Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Cranberries.

Remember when earlier this fall there was a pumpkin shortage? Yep, my friends Tara and Rachel both documented the national crisis on their blogs. People were upset about the effect it was having on their fall baking.

Don't get me wrong. I like pumpkin. I will try pretty much anything that someone puts in an oven that contains pumpkin. Rachel's chocolate chip muffins with pumpkin rank up there on some of my favorite baked goods of all time. I've got two cans of the stuff waiting at home for a day where I want to make pumpkin snickerdoodles.

But after losing to TWO pumpkin dishes in the bake-off, I'm a little over pumpkin. Besides, I have my own favorite fall food: cranberries.








Impulsively, I started grabbing bags of them last week at the grocery store. I have a few standby favorites recipes for the bright ready berries, and a stack of about six new different things I would like to try. I'm out-of-town for T-giving so I made some cranberry sauce just because Sunday evening. And it made my house smell like heaven. Think sweet berries, cinnamon, orange. I simmered it a little extra long to encourage the smell to linger around the kitchen.

Once it was made I started exploring other uses for it that are unconventional. Turns out homemade cranberry sauce is good with oatmeal, graham crackers and yogurt too.

Cranberry will probably never have the following of pumpkin. I tried to share some of the sauce with some buddies at school, and they didn't really want any. They do not feel the same way about pumpkin. Like most people I know, they could eat pumpkin morning, noon and night. Whatever. More cranberries for me and my deep freeze.

Basic Cranberry Sauce
(modified from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons agave nectar
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries
  • 1/4 teaspoon (heaping) of cinnamon
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 12 minutes or until mixture is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.
Posted by VL at 10:31 PM
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5 comments:

  1. I'll try it, but I want to make it clear that I prefer the gelatinous goop in a can. Delish.
    ReplyDelete
  2. Last year I tried my homemade cranberry sauce on a block of cream cheese, microwaved it, and ate it with triscuits and crackers. Great Thanksgiving appetizer and kinda like that thing at So Long Saloon, sans black beans.
    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Vic- i made homemade cranberry muffins this week! they were delicious....

    but i prefer using cranberries for this!

    * 1 pound fresh or frozen cranberries
    * 1 cup sugar
    * 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split
    * 2 oranges, peels cut into 2-inch strips
    * 1 (750-ml) bottle vodka

    To serve:
    nocoupons

    * 1 bottle tonic water
    * Lime slices, for garnish

    Directions

    Place cranberries, sugar and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Place pan over medium heat and stir. Simmer cranberry mixture until the berries burst, about 5 to 6 minutes.

    Place orange peels in a large glass container with an airtight lid, or large mason jars with lids. Pour vodka over the orange peels.

    Allow the cranberry mixture to cool. Pour the cooled mixture into the glass container(s). Cover tightly and set aside for 1 week. After 1 week, strain out the cranberries sand orange peels and pour mixture into a clean bottle, using a funnel. Store vodka in the refrigerator.

    To serve: Pour 2 ounces of vodka mixture over ice in a tall glass and top with tonic water. Garnish with a slice of lime.
    ReplyDelete
  4. Made Banana cookies recipe from your October post today in Nashville w/ my sis-in-law. Added 4 times the nuts (substituted pecans for walnuts) and tons of choc-chips. They were a hit.
    ReplyDelete
  5. Remember that one time we made those disgusting sugar cookies with icing that looked like someone melted a box of crayons on them? Not one of our finer moments.
    ReplyDelete

It was so nice of you to stop by and say hi!

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