Cranberries in December

First, let me apologize for not having posted anything in a few weeks.  I've been having a difficult time with the early darkness of winter, as I always do at this time of year.  I have been trying to accept the cold, but I need the sun to help me out a little, too.

Also, it's difficult to cook a dish and photograph it before I lose natural light.

But enough with the excuses.  Let's bring some of that brightness we're craving back into the kitchen.

During Thanksgiving this year, I learned how to roast a turkey (!). This is a first for me, because I had been a vegetarian for the previous couple of decades.  My aunt Lynne usually hosts Thanksgiving and  texted me a while back so see if I would eat turkey along with everyone else if she purchased a sustainably-raised one.  I gladly accepted this offer and jumped at the chance to actually learn how to cook a turkey.

While our family has a set of traditional dishes at Thanksgiving, like the turkey and fixings, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetable sides, and my beloved cranberry sauce, the way in which each is prepared changes each year.  This is wonderful for us home cooks, because we get to try out new dishes and flavors.  Our menu is always current and accommodating (last year I wrote about cooking for a group with various dietary needs).

Cranberry sauce from a can is absolutely delicious.  But it's also easy to make from scratch and can be varied endlessly.  Aunt Lynne made a cranberry chutney this year, more savory than sweet.  Of course I wanted the recipe - it called for a reprise during Christmas!

I'm hosting a smaller group of family for Christmas this week.  I'm so excited that I planned a seven course meal and maybe even a "table scape."  Okay, not really a table scape, but I do have a tablecloth and matching napkins. And a table and chairs, if I remember to bring them in from the patio in time to warm to room temperature.

Part of this meal is a cheese plate with olives, crackers, and this festive cranberry chutney. You can make it in about a half hour and hardly need to pay that much attention.  If you have been crazy with holiday get-togethers and have been charged with bringing an appetizer to one, I encourage you to steal this idea. No one will be disappointed, except Grinches.

CRANBERRY CHUTNEY

• 4 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 T. ginger root, minced
• 2 t. mustard seed
• 1/2 t. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 t. salt

In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients.  Put on high heat until simmering, then reduce to low. Simmer until thickened and cooked through, stirring occasionally.  Allow to cool, transfer to fancy serving bowl, and think of all the possibilities!

A Quick Homemade Ice Cream

Did you know that you can basically combine cream and jam, freeze it, and you have a great homemade ice cream?

Okay, so I would recommend an actual ice cream maker, too, and a little alcohol (for texture!).  But that's it!  No egg custard or standing over the stove in a cloud of steam for twenty minutes in the dead of summer.

I found this novel idea within the pages of Bruce Weinstein's The Ultimate Ice Cream Book, which is as the name promises.  All of the basics are there, but so are unusual flavor combinations and many ideas to build on.  I am also lucky enough to have received several jars of the best-ever homemade apricot jam from my Aunt Lynne (the very same Aunt Lynne responsible for the gingersnaps at Thanksgiving time), and one recent evening I thought a bowl of apricot ice cream would be nice.

Lo and behold, there the recipe was...just sitting there between Maple Ice Cream and Mint.  Twenty minutes later, I had my bowlful of apricot ice cream.  Sans stove.  As soon as my ice cream canister was frozen again, I made some blueberry.


QUICK JAM ICE CREAM

• 1/2 pint jam of your choosing (or marmalade)
• 2 T. liquor of choice, like whiskey for nuance or vodka for clean flavor
• 1 pint half and half

Stir together all ingredients in a medium bowl (or large pitcher for easy pouring).  I used a whisk to break up the jam, but left fruit pieces whole for texture.

Pour into ice cream maker and freeze accordingly.  Scoop ice cream into storage container and put into the actual freezer.  No need to wait for anything, though, serve yourself a generous scoop while making the transfer.

The ice cream will be a little soft at first, but also will not harden completely after an overnight freeze, due to the alcohol.  This means you can have it for breakfast without having to wait for it to thaw first.  See?  I take care of you.

Garden Series Part III: Strawberries

The strawberry plants in my garden this year are the result of one strawberry plant I started late summer 2011.  I am happy to report that I have gleaned at least one quart of berries so far, and I expect that there will be more to come.  Although, it is nearing the end of June and these ever-bearing plants will have to stop producing for now and gear up for another harvest in late summer.

It was difficult for me to come up with a recipe for strawberries.  I have mostly been eating them out of hand and giving them as gifts to friends and family.  On the other hand, I saw some recipes floating around some major food publications for strawberry galettes and shortcakes and even Pickled Strawberry Jam.

Also, my apartment gets up to about a billion degrees when the weather is hot...so a bowl of strawberries left on the counter does not keep well.  I need to use the daily harvests a little more quickly.  Yes, I've learned my lesson and I do have a refrigerator.

Then I remembered a homemade soda workshop that my friend Jaime and I prepared a while back.  We figured out a system of syrup-making to syrup-ize pretty much any appealing kitchen ingredient.  It was a great workshop and I wish you all could have been there, but I can link you to the GoogleDoc, where all this information still lives today.

We spent an afternoon making about 15 different syrup flavors, using herbs, fruits, extracts, and spices.  We poured them each into squeeze bottles and encouraged the workshop participants to mix and match flavors to their hearts' content.  On of my favorites was strawberry-basil.  Please, please, please try this combination and enjoy your homemade sodas all summer long.  Well, at least as long as your syrups last.


STRAWBERRY SYRUP

• 2 cups fresh strawberries, halved or quartered
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 cup simple syrup

Stir cut strawberries with tablespoon sugar and let macerate for 20 minutes.  Prepare a cup of simple syrup by combining about 3/4 cup each of sugar and water in a small saucepan.  Heat over medium until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Set aside to cool.

Puree fruit in a blender or food processor, to a rough puree, not a smooth puree.  Run mixture through strainer to remove solids, and stir in simple syrup.  Store in a glass jar.

BASIL SYRUP

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 fresh basil

Bring sugar and water to a low simmer.  Add the basil and stir, blanching for about a minute.  Turn off heat and allow to steep for three minutes.  Strain into glass jar and allow to cool.  Over-cooking the basil will result in an off-flavor that will dull the fresh taste the syrup should have.

STRAWBERRY BASIL SODA (or Summer in a Glass)

Mix about two or three tablespoons strawberry syrup with one tablespoon basil syrup (below), pour over a glass of ice and top with soda water.  Adding a shot of gin to most homemade sodas is a good thing.