Fresh Cranberries Are Here

There is nothing quite like the taste of a fresh, crisp, very tart cranberry. I hear they grow in bogs in New England, but I find them every fall, like clockwork, in the produce section in one pound bags. There are lots of fine things to do with them from sweet to savory but today I wanted to make cookies, so I found a recipe for fresh cranberry cookies that also have the essence of an orange via freshly grated orange zest and also the mellow counterpoint of white chocolate. Since these are made with butter and regular flour I let Sweetie be the taste tester and he pronounced them to be very good.

The cookie dough itself is similar to what you would find with a chocolate chip cookie, with butter, brown and white sugars, egg and vanilla. When you add the orange zest it changes everything because you get both the fragrance and the taste from that fresh orange oil contained in the zest.

I cut the fresh cranberries with a sharp knife, but I suspect you could also put them into a food processor and pulse a few times and get the same results. But then you have to clean the food processor pieces...a knife and cutting board clean up super fast. I was getting ready to make dinner when I was making these, so quick clean up was more important than ease of cutting.

The white chocolate could be chunks, but I had the chips I buy from the market, so in they went. I used a disher to scoop up the dough...like a small ice cream scoop with a curved blade that pushes the dough off the tool so it falls on the cookie sheet. I used parchment paper on one sheet and a silicone mat on the other. It didn't seem to make much difference, so use what you have. Greasing the sheet works fine, too.

These charming cookies are tart from the cranberries, sweet from the chocolate and sugars, crunchy on the edges and soft in the middle. They are an altogether fine autumn cookie for you to enjoy, so make a batch, OK?

Fresh Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies - about 36 cookies
from Betty Crocker's website

Ingredients

1/4    cup butter, softened

1/2    cup sugar

1/2    cup packed brown sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange 

1        egg

2       teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2  cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

1/2    teaspoon baking powder

1/2    teaspoon baking soda

1/4    teaspoon salt

1        cup fresh or frozen (unthawed) cranberries, coarsely chopped or left whole

1/2    cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Directions

·         1 Heat oven to 350°F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and orange zest on medium speed of the electric mixer until well blended. (The mixture will have the consistency of wet sand.) Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

·         2 In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the sugar mixture and stir by hand until almost combined; add the cranberries and white chocolate and stir just until blended.

·         3 Drop spoonfuls of dough about 1 inch apart on a cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 14 minutes, until light golden and set around the edges but still soft in the middle. Let set on cookie sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To Add Zing to Leftover Turkey

If you cooked more turkey than you could possibly eat on Thanksgiving as I did, (or if you ever have extra turkey after a meal) then you might enjoy making this fresh cranberry sauce to liven up a leftover turkey sandwich or just as a side with sliced turkey.

Unlike most fresh cranberry sauces, it doesn't have any orange flavor or components. It does have fresh apple, dried figs and some port but you could probably sub raisins for the figs and another liquid for the port and still get a great sauce, just different. I've found that fresh cranberries these days seem to be on the large size, so I pulse them a few times in the food processor. If you like the texture of whole cranberries that have popped, or have smaller whole cranberries, or don't own a food processor, you could probably skip that or chop the cranberries up with a large knife.

We had this with our Thanksgiving dinner and it was really good with the turkey, playing up the turkey flavor. Since I adore turkey in many of its renditions, this was a good thing. This looks like jewels when served in a clear or crystal dish, but is pretty in any dish you choose.

If you celebrated American Thanksgiving last week, hope it was a great time.
XO Elle

Fresh Cranberry Sauce with Apples, Figs, and Port

Many cranberry sauce recipes include oranges but if, like me, you have a guest who is allergic to oranges, try this cranberry sauce. To give it extra crunch, you could fold in some pomegranate arils.

1 bag fresh cranberries (about 12 oz)
2 tart apples
4 dried figs, cut in small dice
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water (or orange juice or pomegranate juice)
1/4 cup port
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chopped, toasted pecans (optional)

Wash the cranberries and pick over them to remove any that are soft. Place in food processor fitted with metal blade.

Cut the apples in half and remove the core and stem and blossom ends. Cut each half into four pieces and put them into the food processor with the cranberries. Pulse a few times to roughly chop the fruit.

In a medium saucepan combine the sugar, water (or juice), and port. Stir to combine. Add the chopped fruit and figs and stir again. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and cook until mixture comes to a simmer. Reduce heat to lowest setting, cover saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Check about half way through. If mixture is too dry, add more water or juice...about 2 - 3 tablespoons. I too soggy, you can simmer uncovered a few minutes to thicken it up.

After the mixture has simmered for 10 minutes, remove from heat and stir in the port, vanilla (and the pecans, if using). Let the mixture cool a bit, then taste to see if you need to add sugar or water to make it the perfect sauce for you. Serve slightly warm or chilled.
Serves 6-8.

Cranberry Cake Slice Delight

Want a pretty cake for Christmas that is absolutely wonderful? Look no further. The Cake Slice bakers have chosen the Cranberry Cake for December’s cake. It was so good that I’ll be making it again for Christmas dinner at Sweetie’s request. The top has crispy streusel with almonds and brown sugar. The interior is soft and not too sweet, especially because the fresh cranberries give a nice tart tang to almost every bite.

Due to advancing age or something like that, I forgot on the day I made the cake that I had taken a cup of slivered blanched almonds and ground them in the food processor with 2 tablespoons brown sugar the day before. The reason? I couldn’t find sliced almonds in my pantry. SO, the day I made the cake I bought a nice big bag of sliced almonds, and when it was time to make the cake I melted the butter, added the brown sugar and sliced almonds, stirred them together…and saw the other almonds in the food processor bowl.

My solution?...Spread the sliced almond mixture on the bottom of the springform pan, put the cranberry rich batter over them and then sprinkle the streusel, made as directed, including cooling in the fridge…but with chopped slivered almonds…on top.

I’m here to tell you that this kind of senior moment is divine! This may be Sweetie’s all time favorite cake and those sliced almonds crusting the bottom are part of the appeal. I followed the recipe as written for the rest, with the exception of adding ½ teaspoon dried, ground orange peel to the flour mixture. I just love orange and cranberry flavors together! The cranberries make the cake…they add just the right amount of tartness to play up the richness of the cake and buttery almonds. I baked my cake the full hour and ten minutes, then another five minutes and the interior was still pretty soft. Turns out that it is perfect that way. The photo at the top of the post shows a slice of warm cake with the interior still pretty soft…we couldn’t wait for it to cool completely.

Make this cake! Just be sure to whip that egg sugar mixture the full five minutes, to pour in the butter in a THIN and SLOW stream, and to gently fold in the flour mixture and in parts as suggested, stopping as soon as the flour is incorporated. Taking the time to do it right yields a soft, sensuous cake with a nice crust on top. I wouldn’t be surprised if your cake disappears quickly, but if it doesn’t I can tell you that it is just as delicious three days later.

Click HERE to view other Cake Slice Bakers renditions of this delightful cake!

December’s Cake: Cranberry Cake
Makes one 10 inch round cake

Cranberry Cake(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

For the Streusel
1 cup sliced almonds
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp light brown sugar
(this is the mixture, uncooled, that I put on the bottom of the pan…see notes above)

2nd Streusel
1 cup blanched slivered almonds, chopped in a food processor with
2 tbsp light brown sugar, then mixed in a bowl with
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, and then all of it chilled until cold
(this is the mixture I used for streusel on top of the cake batter)

For the Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp dried ground orange peel
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag (12 ounces) fresh cranberries

Method – Streusel
Heat the oven to 300F. Grease a 10inch round springform pan.
Combine first Streusel mixture in a bowl and, once combined, sprinkle over bottom of greased springform pan. Set pan aside.

2nd Streusel
Combine the butter, chopped almonds and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Work the mixture between your fingers to form large crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Method – Cake
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and dried ground orange peel (if using) in a medium bowl. Combine the eggs and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium high speed until the mixture is lightened and increased in volume, about 5 minutes.

With the mixer on low speed, add the butter in a slow stream. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for another 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.

Gently but thoroughly fold in the flour mixture, half a cup at a time. Then stir in the cranberries.
Scrape the butter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the streusel over the batter. Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1hour 10minutes.

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Release the sides of the pan and use a large spatula to slide the cake from the pan bottom onto the wire rack. Cool completely before cutting into wedges and serving.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Fruits and Nut Braid

For a number of reasons I needed a vacation, so Sweetie and I took one last week and visited some grand and natural wonders in southern Utah and northern Arizona.

You would be hard pressed to find more spectacular scenery, especially if you like rocks. We were able to squeeze in Las Vegas (well the airport anyway),

Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.

and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

as well as a number of National Forests. We even took an unplanned trip past the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by heading in the opposite direction to where we wanted to go on our last day in Utah.

If you ever find yourself in the area, I can highly recommend two B&Bs. In St. George which is about 1 1/2 hours north of Las Vegas, we stayed in the Green Gate Village Inns,

which is a collection of buildings from the late 1800s which have been renovated beautifully. The accommodations were excellent and the breakfasts were lovely.

At the Purple Sage Inn in Kanab, further east near to Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon north rim, it was almost like staying in your own restored Victorian. The details were exceptional from unusual and beautiful bath and sink fittings to gorgeous wallpaper to lovely light fixtures to fine china on the table for breakfast. I fell in love with the kitchen and can imagine how great it would be to cook in a kitchen that is so well laid out and planned.

The front parlor is welcoming and we found that it was cool enough for a fire in the fireplace. The innkeeper, a native of Kanab, is hospitable, friendly and enjoyable to talk with...plus she is a great cook. Even though we had interesting conversations with other guests at the St. George B&B, at the Purple Sage it was somehow more like sitting around your own table and talking with new friends.

In the evening conversation was lively in the living room around the fireplace, too, although there are plenty of places to just hang out and read or spend some quiet time if that is what you prefer.

Now that we are home, the sourdough starters were fed and I decided to make a braid similar to one I made last year. Somehow the combination of golden raisins, cranberries and pecans seems right in the fall. This time I used some sourdough starter instead of dry yeast and I substituted maple syrup for the brown sugar. After all, maple syrup is a fall/winter kind of ingredient.

The braid baked up beautifully and is delicious with a cup of tea, toasted. We also enjoyed it as sandwich bread today as part of a turkey sandwich. Since it isn't very sweet it worked quite well.

I'm sending this over to Susan at Wild Yeast for the weekly Yeastspotting event...a wonderland of bread recipes...I highly recommend following the link if you love bread and other yeasted delights.

Festive Braid with Raisins, Cranberries, Pecans, Maple and Orange

1 cup sourdough starter
2 ¼ - 3 cups unbleached bread flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (colored part only)
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons golden raisins
¼ cup dried cranberries
½ cup chopped toasted pecans
¼ cup maple syrup
1/3 cup warm milk (105 – 115 degrees F)
1 egg, slightly beaten
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

egg wash- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
sanding sugar

Place sourdough starter in bottom of stand mixer bowl. Add the maple syrup, warm milk, and egg and mix to blend. Set aside.

Combine 1 ½ cups of the flour, salt, orange zest, raisins, dried cranberries and toasted chopped pecans in large measuring cup or bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Add the dry ingredients and the butter to the yeast mixture. Mix thoroughly.

Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead using the stand mixer and the dough hook or knead on lightly floured surface until smooth, about 10 minutes.

Place in greased bowl, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in warm place until double in bulk – about 1 hour.

Punch down dough. Divide the dough into thirds. Make three ropes. Braid on a greased, parchment covered, or silicon mat covered baking sheet.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double – about 30 -45 minutes. Brush with egg glaze and sprinkle with sanding sugar right before putting in the oven.
Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 30 - 40 minutes. Check at 20 minutes. If crust is getting too brown, tent with aluminum foil. Interior temperature should be about 210 degrees F.

Cool on a wire rack.

Optional: Make the Confectioners’ Icing, then drizzle it over the cool loaf. Sprinkle with the additional pecans and some candied cherries to decorate. Let the icing dry before serving.

Confectioners Sugar icing: Mix together 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest and 1-2 tablespoons milk.

Banana Bread in the Land of St. Honore'

The Christmas ornaments and stockings are in the attic and the swag with red lights that hung on the porch has joined the tree stand in storage. Before the last bit of Christmas cheer tiptoes away, join me for a seasonal tale in the Land of St. Honore', where baking is a birthright.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, in the Land of St. Honore’, the hall clock struck 2 in the wee hours of the morning. As the refrigerator door swung open, it illuminated the elfin features of Mitzi, one of Santa’s helpers. She checked to see that the old dog hadn’t been awakened by the light, but he was still asleep by the couch in the glow of the Christmas tree lights.

It was Little Christmas or Epiphany, January 6th, and Mitzi was homesick. On Christmas night she had been with Santa on the sleigh with her own sack of goodies...for Santa. He was fighting off a cold and her job was to provide chicken soup from the Thermos, nasal spray as needed, and large white handkerchiefs for his drippy nose.

Unfortunately at one stop Nature called. How she wished that female elves could wiz anywhere like the guys. Since she couldn’t she had left the sleigh to find a bathroom. Santa didn’t realize she was gone and had left for the next stop. She was lucky that there was a nice hall closet where she could curl up with the coats and mufflers to sleep.

At first she didn’t mind being stranded. The people in the house didn’t miss oranges and apples, nor yogurt or mini carrots. She ate while they slept and slept under the bed in the spare room while they were awake.

There were also plenty of gingerbread cookies at hand. She had managed to avoid the after Christmas clean up at the North Pole and now felt very rested. The problem was how to let Santa know where she was so he could come get her.

One thing that Santa loved was banana bread. Mrs. Claus rarely made it because she was trying to keep his weight in check. Mitzi decided to bake some to lure Santa to her hideaway.

First she took some eggs from the fridge and some leftover eggnog…Santa loved eggnog, too. Then she warmed some rum and soaked dried cranberries in it. Then she found the softened butter on the counter and sugars in the pantry. By standing on the counter top she was able to find, measure out and combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda, and some nutmeg…the latter to set off the seasonal eggnog flavor.

Once the oven was preheated and she had found a bread pan, she whisked together the butter, sugars, egg, some vanilla, and the eggnog. Next she stirred in some grody old brown skinned soft bananas that she had peeled and smooshed. Then she added the dry ingredients and mixed ‘em up, threw in the cranberries and the rum they were soaking in, and added a handful of chopped walnuts from the ‘fridge. Once well stirred the batter smelled great!

Into the bread pan it went and the pan into the oven. She played some jacks while the bread baked. Once the bread was out of the oven and it had cooled just a little bit, she cut two slices and wrapped them carefully in paper towels.

Then she took the rest of the fresh bread over to the fireplace. It was cold since no fire had been lit that day. Softly she blew across the loaf of bread and the fragrance was caught and went up the chimney. In an amazingly short time she heard the bells jingling on the reindeer harness.

Santa had indeed smelled her banana bread and come to get her! She put the loaf back on the counter for the family who had provided for her for the twelve night, grabbed the slices in the paper towel and was at the hearth just in time to see Santa’s hand reaching out for her from the chimney. Once they were in the sleigh and on their way back to the North Pole, he tried her luscious Eggnog Rum Cranberry Banana Bread. Hohohohoho! It was sure good.

Eggnog Rum Cranberry Banana Bread

¼ cup dark rum, warmed slightly
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup eggnog
½ teaspoon vanilla
3 bananas
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup chopped walnuts

In small bowl combine the warm rum and the dried cranberries. Set aside to soak while you prepare the bread batter.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs , one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the eggnog and vanilla and combine. The mixture may look curdled. That is OK. Stir in the bananas. Add the dry ingredients all at once and stir just until combined. Add the cranberries and their soaking liquid and the walnuts and stir until just combined.

Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour. Test for doneness with a toothpick in center. When done, toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs on it. Cool well. Store overnight before cutting...if you can wait that long…a certain elf couldn’t. A serrated knife makes cutting easier.

Makes one loaf.

Creating Christmas Memories

By dinner time on Christmas I'm usually happy to do something very simple, but this year we were fortunate in that Grandma L was going to be with us and so was our daughter!

This Christmas for our dinner she suggested that we make a dish that we had talked about making together sometime. It is inspired by an entree she used to enjoy at Belltown Bistro when she lived in the Belltown area of Seattle.

Tender pork cubes are marinated and skewered with dried apricots. A glaze is applied during cooking that creates a lacquered appearance. Sweetie did the honors of grilling the kebabs, but wasn't too successful in making the pork look lacquered...I guess there is a restaurant secret...but the dish was delicious, fancy and fun to make together.

We served it over a wild and brown rice melange than included dried cranberries and orange zest and juice. Grandma L brought her famous fresh green beens with bacon and they were the perfect side dish for this meal. We served a Porter Creek Pinot (thanks Kate W!) which was an excellent wine for the meal. Toasts were shared and we made merry! Holiday memories in the making.

Apple Lacquered Pork Kebabs with Apricot
1 pork tenderloin, cut in about 1 inch cubes

1 cup apple juice

1 teaspoon prepared Dijon type mustard

¼ teaspoon ground sage

2 tablespoons apricot jam

salt and pepper to taste

Apple-Apricot Lacquer

1 cup apple juice

¼ cup apricot jam

8 – 10 oz moist dried apricots
Wooden or metal skewers

In a wide, shallow pan over medium-high heat, reduce the apple juice by half, stirring occasionally with a whisk. It will thicken slightly and measure about ½ cup.

In non-reactive bowl place reduced apple juice, mustard, sage, apricot jam and whisk to combine. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Place the pork cubes in the apple juice mixture and turn to coat all pieces. Cover and marinate in a cool place (like the refrigerator) for 3-4 hours, stirring a few times to coat the pieces with the marinade.

Prepare the Apple Apricot Lacquer: In a wide, shallow pan combine the apple juice and the apricot jam with a whisk. Whisk over high heat until thick and syrupy, about 5 – 8 minutes. Set aside.

Soak wooden skewers for 20 minutes in warm water if using. Drain pork and discard the marinade. Thread two dried apricots on skewer, followed by a pork cube, two more dried apricots, another pork cube and repeat until there are 4 -5 pork cubes on the skewer.

Set aside and repeat with more skewers until all pork cubes have been threaded on skewers. Keep cool until barbeque is ready for cooking.

Heat barbeque, either pre-heating a gas grill or light charcoal and let burn until a light ash coats them.

Grill the skewers, brushing with the Apple Apricot Lacquer before putting on the grill and every few minutes as you grill them. The dried fruit may char a bit. Meat is done when one cube, cut open, shows very faint pinkness.

Serve at once, passing any extra Lacquer with the skewers. This is very nice served on a bed of hot Brown and Wild Rice with Cranberries.

Can be garnished with fresh sage leaves.

Autumn Harvest Braid

I found this delightful sweet braided bread recipe in a book from the used book store. It features seasonal festive breads. This one has golden raisins and I added dried cranberries, too. The orange zest was doubled once I smelled it as I was grating...cranberries and orange are a great combo, so it just seemed the thing to do.

It tastes great without icing, but I iced half the loaf with an icing that included vanilla and some more orange zest, then sprinkled on some sliced almonds before the icing set. Delicious! The recipe called for candied cherries on top, too. Might do that if I make this bread again for Christmas, but it was fine without.

Autumn Festival Bread
from The Festive Bread Book by Kathy Cutler

“This rich, hearty bread, flecked with cherries and slivered almonds, goes well with thankgiving dinner or as a snack in the evening.”

Makes 1 loaf

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water (105 – 115 degrees F)
2 ¼ - 3 cups unbleached bread flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (colored part only)
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons golden raisins
¼ cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup warm milk (105 – 115 degrees F)
1 egg
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Glaze (below)

Confectioners’ Icing (below)

slivered or sliced almonds

Candied cherries

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes.

Combine 1 ½ cups flour, salt, orange zest, raisins, dried cranberries and sugar in mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Mix together the warm milk and egg. Add the milk mixture, yeast mixture and butter to the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth, about 10 minutes.

Place in greased bowl, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in warm place until double in bulk – about 1 hour.

Punch down dough. Divide the dough into thirds. Make three ropes. Braid on a greased, parchment covered, or silicon mat covered baking sheet.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double – about 30 -45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 20 minutes.

Make the glaze. Remove the loaf from the oven and brush with the glaze. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and return the loaf to the oven. Bake an additional 30 – 35 minutes or until done.

Cool on a wire rack.

Make the Confectioners’ Icing, then drizzle it over the cool loaf. Sprinkle with the almonds and candied cherries to decorate. Let the icing dry before serving.

Glaze: Mix 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water. Use a pastry brush to glaze the partially baked bread.

Confectioners Sugar icing: Mix together 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest and 1-2 tablespoons milk.

Sending this to the weekly wonderful event that is Yeastspotting at Susan's Wild Yeast...go there and drool over the bread being baked by the fantastic bakers featured there...you will be glad you did! Here is the URL for Susan's blog :http://www.wildyeastblog.com/

Breadbaking Inspiration

The green whisk is a birthday gift from Natasha and it is wonderful! The handle is weighted and shaped for easy whisking. With lots of starters to feed, it has already been hard at work. Thanks!

Sometimes a baker needs inspiration. Other bloggers are so generous with ideas and tips. If you are interested in baking with yeast, or even using yeasted already made breads in other recipes, a place to bookmark and check every week is Susan of Wild Yeast’s Yeastspotting event. Each week showcases many, many recipes to tempt you, especially if you have sourdough starter sitting in your fridge urging you subliminally to bake bread.

One recipe I found there from 12/19/08 was from Jude who writes a great blog called Apple Pie, Patis, Pate'.The bread recipe, from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Bakers’ Apprentice, was for a braided loaf with milk, butter and eggs making a rich dough and with dried cranberries and chopped walnuts loaded into the dough.


I used 3 tablespoons of freshly grated orange zest instead of extract. When it’s citrus season you can’t beat the flavor and fragrance of fresh zest! The orange goes so well with cranberries and adds a freshness that is unbeatable. I actually used only a little more than a cup of the dried cranberries. It seemed like enough. If you want to add more in, it will be even better.

Also, I used my Polly sourdough starter plus an extra ¼ teaspoon of active dry yeast rehydrated in 2 tablespoons warm water, instead of the yeast called for. With the load of dried fruit and nuts in this bread, I wanted to help the sourdough with the ‘heavy lifting’ with the addition of fresh yeast.

This made a superior fruit and nut bread, with a thin, crisp crust and nice moist interior. I tried it plain…good, toasted plain…better, toasted with cream cheese…even better, and toasted with butter…the best!

Sweetie thinks it would also be good with turkey for sandwiches. Since I added some sanding sugar on top when I glazed it with the egg wash, I’m not so sure that savory will work. Make some and see what you think!

Cranberry-Walnut Bread
from the Apple Pie, Patis, Pate' blog
makes one braided loaf, the shaped bread will fit on a half-sheet pan

Dough Ingredients:

3 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
3 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (or 1 cup sourdough starter)
3 tablespoons orange zest
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temp
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup water, room temp
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
3/4 cups walnuts coarsely chopped

1 whisked egg, for the egg wash

Instructions:
Mix Stir the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast together. Add the orange zest, eggs, whole milk, butter, and water.
Mix until a shaggy ball of dough is formed.

Knead 5 to 6 minutes

Rest 5 minutes

Knead Add the cranberries and knead gently for 2 to 3 minutes.


Add the walnuts.


Gently fold the dough over itself until the cranberries and walnuts are evenly incorporated.

Bulk Ferment 2 hours at room temperature

Shape three-braid (as shown), boule, or batard.

Egg Wash Glaze with about half of the egg wash. Refrigerate the rest of the egg wash for a second coating after the final proof.

Preheat Oven 325ºF / 165ºC

Final Proof 60 to 90 minutes at room temperature while uncovered, or until almost doubled in size

Egg Wash Glaze with the rest of the egg wash

Bake Bake for 50 to 55 minutes at 325ºF / 165ºC, rotating the loaf halfway through baking if necessary. The center of the loaf will register 185ºF / 85ºC to 190ºF / 88ºC when done.

Cool At least 1 hour

This is going to Susan for this week's Yeastspotting. Be sure to check it out!

For Holiday Meals

Getting into the swing now that the blog has passed the 2 year mark, I thought a nice side dish for upcoming holiday feasts might be nice. I suspect that this would make a good stuffing for a turkey, but I know it makes a great side dish for things like roast chicken, roast duck or goose, chicken apple sausage, and turkey burgers. The dish is savory, with just a hint of sweetness from the apple juice and a nice tang from the cranberries and orange zest.

This one is similar to a recipe I've seen (somewhere) during the last month, but it has been such a absurd month...far more to do that time to do it in...that I don't remember where I saw the idea for combining apple juice soaked cranberries with a wild and brown rice combo.

The reason I don't feel too bad about it is that I jazzed it up a bit on my own. I'm almost certain that the original recipe had not a whit of orange. Orange and cranberry are such a natural as a flavor duo that I had to add orange zest. I also cooked the rice in a combination of apple juice (the juice the cranberries had simmered in no less), water and chicken broth. A bit of minced fresh thyme was also my addition.

So hats off to whomever wrote the original recipe, but you get:

Elle's Wild and Brown Rice with Cranberries

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 cup apple juice or apple cider

1 cup mixed brown and wild rice (I used Lundberg's mix that contains wild rice and a mix of brown and other rice)

water

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

salt and pepper to taste

In a small pot, combine the cranberries and the apple juice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain the cranberries, reserving the apple juice.

In a medium pot, combine the brown and wild rice and the chicken broth. Measure the drained apple juice and add enough water to make 1 cup. Stir to combine.

Bring the pot of rice to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, stir, then cover with a tight lid. Let simmer about 50 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed and rice is cooked. Check during the last 10 minutes and add a little more water if rice looks like it will scorch.

Put cooked rice mixture, drained cranberries, and orange zest in a bowl. Stir to mix. Taste, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve warm. Serves 4 - 6

It's Not Too Late

We have returned home from the land of St. Honore'. Thanksgiving has come and gone, but there is still time to enjoy fresh cranberries. Right now bags of fresh cranberries are pretty inexpensive where I shop, so I grabbed a few more bags and threw one in the freezer for later. For now there is Cranberry Pear Sauce, perfect with leftover turkey if you still have some hanging around, but also a great dish to go with roast pork or duck or chicken thighs. It goes together fairly quickly and is delicious!

We had this sauce at Thanksgiving and it was so good that my nephew said it was the best cranberry sauce he had ever had. I chose to cook it because I usually served the canned jellied stuff but wanted something fresh, but not too sweet. I'm taking some to Meeta's Monthly Mingle which is for Traditional Feasts this month. Meeta blogs at the wonderful What's For Lunch Honey and hosts these mingles often, which is really nice. Come by after the first of December and see what everyone has brought.

This recipe is faintly like a chutney since it has some cider vinegar, cinnamon and grated fresh ginger, but it is also like a nice cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving with both white and brown sugar and the sweetness of sauteed pears. The recipe is a slight variation on one I found in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper November 14th. Give it a try while fresh cranberries and pears are in season. An addition of chopped toasted walnuts would be good, too.

Cranberry-Pear Sauce

Makes about 3 cups - serves 8

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 ripe pears, preferably Bartlett, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup, packed, dark brown sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

12 oz. fresh cranberries, washed and picked over for spoiled berries

Heat the melted butter in a large saucepan. Add the pears and salt and cook oer moderately low heat, stirring, until they begin to soften, 4-5 minutes. Stir in the sugars, vinegar, cinnamon and ginger and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon to prevent sticking. (Your kitchen will smell heavenly!)

Add the cranberries and cook over moderate heat until the cranberries have fully cooked and thickened, 15-20 minutes, crushing the berries against the sides of the pan. Transfer to a bowl, remove the cinnamon stick if used, and let cool before serving.

Celebratory Dessert

Clinic finished up tonight with a celebratory dinner. The young chef made a wonderful lemon-mustard-garlic-rosemary chicken dish that is his own creation. If I get his permission, I'll do a post on it later, with recipe. My office partner made a delicious ratatouille with eggplant from the physical therapist's garden. There were lots of veggies, salad, and local bread. My contribution was made in response to a large number of ripe Bartlett pears. When you buy a flat of fruit, they all seem to ripen at once.

The solution was a pear and cranberry crisp. It is a very good dessert for autumn. This one was really nice because it was not too heavy nor overly sweet. The pear flavor really stood out and the contrast of soft silky pear slices, tangy cranberries, zingy orange flavor and a crunchy oat topping was lovely.

Credit for most of this recipe goes to Dorie Greenspan, although I made a few changes. Dorie's book Sweet Times is a wonderful collection of sweet recipes. As usual, the recipe was well written and foolproof. As you can see, we had no trouble in convincing everyone to help themselves.

I think that this is the perfect dish to bring to Peabody's open house. It should travel well and feeds a lot of people, plus it's sweet and baked! See you there on December 8th.

Pear-Cranberry Crisp

based on a recipe by Dorie Greenspan

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup broken walnut pieces, toasted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

Fruit:
6-7 large ripe Bartlett pears (about 3 lbs.) cored and stems removed
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup fresh cranberries (if using frozen, do not thaw)
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Topping: Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the mixture forms large curds, about 1-2 minutes. Alternately, mix everthing but the butter in a bowl, then cut the butter in with a pastry blender or two knives. Set aside.

Fruit: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Quarter the pears and cut each pear quarter lengthwise into 3 slices. Dip the slices in a bowl containing the orange juice. Then arrange the slices in the bottom of a deep dish pie pan or a 2 quart baker. (I left on the peels, which worked out fine.) Repeat with all of the pear quarters, coating the slices in the juice to keep them from darkening. Sprinkle the cranberries evenly over the pears, then sprinkle on the golden raisins.
Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar over the fruit.
Sprinkle the orange juice that you dipped the pears in over all, then sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit.
Place the crisp on a baking sheed with raised sides and bake 40 -45 minutes, until the top is brown and the fruit juices are bubbling. Remove the crisp from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool at least 20 minutes before serving, but can be served warm, at room temperature, or chilled. Serve vanilla ice cream, heavy cream ot pour, or whipped cream to garnish if desired. Serves 6-8, or more at a buffet.

The photo below was taken in the morning where the fog was burning off right near the clinic building. That is a very old redwood tree on the left.