the Barefoot Contessa did not RUIN your dinner party because the cooking time she stated in the recipe was too long. Perhaps you just need to calibrate your oven...and not drink so much wine.

It's tough going sometimes...

That said, constructive criticism is always helpful. Like, I made the recipe as you said, but the crust is too crumbly...or the cake is too tough. Or... In Australia I can't find x ingredient. I substituted y and it didn't turn out very well. What do you suggest? Or... Your recipe calls for 2 egg whites. Should one of those be a yolk? Yes, these are the types of helpful suggestions and questions that make me (and I imagine other folks who make recipes) want to fix the problem.

Which brings me to today's recipe (which is not originally mine, by the way). Though it gets mixed reviews on the Epicurious website, I think it makes a fabulously flavored syrup, perfect for mixing with vodka. Sure, you can top it with club soda if you find it a little thick, as did some of the reviewers. But I like to mix it in a shaker, one part syrup with two parts vodka and strain it into sugar-rimmed martini glasses for a gorgeously hued holiday cocktail. We enjoy this on Thanksgiving, and again on Christmas. Strain it into a nice bottle, and it makes a wonderful gift as well. Be sure to attach the martini recipe.




Garnet Martini Syrup

We enjoy this gorgeously-hued cocktail on Thanksgiving, and again on Christmas. Strain it into a nice bottle, and it makes a wonderful gift as well. Be sure to attach the martini recipe.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: makes about 16 martinis

Ingredients:

6 cups of fresh or frozen cranberries
4 1/2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

Preparation:

1. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until a glossy syrup has formed. It will thicken as it cools.

2. Strain through a fine sieve into a pitcher and chill for at least 3 hours or up to a couple of weeks.

3. To make one martini, shake 1 part syrup with 2 parts vodka with a handful of ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a martini glass (with a sugared rim, if you'd like) and top with a splash of club soda if desired. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and serve immediately.

Oh My, Cranberry Pie

We had a little chat the other day my facebook page (do you like me yet?) about whether a food processor or stand mixer gets more use. I rattled off some nonsense about how my kitchen is too small to drag out my appliances (I store them in the garage) and about how I'm too lazy to wash them anyway so I just use my knives for chopping and my hand mixer for mixing. However, since that conversation I have used my food processor about 4 times and my stand mixer zero times, so I guess my food processor wins (and I am a liar).

It's cranberry season folks, and while it's not entirely impossible to chop cranberries with a knife (have you ever tried to herd a pile of bouncy balls with a broom?), it is an exercise in frustration to be sure. Which is why my food processor comes out again and again during this time of year.

Anywho, this week on Pioneer Woman, Ree is baking pies in preparation for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Today she featured a Nantucket Cranberry Pie. Why on earth haven't I heard of this before? I love Nantucket. I love cranberries. I love pie. And let me tell you that after I baked this one up, I learned that Nantucket+cranberries=one fantastic pie...or cake....or cobbler or whatever. It is too easy and too good. Make it for Thanksgiving...or just make it for dessert tonight. And make the entire thing in...you guessed it...your food processor.








Nantucket Cranberry Pie

This recipe is so easy to make, and so easy to eat. The tart cranberry underbelly is spiked with walnuts then topped with a glorious almond-scented butter batter that turns golden and crunchy when baked in the oven. I've adapted it from Laurie Colwin's recipe that originally appeared in Gourmet Magazine in November of 1993.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
Yield: serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 heaping cups of fresh or frozen whole cranberries
1 scant cup of walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
Zest from one orange
1 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon almond extract

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a deep dish pie plate or 8 inch cake pan and set aside.

2. Place cranberries in the bowl of your food processor fitted with the steel-blade attachment, and pulse until they are chopped. Pour into the pie plate.

3. Place walnuts into your food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped (but not a paste) and pour over the cranberries.

4. Sprinkle the cranberries and walnuts with the orange zest and 1/2 cup of sugar.

5. Rinse the bowl of your food processor and return it to the base. Add the rest of the sugar, the flour, eggs, butter and almond extract. Run the food processor just until the mixture is evenly mixed.

6. Pour the batter over the cranberry and walnut mixture, and sprinkle the top with additional sugar if desired. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

In The Blink of An Eye

Home-grown zucchini are sort of like home-grown kids. One minute they are tender and young...quite delicious, really. And the next they are pubescent pre-teens who are as tall as you, weigh (20+ pounds) more than you, and are growing hair on their upper lip. Okay, perhaps I was referring to my son and not the squash, but you get the point. In the blink of an eye, they are totally, incomprehensibly huge. Yes, you can still slice them and cook them, or even eat them raw (and just to be sure, here I'm referring to the squash and not the kid). But I think they are best shredded up and disguised in baked goods....like cake. Or bread. Or both.

Just before we departed Cape Cod, my sister-in-law and I baked this cake from Diane at Napa Farmhouse 1885. The recipe had me at the mention of chocolate and zucchini, which sounded like a smashing combination. But as I started mixing ingredients, I noticed that the fat in the cake was olive oil...and it had a splash of balsamic dressing too. It was too late to turn back, and despite my fears that this cake would taste more like zucchini salad than chocolate cake, we pressed on.

We drizzled a ganache over the top of the cake and served it to our dinner guests, who all gobbled it with enthusiasm. The vinegar gave it a bit of whang, and actually deepened the chocolate flavor. Most everyone enjoyed it thoroughly, except for my daughter who said it tastes like "your breath when you've been drinking wine..." Well, I guess it could be a lot worse. My breath that is. Despite her protests, I found the cake to be moist, with a nice, soft crumb--and very tasty too.


My California garden also has zucchini plants and our sweet house sitter left a big, fat one on the vine for us to pick when we got home. With that, I decided to make zucchini bread, loaded with walnuts and dried cranberries. Kid repellent if you must know. I'm tired of never, ever getting a bite of the goodies I bake!

Unfortunately for me, the kids liked it afterall. And so did our friends. I think you will too!


And....just thought I'd mention that I saw this recipe today. To. Die. For. It's next on the list...and yes, I have a LOT of zucchini.

Zucchini Walnut Bread with Cranberries

I am a huge, huge fan of one bowl cakes that don't require any special equipment that might be stored on a garage shelf (think stand-mixer). This one fits the bill. Not only is it pleasantly spiced, it has a nice crunch from the walnuts and a bit of tangy goodness from all the dried cranberries. I think it would also be fabulous with chocolate chips. But almost everything is, isn't it? The recipe is adapted from this one.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients:

2 extra large eggs
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups grated zucchini
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup sweetened, dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 standard loaf pans and set aside.

2. Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl with a wire whisk. Whisk in sugar until thoroughly combined. Add butter and vanilla, stirring well. Whisk in zucchini and salt.

3. Sprinkle the top of the batter with the baking powder, then add half the flour and all the nutmeg and cinnamon. When combined, add the remaining flour and whisk just until barely combined.

4. Using a rubber spatula, carefully fold in the walnuts and cranberries, taking care not to over-work the batter.

5. Pour the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean.

6. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, before inverting to a cooling rack to cool completely. Top with your favorite cream cheese frosting, if desired.

Cranberry Craze

This box arrived on my porch the other day. I had an idea it was coming, but still I was surprised and exceedingly happy to see it. You see, this package of freshly harvested Cape Cod cranberries was sent by my in-laws who know how much I miss the Cape when I'm gone, and how much I love good food--more specifically food that comes straight from the farm. Though hardly local (to me), one cannot do without cranberries in the fall, especially when so many recipes revolve around their very presence. Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the cranberry sauce, would it?



My mother, even while being a fabulous cook, didn't really cook with fresh cranberries until I was an older child. Part of the reason was surely "tradition" and the fact that the jelled cranberry sauce, carefully released from the can with ridges intact, was a must-have on our Thanksgiving table. Ironically, this shivering blob was set upon a lovey crystal dish (on a bed of greens?), with a silver spoon made specifically to slice it. (I think the other reason we didn't use many fresh cranberries was that they just weren't available in the market either.) We laugh about that now, as the mere thought of canned cranberry sauce sounds so outrageously trashy, and we've happily have come up with quite a few wonderful cranberry sauces and chutneys in the years since.

But there are so many things that we make with fresh cranberries besides the sauce--breads, jams and jellies, cakes and crumbles and this amazing frangipane tart. I'm no gourmand, but I'm not exactly a slacker when it comes to food either. But a frangipane tart was something I had never, ever heard of until my sister-in-law brought it to Thanksgiving dinner last year. Stunning in both its presentation and its utterly delectable flavor, this dessert bested even the veritable pumpkin pie (in my humble opinion).



If you're like me, and have never heard of this delicious tart, have I got a treat for you! The filling of this dessert is essentially a ground nut paste that is shot through, in this case at least, with cranberries that peek out like buried jewels. And what's more, it's spiked with orange zest and a decent splash of brandy. The crust tastes exactly like my great grandmother's shortbread, and when combined with the toasty, tart, nutty flavor of the filling, you have one showstopping dessert that is definitely worth the calories (which is how I determine whether or not to eat desserts, by the way). Both the crust and tart recipes are adapted from Smitten Kitchen.


Tart Shell

Not only is this tart shell relatively easy to prepare, it doesn't shrink up like others might. And it tastes like a shortbread cookie....As Ina would say, how bad can that be? Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan by way of Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon very cold (9 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 jumbo egg yolk

Preparation:

Place dry ingredients in a bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse until coarse crumbles form. Drizzle in egg yolk, while pulsing for 10 seconds at a time, until dough just comes together. It will look like clumps and curds, but should stick together if you squeeze it between your fingers. Turn out onto a floured board and knead gently into a ball. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for two hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove plastic from ball and place on a floured surface. Roll out to a 12-inch round. Wrap the dough over the rolling pin, carefully lift it and center over a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Set dough in the pan, gently pressing together any cracks that may appear. Trim dough so that there is about a ½ inch overhang. Fold overhang towards the center to create an extra-thick edge. Prick dough all over the bottom and sides with the tines of a fork and freeze for at least 30 minutes.

Spray the shiny side of a piece of tinfoil with cooking spray and press onto the tart shell. To partially bake, place tart in the center of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove foil. If crust has bubbled, press lightly with the back of a spoon. Bake for 5 minutes more or until crust is light golden brown. Stop here to continue with the frangipane tart recipe. To fully bake crust (as for a fresh fruit filled tart), bake for 5-10 minutes more until crust is a deeper golden brown color. Cool completely and fill as directed.



Cranberry Pecan Frangipane Tart

This dessert is both beautiful and delicious. Try using more cranberries for a tarter flavor. Either way, you'll find it's well worth the small effort to prepare, and the calories. Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2/3 cups sugar
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon brandy (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 to 1 cup whole, fresh cranberries

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel-blade attachment, pulse the nuts with the flour until finely ground. Add the sugar, butter, egg, brandy and orange zest and pulse until smooth.

Spread into a pre-baked tart shell and dot with as many cranberries as you'd like. Bake for 45 minutes, or until filling is puffed and golden and cooked through. If necessary, test by inserting a toothpick near the center of the tart....it should come out clean. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or just on its own.

Cranberry Relish

This relish is so delicious, and my mother-in-law serves it every year for Thanksgiving. It is sweet, tart and so fresh the flavors burst on your tongue. It is a perfect foil to all the rich turkey, gravy, and fixings and I hope that you can give it a try sometime.

Fresh Cranberry Relish

3 C fresh cranberries, rinsed

1 whole orange, quartered

1 C sugar (or to taste)

Put cranberries, orange quarters and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse until finely chopped, but not pureed. It may be necessary to do this in two batches. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if necessary. That's it! Enjoy!

It's the Final Countdown

Today was a busy one. I spent most of the day either cleaning my house or cooking, or both simultaneously. We will have a relatively small crowd tomorrow, but that is good, because we have a relatively small home. It should be sufficiently cozy, filled with family, puppies, and the smells of Thanksgiving pouring out of the kitchen. I have done as much as I can to get ready...and I think it is enough. I feel strangely peaceful, like the calm before the storm. I can only hope that tomorrow goes as smoothly as I imagine it will, but there are always bumps along the road...and that is what makes good fodder for family tales in years to come.

I've made pumpkin chocolate chip bread and cranberry bread (for our Thanksgiving breakfast), pumpkin pie, cranberry relish, and Parker House Rolls. I will also make New England Rum Pie, a family tradition for generations, before I go to bed. I have dried and cubed the bread for stuffing (and made the cornbread for that too), and defrosted the rich turkey stock I made earlier in the month. My house is a cacophony of smells (and sounds from excited children who have been cooped up all day due to rain), and I am looking forward to a luxurious soak later tonight after the children are tucked in.

I do love the holidays, especially Thanksgiving, where there are no expectations of anything other than a great meal and great company. This year I am especially grateful for the farmers who grew our food, and all of the hands who are helping to prepare it. It has been such a joy to put a name and face with my food, to shake hands, and offer up sincere thanks to the folks who work so tirelessly to grow it. I am so thankful for family, friends, and neighbors who make my life a joy every day. And I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving too!

This recipe is for a most delicious Thanksgiving morning treat. It would also work for Christmas morning, or any morning really. This quick bread, adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook, is a fairly simple to prepare, and tastes wonderful toasted and spread with butter. I can't wait to have a piece tomorrow morning.

Cranberry Orange Bread

makes 1 loaf

2 C flour

1/2 C sugar

1 T baking powder

1/2 t salt

2/3 C fresh orange juice

2 eggs, beaten slightly

2 T butter, melted

1/2 C walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

1 1/4 C cranberries, pulsed in a food processor until finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease loaf pan.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in orange juice, eggs, and butter. Whisk until just combined. Fold in nuts and cranberries and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a knife, inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Wrap well and put away for 1-2 days before serving.

Cranberry Glazed Chicken

I have a dilemma. There is a beautiful bag of cranberries taunting me from my refrigerator. Every time I open my produce drawer, they call out to me, begging to be cooked and eaten. These aren't just any supermarket cranberries, mind you, but rather cranberries that were specially selected by my in-laws and shipped to us straight from a Cape Cod bog. I have big plans for these little gems. They are to go in the obligatory cranberry bread for Thanksgiving morning, and to be put into the fresh cranberry relish for Thanksgiving dinner. I really don't have many to spare...but tonight I could not resist their allure and so I made roasted chicken breasts with a cranberry glaze, using just a cup of the precious fruits. This recipe is adapted from Everyday Food.

Chicken with a Cranberry Glaze

Serves 4

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (or one large split turkey breast)

butter

dried sage

dried thyme

2 C chicken or turkey stock

1 onion, diced

1 C cranberries

1 t corn starch

Preheat oven to 400°.

Carefully lift skin on chicken breasts and sprinkle a pinch of sage and thyme and place 1 pat of butter. Replace skin over breast and sprinkle over a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast breasts for about 30-40 minutes, or until they reach an internal temperature of 160°.

Meanwhile, saute onion in 1 T butter until soft (about 8 minutes) in large sauce pan. Add about 1/2 t thyme and sage and stir for one minute. Add 2 C chicken or turkey stock and boil for about 10 minutes or until reduced slightly. Strain stock and then add cranberries and simmer until cranberries pop and soften, about 8 minutes. Make a slurry with 1 t corn starch and 1 t water. Stir to combine then whisk into sauce pan to thicken sauce.

Pour sauce over chicken and serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

Preserving My (In)Sanity

I have a problem; an addiction really. Or perhaps it is just an obsession. But what ever you want to call it, I cannot stop canning things "for the winter." Like the mothers (one human, one bear) in the beloved children's story Blueberries for Sal, I have gathered all the blueberries I could get my hands on (and the peaches, and apricots, and strawberries and apples, and tomatoes and on and on). Here in earthquake country we are encouraged to keep several days worth of supplies on hand for the inevitable "big one." But instead of stockpiling water, flashlights, radios, energy bars and batteries like a sensible person, I stockpile beautiful fruits in jars, filling my pantry to overflowing.

So far since late spring, I have managed to make jams from strawberries, strawberries and rhubarb, apricots, tomatoes and chilis, and peaches and blueberries. I have made jelly from Thomcord grapes, and sauce from apples and tomatoes. And today I made six half pints of cranberry chutney. I still have jars of applesauce and tomato chili jam on my counter because I have no room in my pantry...and now this.

It is as if I am operating from some primal instinct, as a squirrel gathers nuts, or a pioneer woman stuffs her root cellar. It is so not necessary, but it is deeply satisfying all the same. It feels like a connection to the past, while preserving the future, quite literally.

In Sandwich, Massachusetts, a lovely little Cape Cod village we visit each summer, they keep the jam-making tradition alive in their Green Briar Jam Kitchen. Volunteers lead workshops on how to make jams, jellies and other preserves, and when we visit, we can smell the sweet fragrance from well up the road. It is not hard to make jams, really, and with a few supplies on hand, it can be made in a jiffy. The recipe for Cranberry Chutney was inspired by one from the Green Briar, and the cranberries were shipped to us by my mother-in-law from Annie's Crannies on the Cape. It is tart, boldly flavored, and a delightful shiny crimson color that reminds me of the holidays.

For tips on preserving I suggest you visit the following website:

http://www.canning-food-recipes.com/

Basic supplies that I use for jamming are a large dutch oven, my pasta cooker (with removable insert), ball jars with 2 piece lids, tongs for jars, and a funnel. That's it! This recipe is much easier to make than jam (you don't need to worry about it setting) and it comes together quickly so that the whole project can be done in less than an hour. I'm planning on giving these to friends for Christmas (and finally clearing off my counter)!

Cranberry Chutney

makes about 5-6 8 oz. jars

1 pound of cranberries

3/4 pound of apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 lemon, seeded and diced

1/2 C raisins

1 C brown sugar

1/4 C candied ginger

1/4 C cider vinegar

1/2 C water

1/2 t salt

1/2 t chili powder

1/2 t dry mustard

1 stick of cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a large dutch oven and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes or until thick. Skim foam from the top and remove cinnamon stick.

Pour into sterilized jars and seal according to manufacturers directions.