Cabernet Sauvignon Cranberry Sauce

 

This is a holiday staple at my house, think cranberry sauce with a hint of Sangria on the pallet.  I usually go through a couple of batches a year, more so now than before as I have a smoker and I do a turkey breast a month more or less. 

Use a drinkable Cabernet Sauvignon in this recipe. I get the little black box kind that holds 300ML (about 16 ounces) and have some remaining for making a nice red wine reduction sauce to go with a steak...but that's a post for another time.  

This recipe falls under the category of stupid easy as if you can boil water, you can make this. A good heavy pan, copper if you got it, will help keep this from scorching during the simmer period.

I use sterilized jars to store the sauce in.  I refrigerate as I don't do the hot water bath.  Stored in the good old fridge this will last up to 6 months...as if we don't go through it all before the 6 months are up.

Cabernet Sauvignon Cranberry Sauce

• 1, 12 ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries 
• 1 cup cabernet sauvignon
• 1 cup sugar
• zest and juice of one orange
• pinch of salt

In heavy bottom pan add all the ingredients.  Over medium heat bring to boil and reduce to simmer.  Simmer 15 minutes until the berry's pop and it is thick and syrupy.  Immediately pour into sterilized glass jars.  Cool on counter until the lids ping and the sauce is nearly room temperature.  Store in refrigerator  up to 6 months.

Apple Cranberry Nut Bread

This a right tasty and textural quick bread.  Heavy on the tart from the cranberry and lightly citrus with a hint of spice.  Perfect for a mid-winter snack or breakfast.  Stupid simple to make.  The hardest task is peeling and dicing the apples.  

Apple Cranberry Nut Bread

• 1 16 oz bag fresh cranberry
• 1 1/2 c whole walnut
• 1 1/2 c diced granny smith apple
• 4 c flour
• 1 c sugar
• 1 c brown sugar
• 3 t baking powder
• 2 t salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 1/2 c orange juice
• zest from 1/2 orange
• 1/4 c vegetable oil
• 2 eggs beaten

Preheat oven 350F.

Place walnuts in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to break them up.  Add cranberry and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped.  Set aside.

In stand mixer add sugars, orange juice, oil and eggs beat until well combined.  Add baking powder, baking soda, zest, and cinnamon.  Stir lightly.  Fold in flour until just combined.  Fold in cranberry and nut mixture until just combined.  Fold in diced apples.

Spray 2 9X5 loaf pans with nonstick spray (or spray 8 mini-loaf pans).  Bake 55 minutes until full size loaf tests clean with a toothpick.  40-45 minutes on the mini-loaves.  Cool 15 minutes and then remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Swampberry Pie - not as bad as you think

Blueberry's and cranberry's love the swamp, grow in swamps, hence the name swampberry pie.

In this lovely little pie I use frozen wild blueberries from Trader Joe's. Well worth the extra buck over the domestic kind. You get a much more intense blueberry flavor with none of that gritty seed action when you opt for the wild blueberry. Of course I got spoiled on the real wild blueberry as a kid traipsing about the swamps around Ely, MN picking them for pies, muffins and pancakes with my grandmother.

Unlike my grandmother, I don't have a decent pie hand. But I do quite well with building the guts of a pie. Marie Calender's pie shells are the best by far that I have seen, and guess what...no dough to have to get mad at and toss in the trash in a fit of anger when it starts shredding and falling apart. A total win for me. If you can make the pie dough from scratch and have it not fall apart when trying to get into the pie plate more power to you!

Swampberry Pie

• 1 deep dish pie shell
• 12 oz bag frozen wild blueberries
• 2/3 C dried sweetened cranberries (I use craisans brand)
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 1 T corn starch
• 1 C flour
• 1 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C butter - cubed
• 1/2 t cinnamon

In bowl gently toss blueberry, cranberry, lemon juice, lemon zest and corn starch until blended. Pour into the prepared pie shell.

Pour flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a blow and stir to blend up evenly. Add cubed butter and with a pastry cutter or stand mixer with a whisk attachment blend in the butter to the flour mixture until it resembles coarse sand. Pour over fruit mixture in pie pan.

Bake 400F for 50-60 minutes until topping is golden brown.

Shell all nicely loaded waiting for topping

Happy Thanksgiving and a recipe for dressing too!

So when it comes to Thanksgiving and the other holidays I stay pretty true to tradition and include the usual turkey, stuffing and the rest of the goodies.

I got hooked on Ina Garten's "Herb Roasted Turkey" Breast a few years ago and its a staple. Why? Well its is absolutely phenomenal to start and there is no carcass left to deal with the day after (no one in my house 'cept me is a dark meat eater). For cranberry sauce I absolutely love Nigella's "Redder than Red" cranberry sauce...who knew a shot of cherry brandy could do so much for a simple sauce.

Years ago, 21 to be precise as a wedding gift my dear friend in Minnesota sent me a wild rice cook book and there I got hooked on the stuff. Cranberry, wild rice are a perfect combo fresh from the northern swamps and quite tasty together. I got the wild idea I don't know how many years ago to include cooked wild rice in my stuffing. It with cranberry give the stuffing a nice nutty and tart taste all at the same time.

Wild rice is an aquatic grass native to the Northern US and has a nice nutty flavor and slightly chewy texture when cooked right. You do have to cook it longer than regular rice to get through the thick hull. Under cook it and its like chewing on gravel, something you really don't want in stuffing. The age of the rice and how long it was roasted affects cooking time and how much water it needs to cook properly. Pay close attention to the directions on this one.

Wild Rice and Cranberry Stuffing

1 12 oz box seasoned stuffing mix

1 can chicken broth

1/2 c wild rice

1/2 c dried cranberry

1 c chopped celery

1 c chopped onion

1 t sage, divided

1 T garlic - minced

1/2 c butter (1 stick)

1 egg

Salt

Pepper

Place broth, wild rice and 1/2 t sage in sauce pot. Bring to boil then reduce heat to barely a simmer. Simmer 1 hour covered, stirring occasionally. Add additional water if the rice absorbs too much and starts to look dry. At the end of the hour, turn off the heat and allow the rice to steep another hour until cool. (I usually make the rice the day before the stuffing). Strain out the rice reserving what cooking liquid is left.

Dice the celery and onion. Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until butter starts to sizzle. Add the onion, celery and 1/2 sage. Salt and pepper to taste. Saute until onion is translucent, add garlic and cook one minute longer.

In large mixing bowl add dry stuffing mix. Add cooled drained wild rice and cranberry and toss lightly. Add onion mixture and toss lightly again. Take reserved cooking liquid and enough water to measure 2 cups. Stir egg into the cooking mixture then pour evenly over stuffing mixture. Toss lightly until evenly moistened.

Use as stuffing or pour into large casserole dish and bake 1 hour at 325F

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

I found this recipe for "Cranberry Upside-Down Cake" in Nov 09 Cooking light magazine. It looked good but needed some tweaking as its recipe ingredients were light on flavor too. I added in Cinnamon for that proper Holiday taste and smell. I also added some coarse chopped walnuts to finish off the cake, I mean those two play so well together why not add a little to the cake and make it more festive.

To make up for the added fat calories from the nuts I swapped out nonfat milk for the 1%. Not much of a savings, but every little bit helps. I also noted that this was a cake made with whipped egg whites for part of the fluff so I subbed in cake flour for a softer crumb than the all purpose.

I didn't reinvent the wheel, I just rounded it out. My version....

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

Topping

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 scant cups fresh cranberry
• 1 T cinnamon
• 1/3 c coarse chopped walnuts

Cake

• 1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 c cake flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 cup bakers sugar (also labeled super fine or ultra fine)
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 large egg whites
• pinch cream of tartar
• 1/2 c nonfat milk
• 1 t vanilla.
• 1 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F

Put butter and brown sugar in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave 1 minute and stir until sugar dissolved. Microwave additional 30-45 seconds until mixture starts to boil. Spray sides of 9 inch cake pan with baking spray. Pour in hot brown sugar mixture, roll pan to coat bottom well. Toss cranberries with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the hot sugar, pat softly until in one even layer. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

For the cake cream the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add egg yolks one at a time beating well with each addition. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add a third of the flour mixture to the batter and fold in slowly, adding 1/2 of the milk. Add another third of the flour and fold in slowly, adding remaining milk. Add remaining flour and stir until well mixed.

Mix egg whites with a pinch of cream of tartar (in copper bowl if you have one for maximum volume). Beat on high until stiff peaks form. Add half of the egg whites to the batter and fold in briskly to incorporate all of the egg white and lighten the batter. Take remaining egg whites and gently fold in by hand until just incorporated.

Spoon batter over the cranberry mixture. Bake on middle rack about 55 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Cranberry Raspberry Conserve

This recipe is inspired by Ina Garten from one she does called Cranberry Fruit conserve. I liked it but saw room to add my own touches. First I like my cranberry to be tart when served with rich foods such as Thanksgiving which is about a week away. That tartness cuts right through the rich sauces and stuff keeping the palette alive. That's a good thing while stuffing your face.

There are a couple of changes among them is the dried fruit used in the conserve. She uses raisins for cripes sakes. Raisins. Those things kindergartners stuff in their noses and who knows what else they do with the creepy little buggers. The only thing worse than a raisin in my book is a cooked one. Everyone knows that grapes are meant to be juiced and turned into wine, right!? Hence the change to dried raspberry.

A secret to jelly making, (jams and conserves too) is a good heavy pan to to avoid hot spots that might scorch your sugary goodness. Using a heavy copper pan pretty much guarantees you will have even and rapid heating. When buying copper get a stainless steel lined one so you don't have to worry about getting it "re-tinned" when a tin lining wears off.

Cranberry Raspberry Conserve

• 1 (12 ounce) bag fresh cranberries

• 1 3/4 cups sugar

• 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped

• 1 orange, juice and grated zest

• 1 large lemon, juice and grated zest

• 3/4 cup dried Raspberry

• 3/4 cup walnuts coarse chopped

Directions

Cook the cranberries, sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until the skins pop open. Add the apple, zests and juices and let cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from heat and add the raspberries and nuts. Pour off into jars and seal. Let cool, and serve chilled. It will store safely in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Swampberry Sourdough Bread

Half the battle with sourdough is the patience to just let it work at its own pace.  Once you have an easy bread it is even easier to adapt it.   This is "Swampberry Sourdough Bread" in honor of the fruit of the swamp - blueberry and cranberry.  Those lovely anti-oxidant rich little sweet treats that help keep us healthy.  

Swampberry Sourdough Bread

• 2 C starter sponge
  
• 2- 2 1/2 cups flour
  
• 2 T olive oil
  
• 4 t sugar
  
• 2 t salt 
  
• 1/4 c dried blueberry
  
• 1/4 c dried cranberry 
  
• 2 t cinnamon
  
• seasalt, or kosher salt for sprinkling 
  

Before adding ingredients did you remember to reserve starter for the future?

To the sponge add 2C flour, olive oil, sugar and salt.  Knead with dough hook until a ball forms.

This is a wet dough but if too wet add additional flour 1 heaping Tablespoon at a time until it forms a tight ball.   It is very important that you touch and poke this dough.  Knead about 5 minutes with dough hook. Add Cranberry and Blueberry and need 1 minute longer until well incoporated.  Even though wet it should have the feel of regular white or french style bread.  Do not over knead.

Oil your hand, take the dough and roll it into the middle several times until you have a smooth ball.  Place in a well oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to rise in warm spot 2-3 hours until doubled in size.  

Remove and punch down the dough, knead a couple of times then roll into it to create a tight smooth ball (called a boule).  At this point in time you can do one of two things.  First is let it rise to bake now or allow it to sit refrigerated overnight to develop a stronger "sour" taste.  

Bake now.  Preheat oven with a pizza stone to 500F.  Take the freshly kneaded bread, and flatten out.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, then reform the ball by rolling it into itself.  Place the newly formed boule on a piece of parchment paper cut to about 1" wider than the boule. Cover and allow to rise about 1 hour or until doubled in size.  When double slash top with a razor blade or cut with sharp scissors a series of gashes.  Brush dough with water and sprinkle on the salt of choice.

Place the boule on its paper in the oven on the pizza stone.  Reduce heat to 350F and bake 60-75 minutes until golden brown and instant read thermometer reads 210F.

Bake Later:  Return the boule to the oiled bowl and place in refrigerator overnight.  Remove and give it a quick knead and flatten out.  Sprinkle with cinnamon then reform the boule by rolling itself into the middle until a tight smooth ball forms.  

Place the newly formed boule on a piece of parchment paper cut to about 1" wider than the boule. Cover and allow to rise about 1 hour or until doubled in size. When double slash top with a razor blade or cut with sharp scissors a series of gashes.  Brush dough with water and sprinkle on the salt of choice.  Preheat oven with a pizza stone to 500F.  Place the boule on its paper in the oven on the pizza stone.  Reduce heat to  350F and bake 60-75 minutes until golden brown and instant read thermometer reads 210F.

The Best Pumpkin Bread recipe yet

Pumpkin Bread recipes are more than a dime a dozen.  They have more varieties using raw, puree or the dreaded already spiced "pumpkin pie" canned stuff.  I love a good pumpkin bread and its taken a few whacks to get one that works consistently.  

The day after Halloween at my house is the day I commit jack-o-cide.  Yup, those adorable decorations get the big dice and roasted off for puree.  A puree that I use for soup, pie or bread as the whim strikes.  I like the flavor even better than butternut squash.

This recipe is easily doubled.  Its good just warm from the oven or the next day slathered with butter for brekkie.  Its all good.  It all works.  Added boner - it really is easy.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cups flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1 cup pumpkin purée*
  
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  
• 2 eggs, beaten
  
• zest of one orange
  
• juice of one orange plus enough water to equal 1/4 cup
  
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
  
• 1/2 cup dried cranberry
  

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. 

Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts. 

Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack.

Makes one loaf. Can easily double the recipe.

* To make pumpkin purée, cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a foil or Silpat lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use. Or, if you are working with pumpkin pieces, roast or boil them until tender, then remove and discard the skin.

This pictures serves to do nothing for the recipe but I do find the whirling and swirling blade hypnotic and a stress reliever.  

This pic does have a purpose.  Though the batter is rather homogeneous it pays to run a knife through it to break up any big bubbles before you bake it.

Redder than Red Cranberry Sauce

There are two kinds of cranberry sauce lovers in my house.  Sweetish and tart.  I like the latter, kidlets seem to prefer the former.  Until now I didn't have a sweetish to make them happy that didn't come out of a can.  Now I do.

I'm a big fan of Nigella Lawson a brit on Food Tv.  The woman cracks me up, but she is spot on target when it comes to fast easy comfort food.  This weekend her Holiday edition included "Redder than Red Cranberry Sauce".  Perfectly sweet tart with a bit of a cherry pie back to it because you use cherry brandy in it.  

Next time I'm in London I need to track her down and maybe get her to sign of her books.  Maybe?

Redder thanRed Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries 
  
• 7 ounces caster sugar 
  
• 3 tablespoons cherry brandy 
  
• 4 fluid ounces water 
  
• Lemon juice, optional 
  

Directions

Place all the ingredients in a pan and cook until the liquids have reduced to a thick cranberry sauce. 

The pectin-rich nature of the fruit means that it solidifies briskly as it cools, so take the pan off the heat to stop it from cooking and reducing when you still think there's too much liquid. Once the berries have burst, which should be after about 10 minutes, it should be ready. Taste to test whether the sauce needs more sugar (if you find it too sweet just add some lemon juice).

Note I skipped the lemon juice and opted to use regular table sugar as "castor sugar" is not something I keep in stock in the old pantry.  I canned up a small jar as a gift for our T-giving guests and the rest was tossed into a serving container for the big day.  Mmmmmm...turkey next

Apple Cranberry Walnut Tatin

I've decided about the pissiest presentation these days for a dessert is in individual ramekins (or in this case a mini-souffle).  Skip the big box store for them, head to your nearest restaurant supply and save a bundle.  I bought mine at Surfas in Culver City for $3.50 instead of the around 10+ at the other places you'd find at the mall.  

Over this last weekend we met at my cousins house for dinner, I was in charge of desserts.  For the kids 1 yr to 17 I opted for cupcakes.  For the adults I took an old favorite pie recipe and kicked it up a bit for the adults.

What makes a "tatin" in french baking is the rich caramel poured over the fruit then it is turned upside down after it cooled just enough to thicken up.  For this version I wanted it to be an over the top caramel so I made it with brandy.

The problem with that is that it is messy compared to a regular pie and not exactly the kinda wow you want when people get the dessert.  Putting each serving in its own ramekin allows for good presentation without having to hack up the dessert to get it on a plate.

Apple Cranberry Walnut Tatin

Caramel

• 1/3 c sugar
• 1/3 c brown sugar
• 2T water
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1 T brandy 

Tatin

• 4 lightly buttered ramekins
• 6 medium apples (I used fuji, but gala work nice too)
• 1 T cinnamon (adjust to taste)
• 1/8 t fresh ground nutgmeg
• 8 T fresh ground walnuts
• 1/2 c dried cranberry
• 1 sheet ready made pie crust (like Pilsbury ready made)

For caramel place sugars and water in heavy pan.  Over medium heat bring to boil.  Whisk slowly until dissolved.  Boil gently until thick and turning deep caramel color (about 5-10 minutes).  Reduce heat and whisk in butter 1 T at a time.  It will foam up and stir constantly to reduce the foaming.  Once foaming has settled, REMOVE pan from flame.  Add Brandy and stir constantly until foaming stops.  Carefully return pan to med-low flame, use caution as it could ignite remaining brandy.  Cook gently until it is soft ball stage about 234F.  Remove from heat and allow to cool while preparing the rest of the dessert.

Cut pasty dough into 4 circles slightly larger than the ramekin.  Save remaining pasty bits to cut into decorative shapes.

Peel, core and slice apples.  Toss lightly with cinnamon and nutmeg.  Divide between two bowls.  Lightly butter the ramekins.  Using first batch of apples divide between ramekins, layering neatly into dish.  Divide walnuts and cranberry, using one division to be split between all 4 ramekins in even layers.  Repeat layers ending with the nuts.  Pour about 2T caramel into each ramekin.  

Top each ramekin with pastry, tucking edges in and against the rim.  Cut some vents into the dough to allow steam to escape.  Top each with a pastry shape (I used a leaf shape) that is dampened on the bottom to help it stick.  You can brush with an egg or cream wash then sprinkle with some raw sugar if you want a shiny more decorative top.  Place ramekins on rimmed baking sheet to catch possible boil over and drips.

Bake 30-40 minutes in 350F oven, or until golden brown.  Serve warm.

Assembling the first layer as evenly and flat as possible helps with minimizing the collapse as the dessert bakes and the fruit shrinks while being cooked.

  

Mmmmmm....nice rich caramel, just enough left over to toss on a scoop of ice cream as bakers treat while making these.
Top layer of fruit comes just to the top of the ramekin.   Crappy phone-cam doesn't show the fine details on the one that has its dough top on, but you get the idea of tucking inside the dish and up against the rim.
All fresh out of the oven.  Note the steam vents are clearer in this pic.  Of course since this is fall I opted for a "leaf" design, but you can use hearts, diamonds, or even fruit shapes as decoration made from the left over pastry dough.

Pineapple Cranberry Spread

Paula Deen wasn't kidding around when she says in the south it either starts with a stick of butter or a package of cream cheese.  I got the recipe idea from my sister Niki still in the Ozarks back in MO.  

Back there those little jars of cream cheese with stuff in it are a popular party treat, usually with Ritz, but I won't go there right now.  The usual hands down favorite is the pineapple variety. Those little jars are really pretty expensive if you stop and think about it and that is why my sister came up with her version. 

Her version is simply a can of crushed pineapple and a block of cream cheese.  Not being one to stay in the lines well I took that as the starting point and created my own version.  With two blocks of cream cheese how bad could it be when you have fruit with it?

Pineapple Cranberry Spread

• 2 8oz packages cream cheese - room temperature
• 1 small can crushed pineapple
• 1/2 c dried cranberry
• 1/4 t ground ginger

Put the cranberry in  a small microwave safe bowl.  Drain off the pineapple juice and pour over the cranberry.  Add just enough water to bring cover the cranberry if needed.  Microwave 1 minute and tightly cover.  Let set at least 1 hour.

With mixer beat in ginger and beat until fluffy.  Add Pineapple.  Drain of any remaining liquid from cranberry and pitch it.  Add cranberry to the bowl.  Cold in the fruit.  Refrigerate 2 hours before serving.

Serve with crackers or thinly sliced and toasted baguette.