Cranberry Sauce

I went to the grocery store on Monday, and the butcher was clearing out the freezer bins to stock with turkeys.  Before Halloween?  I'm waiting until the "spend $25 and get your turkey for $10" specials start.  So far, there are only going to be 8 of us, at the most 10, so I can get a 14 lb or under.  There are usually plenty of those until mid-November.

There are a few reasons to make your own cranberry sauce instead of opening a can.  Mainly, it's bragging rights.  Personally, I prefer the can, but I had 2/3 of a bag of cranberries left after the pumpkin-cranberry muffins, and what else am I going to do with them?  Since we're a month out from the big day, I have to process the jars.  15 minutes in a boiling water bath is enough to preserve it.  I also keep it refrigerated, to be extra sure.  One of the jars didn't seal, so I froze it.  Hope it defrosts with the same texture.

This is one of those recipes that tastes better the less you mess with it.  A touch of orange juice or apple cider, maybe a bit of cloves or cinnamon, and you've given it your personal mark.  There's no reason to go overboard with flavorings unless you're trying to make it into something really different.  If this is what you're serving with the bird, no one expects - or wants - anything unusual.

1 12oz bag fresh cranberries
1 C sugar
1/2 C water
2 Tb orange juice
dash ginger

1.  Rinse cranberries thoroughly and place in a clear bowl of water.  Throw out anything that doesn't float.  Drain.  Change clothes into something that isn't white.

2.  Combine 1/2 C water and the sugar in a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium until sugar dissolves.  Add cranberries and bring to a low boil.  As skins begin to pop, stand back.  Stir frequently.  Once all the skins have popped, continue to boil and stir until berries have softened and you have achieved the texture you want.  Add ginger and orange juice and boil another minute.

3.  Either place in a container for the fridge or pour into jars and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.  If just refrigerating, allow to stop steaming before putting on a lid; use within one week.

Makes about one pint

Difficulty rating  π

Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins

Really, I haven't made these in three years?  Perhaps it's because putting both pumpkin and cranberries in anything seems like Thanksgiving overkill.  Or, because then you need something to do with the rest of the can of pumpkin.  In this case, it is what I'm doing with the rest of the can from the pumpkin risotto.

The reason the L.A. Times posted this recipe originally was because it is very low fat for a muffin.  Pumpkin is one of those veggies that take the place of fat in a recipe, like prunes.  If you use egg substitute and nonfat milk in this recipe, each muffin has only 142 calories, 1 mg of cholesterol, and 2 g fat.  They're also not huge like bakery shop muffins.  They are the size muffins used to be before people started to want more food for their money than was good for them.  I call it the "Claim Jumper Effect".

A fair warning for those who have never had a cranberry outside of jam or juice: they're tart.  Like "why did anyone ever think these were edible" tart.  It makes a wonderful flavor contrast against the creamy sweetness of the pumpkin, but it's a bit of a shock the first time you try it.

*1/2 C canned pumpkin purée
1 egg or 1/4 C egg substitute
3/4 C nonfat milk (1% or 2% is ok)
2 Tb canola oil
2 C cake flour
1 Tb baking powder
*1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
*1 tsp ginger
*1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C dark brown sugar, packed
1 C fresh cranberries, finely chopped (my onion chopper worked great here)
butter
1/4 C granulated sugar

1.  Combine pumpkin, egg, milk, and oil in a small bowl.  Start preheating oven to 400º and lightly butter 12 nonstick muffin cups.

2.  Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt into a large mixing bowl.  Stir in brown sugar to mix.  Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour liquids into it.  Sprinkle with cranberries and stir just until ingredients are moistened.  If there are lumps, let the mix sit for five minutes before portioning instead of stirring again.

3.  Divide mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cups.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let muffins sit in the pan for 1 minute, then invert onto wire rack.  They may need some convincing with a thin knife.  While still warm, roll in granulated sugar, then allow to cool completely.

Makes 12 muffins

Difficulty rating π

Pumpkin Risotto

It just sounded good.  I'm on a pumpkin kick, and there will be more recipes with it as a base.  After checking out a few recipes, one of which said it was for pumpkin risotto yet did not contain any pumpkin, I decided to use Giada's as a starting point.  Her bacon idea sounds awesome, but I've been eating a lot of meat and decided to make this vegetarian.  Being all Fall-themed, you could use this as the vegetarian main course at Thanksgiving.

I find it interesting that she uses the purée to make a pumpkin broth, instead of using chunks of roasted pumpkin, which is what I was originally looking for.  This is way easier and cheaper, since canned pumpkin is available year-round.  Don't get the one labelled "pie filling".  That has sugar and spices.  You're looking for the one that contains only pumpkin.  You can also substitute a purée of any gourd such as butternut squash or even a non-gourd veggie like zucchini.  Just swap the nutmeg for something more appropriate like cumin if you go too far out of the box.

1 quart low sodium vegetable broth (not reduced sodium)
1 C canned pumpkin purée
*4 stalks green onion, finely chopped
1 Tb butter
*1/2 tsp dried thyme (1 tsp fresh)
1-1/2 C arborio rice (Calrose or medium-grain ok)
*2/3 C dry white wine
*1 Tb dried parsley or 1/3 C fresh
1/8 tsp pepper
*1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 oz mascarpone cheese (cream cheese can be a substitute)
salt to taste

1.  In a medium saucepan, bring broth and pumpkin to a simmer and keep warm on the side.

2.  Reserve a few tablespoons of the green chopped onion for a garnish (which I totally forgot to use for the photo).  In a larger saucepan, cook the majority of the green onions in butter until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the thyme and rice and cook about 1 minute, until rice is slightly glazed.  Add wine and simmer until absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes.  This is your chance to cook out the alcohol.  Don't start the next step until it is completely absorbed.

3.  Start to stir in pumpkin broth 1/2 C at a time.  Stir until absorbed before adding more.  Unfortunately, you have to stir almost constantly to achieve the creamy texture and avoid scorching.  This process is going to take up to half an hour.  If the rice absorbs all the broth and still doesn't seem soft enough, add water 1/4 C at a time.

4.  Once rice is cooked, stir in parsley, pepper, nutmeg, and mascarpone.  Stir until the cheese melts and is incorporated.  Taste and add salt or more pepper as needed. Portion into serving bowls and garnish with reserved onion.

Serves 6

Difficulty rating :)

London Broil

I had half a piece of meat labelled "London Broil" in the freezer.  I think I used the first pound of it in a stir-fry.  One night, I actually remembered to marinate it for the next day, so here we go with a post.

I found a good recipe online, but I wasn't thinking ahead.  The marinade called for olive oil, and I blindly went along.  If you put olive oil in the fridge, it's going to harden, and not infuse the meat.  I'm writing it here as vegetable oil, which does not glob up when cold.

This gets a "gardening" label because I added some broccoli to the leftover pasta primavera I had with the meat.  Gotta clean out the fridge and freezer before buying the turkey.  I forgot/ignored the plant until the florets grew into bouquets.  I hope they do it again for the centerpiece the next time I have people over.  I also found photos of my cherry tomato plant from when I was six.  That thing was enormous - at least four times the size of this summer's - and put out clusters of six or more tomatoes at a time!  No wonder I was so proud of it and so upset when the bugs killed it.

2 lbs "london broil" meat (flank steak or top round)
*1/4 C balsamic vinegar
2 Tb vegetable oil
*4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
*1 tsp dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

1.  The night before, whisk together vinegar, oil, garlic, and rosemary in a small bowl.  Score the steak in a diamond pattern to aid the marinade in infusing the meat.  Place steak and marinade in a one-gallon plastic bag and seal, getting out most of the air.  Place on a plate or baking dish, in case the bag leaks, and refrigerate.  Turn every few hours to let the marinade coat all sides.

2.  Either fire up the grill or preheat the broiler.  Remove meat from bag and place on a broiler pan if using the oven.  Coat both sides with salt and pepper.  Broil/grill about 8 inches from heat for 6-8 minutes on each side, until a thermometer reaches at least 135º in the thickest part of the steak (for rare to medium-rare).  Allow to rest about 5 minutes, then slice thinly across the grain.

Makes about 6 servings

Difficulty rating :)

Sausage & Onion Crepes with Apple

I keep forgetting that the green onions are doing so well.  They were struggling for the better part of the summer, but are getting pretty big.  The broccoli rebounded enough from its hatchet job to put out a couple of florets, but not enough to star in a meal.  Still haven't gotten any decent Brussels sprouts, but the plant is thriving.  And in a surprise moment, the artichoke has already started to grow back.  I'm going to credit the coffee grounds I've been using as mulch and not any improved gardening ability on my part.  In fact, the more I forget that I have a vegetable garden, the better it seems to grow.

At one point, we had an electric crepe pan.  I vaguely remember it, and still have the instruction book.  It's dated 1976, and so are the recipes in it.  Most of the recipes are smothered in rich sauces, which taste great but are not what I had in mind today.

I need to use the green onions before they grow into actual bulbs, and none of those recipes use them in any significant quantity.  I found a recipe I liked online by searching for "savory galette fillings".  It was a bit complicated and used some things I didn't like, but it was a good starting point.  By subbing in the onions for leeks and various other minor changes, I came up with this recipe.  I'm not using any sauce because the goat cheese really takes the place of one, with the same creaminess and unexpected flavor contrast.

1 batch galettes (about 8)
1/2 lb sweet or hot Italian sausage (pork or chicken)
*1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
*1 Gala or Fuji apple, diced
3 stems kale
salt to taste
4 oz chevre, crumbled

1.  Prepare galettes and set aside, keeping warm.

2.  Remove sausage from casing and brown over medium heat in a 10" skillet, using the fat from them to cook the onions at the same time.

3.  Once sausage is browned, add the diced apple and continue to cook until apples soften.  This is a good time to prepare the kale: rinse, cut or tear from the main stem, and chiffonnade or finely chop the greens.  Add kale and a little salt and cook until thoroughly wilted and there is little moisture left in the pan.  Taste and add more salt if necessary.  I'm assuming the sausage is sufficiently seasoned not to add any pepper or other seasonings.

4.  Divide filling between crepes and fold over.  Top with cheese crumbles and serve hot.  You can even pass them briefly under the broiler first to brown the cheese and make the crepes crispy.

Difficulty rating :)

Oatmeal-Currant Scones

One problem with this blog is that I end up with more food than I really need.  I try to cut down recipes to four or fewer portions, but my freezer is still filling up.  Techie Smurf and his family are visiting for Thanksgiving.  That's over a month away and I don't want to feed them only defrosted leftovers.

Case in point is this recipe, mostly from Martha Stewart, but with the oatmeal idea from Bon Appetit and a few alterations of my own thrown in.  You can't cut an egg in half.  Well, you can if you use egg substitute, but I don't normally have that around unless I'm baking a lot of eggy things.  When I make my usual scone recipe out of the Tea book, I can reduce it as small as I want by doing the math on the butter.  I only make a full recipe for my summer tea party.

The dough for these scones came out very moist, almost to the point of spoon batter.  It was almost impossible to use a biscuit cutter on them, and they did not hold the shape during baking.  I'm going to blame my own substitution of oatmeal for part of the flour, and am posting slightly more flour in this recipe than what I actually used.  Yours will not look exactly like mine; they'll probably look better.

Currants are easy to get in California because we're a major raisin-producing state (even mentioned in a line from The Music Man, "I hope I get my raisins from Fresno"), but I'm unsure of their availability in other areas.  If you can't find them, or they're too expensive, any other small dried fruit will do: black raisins, golden raisins, cranberries, blueberries, cherries, etc.  Using currants is a British Isles thing, and comes up a lot at Christmas.

1-3/4 C flour
1/2 C rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tb sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter
*3/4 C currants
1/2 C milk
1 tsp vinegar (I used appple cider vinegar)
1 egg

1.  Stir vinegar into milk and let sit while you prepare the dry ingredients, to make sour milk.

2.  In a bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.

3.  Start preheating oven to 425º and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.

4.  With fingers or a pastry cutter, cut butter into flour mixture until you can't tell the chunks of butter from the oatmeal.

5.  Beat the egg into the milk.  Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the liquid ingredients.  Stir just until combined.

6.  Lightly flour a flat surface and turn out dough onto it.  Lightly press into a mass 1/2" thick.  With a 2-1/2" biscuit cutter, cut rounds and transfer to baking sheet.  Try to remold and repress the scraps only once.  If desired, lightly brush tops with milk for a more glossy finish.

7.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, until somewhat risen and lightly golden brown.  Let cool on cookie sheet for a couple of minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.  Serve warm or room temperature, with butter, jam, and whipped cream available.

Makes about 12

Difficulty rating  π

Salmonella Scare

A good number of antibiotic-resistant cases of salmonella have been traced to the popular brand Foster Farms.
Here is why you don't need to stop eating chicken, of any brand:

• A significant percentage of all kinds of meat, eggs, and dairy products on the market carry salmonella, yet few people get sick from it because we have the knowledge to avoid poisoning our family.  Even if the raw version of...say milk... carried some bacteria, it has since been pasteurized.  If a whole chicken or turkey is affected, we don't generally eat chicken raw.
• Salmonella is one of those bacteria that most affect the young, elderly, and infirm unless ingested in great quantities.  Even then, it is eradicated at a mere 165º, well below even the boiling point of water.  A pre-cooked chicken nugget or similarly processed and then frozen food only needs to be reheated to 135º.  (Almost missed that question on my test.)
• Now that we know the source of this contamination, it will be remedied.  There may not even be a recall because it is expected that the product will be cooked properly before eating.

Things you can do at home to reduce your chances of contracting or spreading salmonella, or any foodborne illness:

• Wash your hands before cooking, between cooking tasks, and after washing dishes.  Sounds simple, but this is where most problems occur.
• Have separate cutting boards for veggies, chicken, fish, and meat.  Barring that, fill a basic spray bottle with cold water and add a mere capful of bleach.  After washing and rinsing the board, spray it lightly with this sanitizer and let it air dry.
• Wash things that have touched raw food after pots that held cooked food.  Run your scrubbies and sponges through the dishwasher at least once a week and change them every month.  Sanitize your countertops and sink after cooking with that same bleach spray.
• Cook potentially hazardous foods to at least their recommended temperatures.

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, I don't want anyone to think they can't serve a turkey because it may have come from the same plant as these chickens.  Just pay attention and don't undercook it because everything else is ready and it's "close enough".  165º-175º in the oven for a large fowl, plus a half hour of resting time on the counter for the temps to even out.  End of story.

Pork Mole

Remember that disclaimer on my bio that refers to "less than authentic".  I considered calling this Gringo Mole.  After the Pasta Primavera, my system couldn't take another pepper-based recipe, and especially not a spicy-pepper one.

For those not coming back after Googling "mole" and fortunately getting the sauce as the first Wikipedia hit, it's a Mexican sauce based on chilis and chocolate.  I'm basing mine on tomatoes and chocolate, with a small bell pepper and chili powder representing the chilis.  Also there to kill the heat are plantains, stewed in with the sauce.  You can kind of see them in the photo, bottom left.

Yes, there is chocolate in mole, but it does not taste like chocolate.  It is just another spice and flavor note, like putting a touch of chocolate in pumpernickel.  If you taste a lot of chocolate in it, you put in too much.  I used the scant 1/4 C remaining from my mom's Costco 5 pound bag of semi-sweet morsels, even though unsweetened is a better choice.  It took me nearly three years to go through that bag!  And chocolate chips do go stale after five years, becoming much more difficult to melt evenly.  I wouldn't buy more than a year's worth at a time, no matter what kind of coupon or Costco deal you think you're getting.  Quality is more important when you're talking chocolate.

Vegetable oil for sautéing
*half an onion, chopped
*2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb pork for stew
salt and pepper to taste
1 small bell pepper, seeded and chopped
*1/2 lb tomatoes, chopped
*1 tsp each oregano, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon
1 C unsalted chicken stock (comes in a Tetra-Pak, probably on the highest shelf)
2 medium-ripe plantains (yellow, few black spots)
*1/4 C unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1.  In a medium saucepan, sauté onion in a tablespoon of oil until soft.  Add garlic and pork and cook until pork is browned.  Add water to cover, about 1 cup.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover.  Cook until pork is tender, about 1 hour.  Continue to simmer while you make the sauce.  It's stew, you can't overcook it.

Action shot

2.  In a 10" skillet, cook bell pepper on medium in another tablespoon of oil until soft.  Add chopped tomatoes and dry spices and cook until tomatoes soften.  Add chicken stock and simmer 10 minutes, for flavors to combine.  Place sauce in a blender and let it run until very smooth, about a minute.  Let it sit in the blender while you cook the plantains.

3.  Peel and slice plantains on an angle into 1/2" slices.  Fry in the skillet with just a touch more oil until they turn golden yellow on both sides.  Pour sauce over them and stir in chocolate.  Heat until chocolate is melted.  Drain pork and add, including the onions, to the sauce.  Stir to coat and heat through.  Serve over rice.

Difficulty rating :-0

Plum Pie

I haven't made a dessert pie in a long time.  Plums are on sale and the Bible has a very pretty pie that shows off the plums nicely.

I got brave and made pie crust so I could do the rectangular one they show in their recipe.  I don't know how they had enough leftover dough to make all the lattice and edging the recipe describes.  I barely got strips going the short way across.  The rest of the recipe works as intended.

I did make a couple of changes.  First, I'm not partial to almond flavoring and used brandy instead.  Second, I got away with using a lot of sugar because the plums were on the hard side.  (Probably why they were cheap.)  For the post, I'm cutting down the amount you need by 1/3.  You won't get as much of a pretty gel, but it won't taste like plum jam either.  All the white stuff on the tops of the plums in the photo is excess sugar that never hydrated.

Pie Crust
2 C flour, plus more for the board
1 tsp salt
3/4 C shortening
5 to 6 Tb cold water

1.  Stir together flour and salt.  Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

2.  Sprinkle in cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture just holds together.  Shape into a ball and let rest 30 minutes, to let moisture make its way through the dough and relax the glutens.

3.  Roll 3/4 of dough into a rectangle 18" by 14".  Lay in a 13" by 9" baking dish and trim off the overhang, returning it to the remaining 1/4.  Chill while preparing filling.

Filling
4 lbs plums (I used a mix of red and black)
1 Tb brandy
4 Tb butter
1 C sugar
1/4 C flour
milk for brushing

1.  Halve plums and remove pits.  One side should come off when you twist it open.  If it's stubborn, use a melon baller to get it out.  Once all are halved, arrange in pie crust, cut side down.  Sprinkle with brandy and dot with little bits of butter.

2.  In a small bowl, stir together flour and sugar.  Sprinkle mixture around sides of plums.  You can see from the photo above that I shouldn't have let much sit on top of the topmost plums.

3.  Preheat oven to 425º.  While it's heating, roll remaining dough into a 15" by 5" rectangle, which is where I said "how?" to myself.  I got 10" by 3".  Good luck.  Cut whatever you get into 1/2" wide strips and lay across top of pie, hopefully in a grid pattern with round plums showing through the squares.  If you have enough, create a rope edge along the top of the pan.  Brush tops with milk to help in browning and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown.

4.  Allow to cool until just warm before serving.  It's easier to cut when cold, then reheat in microwave.

Serves 10

Difficulty rating :)

Pasteli

Wonderful, a recipe that is entirely honey and sesame seeds, both of which I have in a confusing abundance.  I can't remember why I bought half a pound of sesame, but I'm pretty sure I moved here with the jar two and a half years ago.  Then, there was an additional jar of toasted sesame seeds in the pantry from my mom.

Pasteli is a very simple, and very sweet, candy from Greece that is basically seeds stuck together with honey.  You could do something fancy with it like add lemon peel or a cinnamon stick to the honey while it's boiling, but you don't have to.  Just make sure the honey tastes good, because that's literally half of the flavoring.  It tastes like crunchy honey with a sesame aftertaste.

As far as the consistency of the candy is concerned, temperature is the key.  You use the same guide as if you were making sugar candy.  I thought I wanted a fudge consistency and cooked to 240º, but I should have gone a bit further, like 250º or 254º.  Too hot, and it's going to be hard.  It just needs to be sturdy enough to hold its shape, without breaking teeth.  If you want to make this like a sesame brittle, you can go as high as 280º and spread it very thinly on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

*8 oz honey
*8 oz (by weight) sesame seeds

1.  Generously butter an 8" x 8" baking pan, or at least line a cookie sheet with parchment.

2.  Heat honey over medium heat until it boils, then start using the candy thermometer.  Stir frequently to avoid boiling over and/or scorching.  Don't walk away!

3.  When honey has reached at least 250º, remove from heat.  Stir in sesame seeds a bit at a time until all are incorporated.  Pour into baking dish or onto parchment.  Spread evenly (make defined sides on cookie sheet) and allow to cool to room temperature.

4.  Wet a knife and make squares, rectangles, or diamonds in the sesame sheet.  Keep them small, no larger than 1" x 2".  A little of this stuff goes a long way.  Place in fridge or freezer to complete cooling.  Break apart pieces and wrap or place in bon bon papers.

Makes 1 pound, about 2 to 3 dozen pieces

Difficulty rating  π

Tomato Jam

Tomatoes are fruits, so making jam out of them shouldn't be too far out of the range of comprehension. I was going to do ketchup, but I didn't want to peel a zillion cherry tomatoes.  The lovely part about this recipe from Food in Jars is that you leave the skin on for both texture and flavor.

This is the honey version of the recipe.  She also has one that uses sugar.  I have had an unopened 3 lb container of honey in the pantry since my mom died.  I haven't been holding onto it for sentimental reasons.  I just knew that, once it was opened, I would have to use it within a few months.  I may have enough ideas saved up to finish it by the end of the year, as we're getting close to baking season.  There will be many middle-eastern sweets in the near future.

I only had half a pound of tomatoes saved up, so this is not even a small batch.  It's a micro batch.  I got half a cup of the jam, but I got to use the 1/8 tsp spoon from my measuring set.  I knew I kept that thing for a reason.  For sanity's sake, I'm going to post the one-pound version here, giving you enough to use as a garnish or dip for several servings.

I'm not a fan of red chili flakes, aside from the faintest trace of them on pizza that I end up regretting later.  Instead, I'm opting for a combination of paprika and cumin to bring in the savory tones.  Also diverging from Marisa's recipe, I did mine in a 10" teflon skillet and stirred with a wooden spoon, since I was not planning to process and can.  It cooked up in a mere half hour, probably 45 minutes for the full pound version.

Other uses besides spreading on bread with brie are diverse.  It can be a finishing touch to any poultry, or on pork chops.  Use it instead of ketchup on burgers.  Leave it out with other dips at a party.  If you're into cheese molds, you can use it as the center layer in a molded wheel of goat cheese.  Dolloped onto a spinach salad instead of dressing sounds good.  Actually, it would go well with any leafy green, cooked or not.

*1 lb tomatoes, finely chopped (Roma would be a good choice)
* 1/2 C honey
*2 Tb bottled lime juice
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
*1/4 tsp each ground ginger, paprika, and cumin
*dash each cinnamon and cloves

1.  Finely chop tomatoes and add to a 10" non-reactive skillet with the rest of the ingredients.  Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until it reduces to a gooey, sticky glob, 45 minutes to an hour.  Stir frequently to avoid scorching, and almost constantly near the end.

2.  This jam is not going to set up much thicker when it cools, so make sure it's how you want it without going too far and burning the honey or tomatoes.  Transfer to serving container and chill below room temperature before serving.  (Or you can do the whole canning thing, but it's hardly worth it for such a small amount.)

Makes about 1 cup

Difficulty rating  π