All Things in Moderation

Today has been all about cranberries for me.  I’ve made and canned both cranberry chutney and cranberry salsa.  The chutney is a great condiment with Thanksgiving turkey, or for that matter with almost any other meat.  The salsa is an unusual treat if your tastebuds  like tart.

I’m way pumped about Thanksgiving (I’ve posted before that Thanksgiving is THE holiday in my family), but I really can’t do my other food assignments this far in advance.  My big flurry of activity will be next week.  Sigh, still experimenting with baked apple recipes.  Does anybody recommend a particularly good cinnamon?  I’m planning to visit the spice store on Monday.

What are everybody’s plans for the holiday?  And who has some good recipes to share?

Cranberry Chutney*

 Ingredients

• 6 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, (1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 cups raspberries and/or chopped apples
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups red-wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons whole mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons salt

Preparation

Combine all ingredients except tender fruits or berries, e.g., raspberries, in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, until the cranberries have broken down and the mixture has thickened somewhat, 10 to 15 minutes.  When reduced to a simmer, add tender fruits or berries.  Let cool completely. Ladle the chutney into clean jars and refrigerate.

Nutrition

Per tablespoon : 35 Calories; 0 g Fat; 0 g Sat; 0 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 9 g Carbohydrates; 0 g Protein; 1 g Fiber; 58 mg Sodium; 15 mg Potassium

Exchanges: 1/2 other carbohydrate

 Makes about 5 C.  Refrigerate chutney in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

* Source:  Modified from www.eatingwell.com

Vickie’s Cranberry Salsa**

Ingredients

1 pkg fresh cranberries, chopped (use food processor)

1 8-oz can crushed pineapple, drained

2/3 cup sugar

2 T finely chopped onion

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

¼ t salt

¼ t fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in large bowl.  Cover and chill for 2 hours to let flavors blend.  Store in refrigerator in jars.

**Source:  Physical therapist clinician in Oklahoma.

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Brent’s Turkey on the Grill

Turkey in the Weber Kettle: While this will not work with stuffing inside the bird, and you won’t get gravy from it, the turkey comes out juicy and there is a great smoky flavor.  The best part is that it frees up the kitchen for other stuff.

Here is how we do it.  Basically the recipe from Weber.

Turkey preparation is easy – take out the neck and giblets ad.  Rub the outside with olive oil and then sprinkle with kosher salt and coarse black pepper.

Put a foil pan from the supermarket in the center of the grill. Put around 20 briquettes of charcoal on each side and light.  Be sure to place the grate such that the spaces on each side are over the charcoal.  Take a paper towel and pour some olive oil on it and oil the grate.  Once the coals are gray, put the turkey on the grate and place the cover over the grill.  Open the vents.  Add 8 briquettes per side every 45 minutes until the turkey is done (180 degrees in the thigh).  You should have a nice crispy skin, with a tender, smoky inside.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Zinfandel

I once had an open-minded Mormon ask me for this recipe when I assured him that most of the alcohol cooks off.  You’ve inspired me to make if for our Thanksgiving feast this year, okie!

• 1 3/4 cups Zinfandel
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 6 whole cloves
• 6 whole allspice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 3X1-inch strip orange peel
• 1 12-oz bag cranberries

Combine all ingredients except cranberries in medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to 1 3/4 cups, about 10 minutes.  Strain syrup into large saucepan.  Add cranberries to syrup and cook over medium heat until berries burst, about 6 minutes.  Cool.  Transfer sauce to medium bowl.  Cover and refrigerate until cold.  Can be made up to 1 week ahead.  Keep refrigerated.  Makes about 3 cups.

–Michigoose

Betty Crocker’s Very Basic Stuffing

You remember that cookbook I told you about?  This is the stuffing recipe from it, and it’s still my favorite.  I add more sage than the recipe calls for, but other than that haven’t changed a thing.

• 2 loaves of bread, cubed
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup finely minced onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped celery (leaves and stalks)
• 2 tbl salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbl sage

Use 2  – 4 day old bread and cut off the crusts.  Melt the butter in a large heavy skillet, then add the onion and cook until yellow, stirring occasionally.  Stir in some of the bread to soak up the butter, then turn into a bowl and mix with the rest of the ingredients.  Add turkey broth to desired moistness; at this point you can either stuff the turkey or cover and cook in a 350 degree oven.

–Michigoose

MiA’s annual TG contribution – I think I posted here last year – but here it is:

Mark’s Apple Cranberry Currant Pie

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 1/2 hours, plus at least 1 hour to cool
MAKES: 8 [adult male or teenager] servings

1/4 cup Gran Marnier [or brandy, if you are short on the good stuff]
1/4 cup currants [look like tiny raisins – you could use raisins in a pinch but they are not the same]
1 cup fresh [or thawed frozen] cranberries [I find fresh make a tarter pie – I am OK with tart]
About 3/4 cup granulated FRUCTOSE [a lot of apple pie recipes call for a cup or more of sugar – fructose is sweeter and way lower on the glycemic index]
1/2 cup tapioca flour [I never use cornstarch in a fruit pie]
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 oz 1/2+1/2
6 cups sliced/chopped Granny Smith apples [about 2 1/4 lb]. I like the skin on for this pie – it’s more “rustic”.
2×9-inch pie pastry shells – I either make my own or buy really great shells at Central Market. When I make my own it is in no way unusual.

1. In a small bowl, combine Gran Marnier and currants. Cover and let stand until currants are plump, at least 1 hour. [Sometimes I cheat and do not soak this long. No biggie. The plumpness of currants is mainly a texture deal]

2. Chop/slice apples, skin on, using a mix of techniques for slices and chunks. If there will be a delay between prep and oven, put the 6 cups of apples in a big bowl and add a little OJ to keep them from browning. LATER YOU MUST THOROUGHLY DRAIN AND PAT DRY THE APPLES! My grandmother taught me the OJ instead of lemon juice trick about 52 years ago.

3. Sort cranberries and discard any that are bruised or decayed. Rinse and drain berries.

4. In a large bowl, mix fructose, tapioca flour, nutmeg, and salt. With a slotted spoon, lift currants from Gran Marnier ; reserve Gran Marnier. Add currants, cranberries, and chopped apples to fructose mixture and mix well. Taste and add more fructose if desired. Pour filling into unbaked pie pastry in pan. Cut hole pattern in top crust. Mix 1/2+1/2 with reserved Gran Marnier and cinnamon and brush liberally on pie crust. Carefully braid foil around pie’s edge to keep pie from from crisping-burning on crust edge that overlaps the pan during baking. [Later, pass off the tiny pieces of foil that some guest finds in the crust edge as “healthy mineral”. :-)]

5. Bake on the bottom rack of a 375° oven until juices bubble around edges and through top holes, 55 to 65 minutes. If pie browns too quickly – check after 30 minutes – cover loosely with foil.

6. Set pie, uncovered, on a rack until cool to touch, at least 1 hour.

Two Contributions by the Fairlington Blade

Mushroom Thyme Gravy

Note: this came from the Food52 website. Good enough that I didn’t bother bringing out the regular gravy. That’s all for me. Muahahahaha

1/3 cup dried mushrooms
2 cups vegetable stock
3 tablespoons butter
1 ½ tablespoon minced shallot
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ cup light cream
1 tablespoon sherry
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
salt & pepper

1. Bring vegetable stock to a boil. In a small bowl pour stock over mushrooms. Let soak for 20 minutes.
2. Remove mushrooms from bowl, setting the stock aside for later. Mince or thinly slice the mushrooms.
3. In a medium saucepan melt the butter. Add the minced shallot and saute for 5 minutes over medium heat until softened.
4. Add the flour to the butter/shallot mixture stirring constantly. Cook for a 2 minutes.
5. Gradually add the reserved vegetable stock, atirring well to incorporate. Cook over medium heat until thickened.
6. Add the reserved mushrooms, soy sauce, cream, sherry & thyme. Cook for a few more minutes until heated through and thickened to desired consistency. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Roasted Beets with Grapefruit Glaze

The glaze is sourced from Mollie Katzen’s Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without. I prefer using bunches of beets with the greens still attached. This is a particularly colorful dish if you use a few different colors.

2 – 3 pounds of beets
2 large pink grapefruit
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot

1. Spray small roasting pan or bread pan with vegetable oil (or toss beets with vegetable oil). Rinse beets, cut off leaves (but leave stem on), and put in pan. Cover with aluminum foil and put in 350 degree oven for about an hour. The cooking time depends upon the size.
2. Take out the beets and let them cool. Remove skins with your hands. Cut into 1 inch chunks. Set aside.
3. Juice grapefruit and strain to get one cup of juice.
4. Add maple syrup and vinegar to juice
5. Put cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add juice mixture and cook until thickened.
6. Combine beets with glaze. If using multicolored beets, keep them separate and then add everything together when serving.

Filed under: Bites and Pieces, Thanksgiving | 27 Comments »