KITCHEN - cranberry sauce

I cannot imagine eating jellied cranberries from a can ever again, however, they still have a place at our Thanksgiving table. Rob cannot live without this memory of childhood Thanksgiving. I was able to swap out the old standby green bean casserole (aka cream of mushroom soup, canned mushy green beans, and friend onions) with 'not your momma's green bean casserole' (recipe will be posted later). For now - here are the super easy directions for whipping up a batch of cranberry sauce. So good you'll want to eat it up with a spoon. 

Recipe

2 c fresh cranberries

1 c water

1 c sugar

Bring water and sugar to a boil and add the cranberries.

Bring back to a boil. 

Continue simmering while stirring frequently. 

Continue cooking until cranberries pop - about 10 minutes. 

Transfer cranberry sauce to a bowl or canning jar. 

Enjoy!

KITCHEN - cranberry coffee cake with orange zest streusel

Thanksgiving breakfast for us!

I made this festive coffee cake for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. Overall, it was a hit. If you bake it the night before you plan to eat it, you might want to remove it from the pan just after cool or even while cooling. I waited until the morning and had to run a knife along the edges and use a spatula to extract the loaf.

• 
  
• Recipe
• Streusel topping
  1/4 c melted butter
  1/4 c oats
  2 T brown sugar
  2 T flour
  1/4 c sliced or chopped almonds (or any other nuts you'd prefer)
  2 t orange zest
  
  
  Combine all ingredients until moist and crumbly. Set aside.
  
  
• Cake   slightly adapted from here
• 2 c fresh or thawed frozen cranberries (I used fresh)
• 1.5 c granulated sugar
• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 3/4 t salt
• 1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/2 c whole milk

Makes 6 to 8 servings. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Pulse cranberries with 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a food processor until finely chopped (do not purée). Transfer to a sieve and let drain while making batter.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter and remaining 1 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl with a standing mixer for about 5 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing until just incorporated.

Spread one third of batter evenly in well-buttered loaf pan*, then spoon half of drained cranberries evenly over batter, leaving a 1/2-inch border along sides. Top with another third of batter and remaining cranberries, leaving a 1/2-inch border along sides, then cover with remaining batter. Spread streusel topping over the top of the cake batter. Pat down gently. 

Bake in middle of oven until golden brown and a tester inserted in center comes out without crumbs, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool cake in pan on a rack 30 minutes.

Invert cake onto rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*Suggested using a 9- by 5- by 3-inch loaf pan, however, I used 2 smaller loaf pans and baked for ~45 minutes. 

Pulse the cranberries and sugar.

So they look like this.

Drain them in a colander in the sink.

Skip a few steps and spread 1/3 of the batter in the loaf pan (I spread 1/6th since I was used 2 smaller pans).

Spread 1/2 of the cranberries (I spread 1/4...).

Then 1/3 (or 1/6) of the batter.

Repeat those steps again until the final layer of batter is spread. Top with all (or 1/2) of the streusel topping.

Bake, and enjoy!

KITCHEN - cranberry scones

I made these North Fork Table & Inn Scones (from Smitten Kitchen) on the night my Dad and Connie arrived. Since they were planning to head down to Moab bright and early, I thought the scones would be a nice quick breakfast. 

These are very light and tasty scones that I highly recommend. I used fresh cranberries instead of the recommended raisins and caraway seeds. Deb at Smitten Kitchen used raspberries.

Recipe - makes 12-16, however I made 2/3 of a recipe because I was running low on butter and came up with 8 good sized scones.

2 & 3/4 c flour
1/4 c sugar
1 T aluminum free baking soda (I used what I had in the cupboard but this did spark a conversation about what the Al would do to fresh fruit - we didn't see any ill effects)
1 t baking soda (I actually forgot to add this but they still turned out light and fluffy)
6 oz butter, in 1/2-inch cubes
1 c golden raisins plus 1 T caraway seeds - or - 1 c fresh fruit - chopped
3/4 to 1 c buttermilk (use less if using fresh fruit)
turbinado, sanding sugar, or regular sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F.
Freeze the cubed butter for ~15 minutes. Place all ingredients except buttermilk, fruit, and sanding sugar in the food processor. Add the chilled butter and mix until the butter and flour mixture is the consistency of coarse cornmeal. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add buttermilk and chopped fruit (could use mixer but I just mixed by hand). Mix until the dough just comes together - it'll be crumbly.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a couple of times. Roll our dough to approximately a 1-inch thickness (I just patted it out by hand). If making the full recipe - cute into squares and then again on the diagonal. As you can see, I made a circle and cut it into triangles.

Sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Bake on silicon mat or parchment paper for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned. They kept well for a few days in an air-tight container.

Here are my helpers!