Thanksgiving is less than 30 days away. In my world, that means planning the menu now, and sharing it with my sous chef (my brother).

Serious negotiations will commence about what we can and cannot accomplish given our busy schedules and travel plans.

Two things are a given: we will have pumpkin pie and we will have cranberry orange compote.

So I’m sharing links to two recipes that will be on our Thanksgiving table, in case you’re new to the blog. If you’ve been reading all along, maybe you’ll remember these.

Pumpkin Pie

The first is pumpkin pie, and I did a little experiment to determine if roasting a pumpkin was better than using canned pumpkin for our pie. You can see the results here:

Fresh v. Canned: Pumpkin Pie

Which is better? Read the post to find out, but here’s a hint: it depends…

A word about the sugared sage garnish: brush a sprig of fresh sage leaves with a beaten egg white and roll in granulated sugar. Set aside to dry. Really, it’s that easy.

Cranberry Orange Compote

For years (who am I kidding… still …) the canned jellied cranberry sauce landed on our table at Thanksgiving. As long as my dad sits at the head of the table, it always will.

But that doesn’t mean I have to eat it. Instead, I make a wonderfully tart and decidedly grown-up cranberry compote with a healthy dose of ruby port and Grand Marnier.

Now you can too:

Cranberry Orange Compote

Now that we have these two in the “yes” column, all we need to do is decide which sides will accompany our citrus & herb turkey.

For the past few years, we’ve been using a modified dry brine recipe from Rick Rodgers we found in Bon Appetit years ago.

Mom’s corn bread dressing is a given, but I’ve never written a recipe for it. Truth is, we’re still working on it. Every year we think we’re getting closer, but it never is as good as Mom’s was.

But we will try again this year, like we always do.

Happy Thanksgiving planning to you.

Tags: bon appetit, canned pumpkin, cranberries, cranberry orange compote, fresh pumpkin, pumpkin pie, Rick Rodgers, Thanksgiving
Posted in Desserts, Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | 2 Comments »

My cranberry sauce doesn’t come out of a can. (although it did for a number of years).

Now it comes with a little booze (shhh!) Just a little port and a splash of the most syrupy, orangey liqueur, Grand Marnier.

And some brown sugar. (or white sugar, really, it doesn’t matter).

Bring the berries, port and sugar to a boil. (Save the Grand Marnier for later.)

While the berries are coming to a boil, chop a quarter of an orange, peel and all. Really fine.

Really, really fine.

The orange makes the compote thicken. I’ve see recipes calling for even more orange but a quarter seems to be the right balance. Well, that and the Grand Marnier.

After the compote thickens, take it off the heat and add dried cherries. Or dried cranberries. Or dried chopped figs. Or dried fill-in-the-blank fruit.

And throw in some toasted walnuts. But don’t add them until you’re ready to serve it so they stay crunchy.

You can just sprinkle them on top if you like. Or mix them in. Your call.

Serve it in a pretty bowl. Or an ugly one, if that’s what your mother-in-law gave you and she’s coming to dinner.

Cranberry Orange Compote

Makes 3 cups

Ingredients
1 (12-ounce) package of fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup dark brown sugar (or light brown, or white, we don’t discriminate)
1/2 cup ruby Port wine
1/4 large navel orange, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dried cherries, or cranberries or other dried fruit
1 generous tablespoon Grand Marnier
1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts or pecans

Method
1. Stir cranberries, sugar and Port together in a heavy saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Stir in chopped orange, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and reduce heat to a simmer.

2. Simmer until cranberries burst and mixture thickens, about 12 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and stir in dried fruit and Grand Marnier. Cool to room temperature. Stir in nuts just before serving.

Tags: cranberries, cranberry relish, cranberry sauce, Grand Marnier, oranges, walnuts
Posted in Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | 7 Comments »

Summer Fest 2009.

Sounds like a groovy 60′s, peace-love kind of thing, doesn’t it?

Oh, it’s groovy, alright. Summer Fest is a blogging project masterminded by a group of talented food and garden bloggers with the sole purpose of sharing, so it does have something in common with the free-spirit decade.

Matt Armendariz illustration

I found out about it on Margaret Roach’s lovely blog, Away To Garden. You can also read about it, if you haven’t already, on one of the other co-creator blogs:

Mattbites
Steamy Kitchen
White on Rice Couple

And, look for “special appearances” by:

Shauna James Ahern, aka the Gluten-Free Girl, the lovely and talented Marilyn Pollack Naron from Simmer Till Done and writer-cook-mom-multitasker Paige Orloff from The Sister Project.

The whole point of Summer Fest 2009 is to share.

Share tips, recipes, anecdotes, sad-but-true mishaps, brilliant successes, not-so-brilliant successes — anything. How? Leave a comment. Here and on the co-creators’ blogs.

Each week will feature a different theme. This week is all about herbs. Next week is stone fruits (not stoned fruits, mind you), followed by beans & greens and a glorious finale week celebrating that special Queen of summer fruits: the tomato.

Of course I want to join in on the fun, so I’m talking about two of my very favorite herbs, cilantro and mint, using them together in a bright, kicky citrus salsa. I really shouldn’t say favorite, because truth be told, I love ALL herbs. Never met an herb I didn’t like. Can’t say that about all edible plants (ahem, Brussels sprouts?)

The great thing about cilantro, other than the lemony flavor, is that you can use the whole herb, leaf to stem. And you certainly can’t say that about rosemary, can you? Oh, wait, actually, you can.

You can use rosemary stems to flavor stocks, soups and sauces, and if they’re woody enough, you can even use them as spears for grilled shrimp, but with cilantro, you can eat the whole sprig.

About mint. Mint is a greedy little herb, I learned after the first planting. It will take over a garden before you know it. Consequently, I’ve banished it to a pot, where it grows nice and contained, and frankly seems happier with boundaries (kind of like my dogs, and children so I hear, and in no way am I condoning the planting of children in pots.)

I’m always making salsas around here (living in the southwest, salsa-eating is state law…kidding…sort of).

Earlier this summer, I posted a recipe for fresh cherry salsa but today, I’m making a cranberry grapefruit salsa. This recipe is really more of a holiday salsa. Citrus is a winter season fruit and even though it’s available year-round.

Top grilled fish (halibut and tuna come to mind) with this mouth-puckering salsa, or serve it with blue corn chips. It’s even fun to serve with cheese quesadillas instead of traditional tomato salsa.

So, welcome to Summer Fest 2009. What do you think?

Cranberry Grapefruit Salsa

Makes 3 cups

Ingredients
2 large navel oranges
1 pink grapefruit
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 jalapeno (remove the seeds if you must)
2-3 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro
2-3 tablespoons chopped mint
1/2 lime, juice only
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
*1-2 teaspoons Agave nectar or sugar (optional)

Method
1. Cut peel and white pith from oranges and grapefruit. Cut between the membranes to remove the citrus sections, then cut the sections into small chunks.

2. Place the citrus in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients (cranberries through lime juice). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Rest the salsa about 1/2 hour, give or take, before serving. Will keep about a day, maybe 2, although it looks best the day it’s made.

*Sometimes, you just want a little sweeter taste than what some citrus offer. If your lips purse together and you shake your head after the first taste, add a teaspoon or two of agave nectar or sugar to tame the tartness.

Tags: cilantro, cranberries, cranberry grapefruit salsa, grapefruit, lime, mint, recipe, salsa, Summer Fest 2009
Posted in Recipes, Sauces, Salsas & Dressings | 10 Comments »

Going to a holiday party and looking for a dip to take? If you have a leftover can of pumpkin puree from Thanksgiving, here’s a simple recipe worth opening the can for.

A 15-ounce can contains almost 1 3/4 cups of pumpkin, so you’ll have about 1 1/4 cups of pumpkin left over. Most quick bread recipes call for 1 cup of pumpkin, so plan on making a bread, too.

Serve this barely sweet dip with toast points or crackers, or use it as a spread on turkey sandwiches.

Cranberry Pumpkin Walnut Spread

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup dried cranberries, plus a tablespoon for garnish
3/4 cup toasted walnut or pecan pieces
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch salt

Method
1. Break the cream cheese up into chunks and drop into a food processor. Sprinkle with the cranberries and nuts. Spoon in the pumpkin puree and sprinkle with the spices and salt.

2. Pulse until almost smooth, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl down once. Transfer to a bowl and garnish with extra cranberries.

NOTE: You can make this 1 or 2 days in advance. Just cover and refrigerate. Let the dip sit at room temperature about 30 minutes before you plan to serve to soften just a bit.

Tags: cranberries, cranberry pumpkin dip, dips, pumpkin, walnuts
Posted in Appetizers, Recipes | 1 Comment »

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