Cranberry, Cherry, Ginger Sauce

All right kids, Thanksgiving is coming upon us. Due to weddings, pregnancies, unstable economies, and my lack of forethought, the grand event will be at my home this year. I'm pretty stoked, not gonna' lie, but it's kind of consuming. For about the last month I have been perusing food blogs, daydreaming in the middle of creative ways to cook turkeys, and staying up much later than is prudent trying various recipes.

I love holidays, and I love tradition, but I also love little twists, turns, and unexpected flourishes on traditional favorites. I heard a great quote by some chef I've never heard of before who said that his job is not to educate his patrons as much as it is to provide for them. I think that's true. All the typical elements of Thanksgiving will be there (including the family sauerkraut), but I'm trying to update them just a bit.

This recipe is the first installment of a new kick on an old favorite. I think aluminum cans are an insult to cranberries. Often time the cranberries are just kind of the last thing that no one remembered, so you grab the can opener, plop out the jelly-like blob with the ridges of the can down the side, and call it good.

Not good.

This modern twist is adapted from Orangette, and I love the depth of the flavors. The cherries and ginger really add a nice spark.


Cranberry, Cherry, Ginger Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 12-ounce jar apricot jam (I didn't quite have this much left, so I subbed about 1/3 with raspberry jam, and it worked very well)
• 1/4 cup fruity vinegar (I used raspberry white balsamic, but raspberry, or white vinegar with some raspberry jam would work well)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 bag fresh cranberries (make sure to remove any stems still hiding in there)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
• 1/2 cup dried tart cherries

Put the jam, vinegar, and orange juice in a pan and bring to a boil. Stir for several minutes until the liquid reduces by about a third. Pour in the cranberries, and continue to stir until they begin popping. Throw in the ginger and cherries, continue to stir until heated through and thickened, a minute or two more. Let cool.

Raw Eggs

Life lesson learned: too much batter can be a bad thing.

One time I made a lot of chocolate chip cookies. Well, there would have been a whole lot of them had they actually all made it to the oven, but they didn't. I literally ate about half the batter (that's a lot). It's not like I pulled out a fork and just dug in, mind you. Things like this slip up on you unexpectedly. Just a little pinch there, licking the beaters, scraping out the very last of the bowl, that cookie that you thought would fit on the sheet but in the end it doesn't, etc.

Well, right quick my body let me know that it did not appreciate the sudden assault on it. Working in the public health field that I do, I have taken a lot of microbiology classes and read a lot of case studies on food poisoning, so of course my find immediately goes to raw eggs, salmonella, food poisoning, and death. I became concerned.

So, I did the first thing any rational person would do: I called my sister, a nurse. I asked her how long it usually takes for symptoms of food poisoning to occur. She listened intently like the compassionate health care professional she is, assured me that it usually takes several hours minimum for symptoms to appear. "You know, I really think that what you're feeling is just a result of having eaten half a batch of cookie dough. In all honesty, that's pretty gross."

Words to live by.

Sweet Potato Chicken Chili

This one won awards, folks. Not kidding: the church chili cook off in-the-bag. Some would accuse me of stacking the judges in my favor. While vehemently denying that accusation, I will admit that I had a lot of friends on the panel, and there may have been some unspoken, implied pressure, I did nothing illegal or unethical, so I submit that the verdict stands.


Now, the sweet potatoes will certainly throw a few people, so just be ready for that. It's not your typical recipe, but I really love the flavor of it.


Sweet Potato Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 1 medium sweet vidalia onion, diced
  
• 1 heaping teaspoon cumin
  
• 2 cans white beans (great northern or navy beans), with liquid
  
• 1 can fire-roasted, diced tomatoes, with liquid
  
• 1 can mild green chilies
  
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and finely diced
• chili powder, to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
• up to 1 cup chicken broth
  
• 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast
• the juice of 1 lime
• salt and pepper, to taste
• splash of apple cider vinegar
• fresh cilantro leaves
  
• fresh sliced avocado
  

Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan, and saute the onions and the cumin until translucent and fragrant. Add to a slow-cooker with the beans, tomatoes, chilies, sweet potato, chili powder, and some of the broth. Cook on low for several hours. About an hour or so before serving, switch the heat to high add the chicken, lime juice, salt and pepper, and vinegar. If too thick, add some more broth. To serve, top with chopped cilantro and avocado.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Wow. That's all I'm gonna' say. I was slightly blown away by this cake.

I'll be upfront with you, my expectations were astronomically low due to some serious cosmetic issues we were having, but inside there, it packed some serious awesomeness. It was like a great big slice of harvest, autumnal goodness right in your face.

This one is going to make an encore right quick, let me tell you.

I am, however, still not the best at making cheesecakes. They're kind of hard and temperamental. I have lately become a fan of the water-baking method (as described in this recipe), but beware--use AT LEAST two layers of aluminum foil. It is a sad, horrific day when you pull the cheesecake out of the oven, only to discover that water has leaked in and your crust is soggy. Sad experience has taught me this truth.



Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Ingredients

for the crust

• 12-15 honey graham crackers
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2-3 tablespoons honey

for the filling

• 2 1 tablespoon butter
  
• 2 gala apples
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 8-ounce packages cream cheese
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoon apple juice
• t tablespoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

• 1 small jar caramel sauce

the crust
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.

Place the graham crackers, butter (sliced into pieces), cinnamon, and honey in a food processor and pulse several times until the consistency of coarse breadcrumbs. Pour the crumbs into a well-greased 9-inch spring-form pan, and gently press along the bottom and up the sides as high as you can go. Wrap the bottom and sides of the pan in 2 or more water-tight layers of aluminum foil. Bake for about 10 minutes, then remove and set aside. Leave the oven on.


the filling
Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples. Melt the butter in a large, flat-bottomed skillet over medium heat, and toss in the apple slices and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Saute until soft and slightly browned. Drain the juices, and let cool.

In a stand mixer or in a large bowl with hand beaters, whip the cream cheese for a few minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and cream well. Add the apple juice, vanilla, and cinnamon and continue beating on medium-low. While still beating, add one egg at a time, waiting until thoroughly mixed to add the next. Finally, add the sour cream and heavy cream, and fold in (or beat on lowest speed).

Pour in about half of the cream cheese mixture over the crust, then layer the apples over. Leave a little space between them and at the edge so the cake can fully form around them. Reserve a few slices to garnish the top. Pour the rest of the cream cheese mixture over, then form a little pattern or something on top if you're looking for presentation points.

Place the pan in a large roasting pan, and pour boiling water into the pan, so the water comes about half-way up the spring-form pan. This will help to reduce cracking and improve the consistency of the cake. Bake for about 1.5 hours at 350 degrees.

Pull the cake out of the oven, remove the foil, and regridgerate, still in the pan, overnight (or at least 6 hours). It needs this time to thicken and solidify, so really, don't skimp on it.

Before serving, pour the caramel sauce over the cake.

Menu: Formal dinner for 50

So, it went like this: it started as a pleasant conversation with my roommate. He asked a little favor of me. "Sure," I responded. "I'll throw together a little dinner for the ladies at church." Boy howdy, did I not realize what I was getting myself into. Cooking a 4 course dinner for 50 is a little different than making a pot of soup which would last me all week long. I made sure I had some good help, a lot of very large pans, and away we went.



There were a few trial runs, a few miserable failures (The coconut pumpkin soup sounded so good, but it was so bad; I still don't know what went wrong). There were many a batch of homemade vegetable broth made, 2 gallons of onion soup consumed in a week (I just couldn't bring myself to even look at it, much less make it again for 50 people), and more hours than a reasonable person would consider prudent spent surfing cooking blogs.



I must say, I am proud of the menu. I think the courses balance each other well: a little spice in the soup, a little citrus tang in the salad, a very herby, earthly presence in the main course, and then a not-overly sweet chocolate and berry homerun for dessert.

It was fun putting it all together, planning, experimenting, etc., but I don't know that I would go out and volunteer for these opportunities, if I were you.


Relief Society General Broadcast Dinner for 50
(pictures will definitely follow)

Course 1, Soup: Black bean soup

• I multiplied the recipe by 3, planning on rather small servings (it's a hearty soup). I served them in 9 ounce tumblers with a long breadstick and dollop of sour cream

Course 2, Salad: Mixed greens with carrot, radish, mandarin oranges, and French vinaigrette

• I had to remember here, this salad is just a cleanser to go from the spicy to the herby. Keep the dressing light and the serving size somewhat on the smaller end. No one wants to get full on course number 2.

Course 3: Entree: Herb braised chicken breast with a side of autumn risotto with caramelized apples

• The two of these pair very well together with similar flavors. Make sure you put on some parsley at the end, or some other colorful thing, or else you'll get a very bland-looking plate (and the food tastes too good to be bland looking).

Course 4, Dessert: Baked Chocolate Tart
This dessert is my old-faithful standby. I love it, and it loves me. This time I made a topping out of mixed berries (blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries). It's a romance that keeps getting stronger with age.

Baked Egg Rolls

So, I kind of have this moral aversion to deep-frying things. Although there is a very soft place in my heart for onion rings, sweet potato fries, coconut shrimp, thick french fries with the peels still on them, and Chick-Fil-A, I will probably never in the the entirety of my life ever deep fry anything at home. The first time I walked through a Krispy Kreme donut store where they have the big windows where you can see the gallons of boiling oil in which the fry those things . . . ughh, it kind of grossed me out a lot. I also envision the process being really messy. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's a big hurdle for me. Maybe I'm terrified of getting killed by spilling boiling oil all over me (which apparantley is a real concern in deep frying a whole turkey for Thanksgiving). Well, whatever the reason, I am pretty much always looking for alternatives to dropping perfectly healthy vegetables and goodness in boiling fat. I just don't see how this can turn out well.

However, there is a concession which must happen. These eggrolls aren't going to fool anyone. No one is going to think they're the real thing. However, I wonder how much "real" there really is in the "real thing" sometimes, so who cares. The trick is to have something warm, tasty, and good that you can pick up with your hand and will stay intact the whole time. These things deliver on all of those fronts. Good luck.


Baked Egg Rolls
enough for a crowd

Ingredients

• 2 large, chopped garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped (white and green parts separated)
  
• 1 pound lean ground pork
• 1 head savoy cabbage, chopped into thin strips
  
• 4 large carrots, shredded
• 1 can bamboo shoots, diced
• 1.5 inches fresh giner root, grated
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 packages (40) egg roll wrappers
  

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a a wok or skillet. Toss in the garlic and the white part of the onions. Sautee a few minutes. Add the pork and cook until brown.

In a bowl, combine the pork mixture, cabbage, green parts of the onions, bamboo shoots, carrot shavings, and ginger. Mix well. Pour the oil and soy sauce over, coating well.

Take an eggroll wrapper, wet one surface lightly with a little water, and place a heap of the mixture in the middle. There's a little bit of an art to getting the right amount in there, so experiment. Fold over one corner, then the two sides, then tightly roll to the last corner. Press on the seams to make sure they're in place. Repeat with the remaining wrappers.

Spread the eggrolls out on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. Serve with sweet-chili sauce, sweet and sour sauce, or something similar.

Pears with Gorgonzola

Anyone who has read a little of this blog, or who just knows me at all, will probably have noticed my slight obsession with pears and gorgonzola. Recipes featuring that combo have popped a few times on this blog already (like here, or maybe here), and dinner parties of mine have featured it quite a bit, also. There's just something about the sweet-tangy combo of the cheese and pears that just works. Throw in a few walnuts or cranberries and you've got a happy boy right here.

I really kind of even hesitate to call this a recipe, because it's really just layering a few things together and serving. I don't really have amounts for everything: it's totally up to you on the proportions. However, it looks pretty elegant, tastes really good, and will make your life better.


Pears with Gorgonzola

Ingredients

• 4 large soft-but-not-mushy pears (I recently discovered and fell in love with comice pears: you should, too)
• A few ounces crumbly gorgonzola cheese (as much or as little as you want)
• 2/3 cup walnut pieces
• a few tablespoons butter and brown sugar for caramelizing the walnuts
• honey, for drizzling

Caramelize the walnuts by melting a few tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a heavy, flat-bottomed saucepan. Add the walnuts, and stir constantly for a few minutes. Add a few tablespoons of brown sugar and continue to stir until the sugar hardens around the nuts.

Core and slice the pears. Layer the slices in a bowl with the cheese and walnuts, periodically drizzling with some honey. Serve quickly, so the pears don't brown.