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Cranberry Sauce with Vanilla, Maple Syrup and Cassis

Are you serving canned cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving?

The reason why we ask is because you can give your guests the most amazing cranberry sauce that has 6 ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes to make. We have been making this cranberry sauce for the past 4 years and actually double the recipe because the first year we made it, we ran out. 

We found this cranberry sauce recipe in one of our Fine Cooking Magazine and we haven't made anything else. When it works, you stick with it, especially when you only make it once a year.

If you have the cranberries, you will just need an orange, some sugar, maple syrup, creme de cassis and a vanilla bean. Everything gets mixed in a large pot and 10 minutes later, you have an amazing cranberry sauce. It's tart with a wonderful orange vanilla flavor. Perfect for turkey, chicken or ...we are going to serve it with swordfish kabobs tomorrow night.

If you don't have time to make the sauce for Thanksgiving, pick up a bag of cranberries over the weekend and make this cranberry sauce for left-over turkey sandwiches. After spending all that time making a big turkey dinner, what better way to complement your meal than with homemade cranberry sauce.

Because, there are no cans here!

Cranberry Sauce with Vanilla, Maple Syrup and Cassis

Ingredients:

6 cups (about 1-1/2 lb.) fresh or frozen cranberries, picked over and rinsed
2/3 cup of white sugar
1/3 cup of fresh orange juice (from 1 orange)
1/3 cup of crème de cassis (black-currant liqueur)
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tablespoon of finely grated orange zest (from 1 orange)
Half a vanilla bean, split and scraped

Preparation:

1. Remove zest from orange, then cut in half and squeeze juice from orange to 1/3 cup.

2. Put 3 cups of the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, orange zest, maple syrup, creme de cassis and vanilla bean in a medium (3 or 4 quart) saucepan.

3. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce the heat to medium, and cook,
stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have popped and broken down and the juices look slightly syrupy, 5 to 7 minutes.

4. Stir in the remaining 3 cups cranberries and cook until the cranberries have popped, an additional 3 to 5 minutes.

5. Remove from the heat, discard the vanilla bean, and let cool to room temperature.

6. Cover and refrigerate if not serving right away.

Note:
The cranberry sauce can be made up to one week in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator. Return to room temperature before serving.

Giant Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips, Raisins and Almonds

I didn't think I would be making any more giant cookies before Thanksgiving.

BUT, Jeff's daughter, Kate, came over and found an old recipe of mine and decided to take on the challenge. I can't even imagine where I might have gotten this recipe because it's on my giant index cards and they are at least 20+ years old. I remember making them when I was selling cookies out of my house as Danielle B's Goodies. It was a cookie I made a few times but it never caught on because everyone loved Nannie's Oatmeal Cookies. It seemed like I was duplicating the process.

This cookie has a nice combination of butter and sugar along with the right mix of oatmeal, raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, coconut and spices. These cookies are crunchy with a hint of caramel and sugary sweetness. I love that there is a touch of cinnamon which gives the oatmeal cookie that traditional flavor and feel.

As I increase my giant cookie recipe numbers, I'm looking forward to creating a few of these larger treats as holiday gifts. I tend to go overboard when giving cookies and sometimes people don't want too many sweets lingering at their home. A few large cookies can be enjoyed in two ways

1. Oh, I can't eat this whole cookie, I'll just have half.

2. That was so good, I'll just eat the other half.

How do I know? It happened at a recent staff meeting, everyone had half and no one left the other half. Perfect sized gift for the holidays!

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter
1-1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1-1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2-1/2 cups of oatmeal (not instant)
1 cup of almonds (sliced or chopped)
1 cup of chocolate chips
1 cup of raisins
1/2 cup of sweetened coconut

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until creamy (about 2 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla and continue to beat until well incorporated. Add the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon and mix together by hand until blended. Stir in the oatmeal, chocolate chips, raisins, almonds and coconut.

3. Using an ice cream scoop, place four scoops of cookie dough per tray. Slightly flatten the dough to resemble a disk.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, turning the trays once during the cooking time. Remove when slightly golden brown and the tops are no longer wet. Remove from trays and place on cookie racks to cool. Makes 18-24 cookies.

Enjoy!

Wilson Farm - Cranberry Banana Nut Bread

 

Periodically, a week ends with some overly ripened bananas laying on the counter. Sometimes they make it into a banana bread, (see Banana Bread with Streusel Topping) other times, it's the compost. A few weeks ago, a friend gave us some fresh cranberries from a local bog in Carver and Jeff decided to look for a bread that might contain both bananas and cranberries.

I think I stated in one of my last banana blog posts, I am not a banana fan. It was one of those food I got sick on when I was pregnant with my daughter (should I admit it...) 24 years ago. I still can't get beyond the taste. I will eat banana bread and a few other banana creations but...I'm just not a fan. So, I was already leary of what we would be making.

Jeff found this cranberry banana recipe in The Wilson Farm Country Cookbook. I like this cookbook for two reasons:

1. It's local, Wilson Farm is located in Lexington, MA.

2. It has great New England style recipes that are easy to make and incredible to eat.

So, I was softening, this recipe could be good.

As always, simple ingredients that came together quickly and within ten minutes the bread was in the oven. The house began to smell wonderful and within and hour, we had this amazing loaf of cranberry banana nut bread. I have to admit, I fell in love with it. The banana flavor was very subtle. The balance of sour from the cranberries and nuttiness of the walnuts pulled together for a deliciously tasting bread. Nice and warm, a little bit of butter...PERFECT.

Thanksgiving is next week, think...lots of cranberries, what will I do with all the cranberries? This would be a great addition to the dinner or a great breakfast bread to serve for early guests or those running off to a football game.

Tuck this recipe away, it's a keeper!

Ingredients: (Adapted from Cranberry Banana Bread)

1/4 cup of butter
1 cup of white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup of mashed banana
1 cup of coarsely chopped cranberries
1/4 cup of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1-3/4 cups of flour
1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients of flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl and put aside.

3. Cream the butter and sugar, with an electric beater, in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs. Stir in the banana, cranberries, water and vanilla.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet batter. Mix to incorporate and then add the nuts.

5. Pour into a greased bread pan (9 x 5 inch loaf pan) and bake for 45-55 minutes. This will make one large loaf or you can make two smaller loaves.

Note: I use aluminum foil pans because it makes them easier to freeze or give as a gift.

Pork and Ricotta Meatballs in a Tomato Sauce

Spaghetti and meatballs. That's a common request at many households but asking for spaghetti and meatballs and getting spaghetti and meatballs are really two different things. (As seen above...)

It's really meatballs and sauce or meatballs and gravy to be correct. We have made many different variations of this recipe and always go back to the basics...some ground beef or pork, onions, garlic, eggs, bread crumbs, spices and parmesan cheese.

When Jeff went looking for one of our favorite recipes, Two different recipes, one great meal, he came across this recipe for Pork and Ricotta Meatballs in a Tomato Sauce from Food and Wine. As I was reading the recipe, I thought ricotta in the meatballs sounded different, but what about the onions and garlic? Was this meatball recipe going to taste good with fennel and crushed red pepper? How were spicy meatballs going to taste with a rather plain tomato sauce?

I saw the fennel seeds and crushed red pepper and thought this may not become a family favorite. We had a friend who used to make meatballs that were loaded with fennel and sometimes, that was all you could taste. The trick to any combination of herbs and spices is to enhance but not overpower the main ingredient.  Instead of using the herbs (fennel and crushed red pepper) as is, I decided to crush them further with a mortar and pestle, figuring that would mellow the flavor. I also like the meat mix of pork, veal and beef when making meatballs, it gives a firm but soft consistency. Today, many supermarkets carry it as a meatloaf mix. 

The ingredients came together quickly with the use of the food processor. The meatballs were a little wet but don't be concerned, they brown up nicely. Once the meatballs were cooked, we added the tomatoes. We found there wasn't much liquid so we added two additional cans of fire roasted, diced tomatoes.

Two hours later, this mixture was bubbling and the smell was heavenly. I grabbed a meatball and sliced it in half. I tasted the results and it was delicious. Moist and flavorful but not overbearing with the herbs. Then I went in for a better taste of the sauce...PERFECT! The flavor from the juices of the meatballs gave a perfect balance to the flavor of the sauce. We served it with homemade bread (which we will go into in the future) and it was a hit. Everyone in the family loved the dish. Because we doubled the recipe, we froze the remaining half and took it out last night for a quick dinner. The sauce tasted even better and the meatballs we still soft and flavorful...they melted in your mouth.

It's Saturday, think about a nice Sunday sauce and leftovers to freeze. C'mon, let's enjoy some spaghetti and meatballs!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound sliced white bread, crusts removed and bread cut into 1/2-inch dice (4 cups)
1 1/2 pounds meatball/meatloaf mix - beef, pork and veal
3 ounces thickly sliced pancetta, ground
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup ricotta cheese (5 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 28-ounce cans peeled Italian tomatoes, crushed
2 15-ounce cans of diced tomatoes, we used fire-roasted
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons shredded basil
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1 pound of your favorite pasta, cooked according to instructions 

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400°.
Place fennel seed, oregano, red pepper flakes and salt, into a mortar and grind with a pestle until fennel and red pepper are crushed. In a food processor, pulse the bread to coarse crumbs. Place in large bowl. Place pancetta in food processor and pulse until ground. Add to bread crumbs.
Add the pork, pancetta, eggs, ricotta, parsley, and ground ingredients. Mix well. Shape into 24 meatballs, using about 3 rounded tablespoons of the mixture for each. Transfer the meatballs to an oiled medium roasting pan.

Roast the meatballs in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until firm and just beginning to brown. Using a spatula, loosen the meatballs from the bottom of the pan. Add the crushed and diced tomatoes to the pan. Lower the oven temperature to 325° and cook uncovered for about 2 hours, or until the sauce is very thick and the meatballs are very tender; turn the meatballs once or twice during cooking. 

Taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the meatballs and tomato sauce to a large platter. Garnish with the basil and Pecorino cheese. Serve with your favorite pasta.

It's Fall - Time to break out the Pumpkin Martinis!

I'll admit, I'm not impressed with the picture. I took it on Halloween (like the gummy worm?) and the lighting wasn't great. It seems like the last time we made these pumpkin martinis was at night and the lighting was bad, so...out comes the flash. Think of this martini lurking in a champagne glass shadow.

My daughter, Danielle, was telling me about these pumpkin martinis a co-worker had tried. It was Halloween and Danielle wanted to bake some cupcakes and enjoy a martini. (Like mother, like daughter.) She picked up the vanilla vodka and tried to find some pumpkin liquor. She ended up getting a Pumpkin Pie Creme Liquor, instead. So, it was off to the kitchen (or on Halloween, the laboratory) with our bar supplies.

Her list started with Kahlua, vanilla vodka, pumpkin liquor and cream. We decided that since the liquor was already creamy, we would eliminate the cream. Even though the mix called for Kahlua, I had some chocolate liquor (Godiva, to be exact) and decided we would try a different variation. We mixed our martinis with one having Kahlua, the other using the Godiva chocolate liquor.

I grabbed a small plate and mixed sugar and some pumpkin pie spice, dampened the glass rim and added the sugary mix. The first martini was Kahlua, vanilla vodka and pumpkin liquor. The second was chocolate liquor, vanilla vodka and pumpkin liquor. As much as I am a coffee and Kahlua fan, I liked the chocolate flavored martini better than the Kahlua martini. The martini was smooth and had a wonderful spicy vanilla finish.

Since I'm really not a big martini fan, this has definitely piqued my interest as a great winter cocktail. With holiday parties coming up quickly, try something surprisingly different at your next gathering!

Pumpkin Martinis

Ingredients:

1 measured shot of vanilla vodka (like Stoli Vanilla Vodka)

1 measured shot of chocolate liquor (like Godiva)

1 measured shot of Pumpkin Pie Creme Liquor

Ice

1/4 cup of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

Preparation:

Mix sugar and pumpkin pie spice on a small plate. Dampen a martini glass rim and dip in the sugar mixture. (This will trim more than one glass.)

Place ice into a shaker and add the three measured shots, shake for 30 seconds and strain the martini into the glass.

Serve chilled...sip and enjoy!