Christmas Cranberries

Christmas has come once again! It’s a time for joy, faith, peace, and love.  Most importantly, it’s the time to celebrate Christ’s arrival and the beginning of His amazing journey toward the salvation of the world.  It’s a beautiful time of year, and one I love to share with friends and family. Of course my favorite thing to do for loved ones is to cook. What can I say? Food is my love language.

This year I played with several new recipes and focused on one very special ingredient: cranberries. Of course I’ve served cranberry sauce with Christmas dinner every year. It’s a delicious holiday staple, native to North America, and the clean, tart taste breaks up the heaviness of the other holiday foods. But I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve always used canned cranberry preparations. Maybe it was habit. Maybe I was intimated by the texture, but this year, I broke out of the yoke of processed food bondage.

My inspiration for elevating this ingredient started with my travels this year. As you may recall from previous installments, I had the pleasure of spending time in both Nova Scotia and Wisconsin. These lovely, northern locations are both cranberry producing areas, and I brought home some choice flavors to save for the Christmas season. From Nova Scotia, I brought Lake Rossignol Cranberry wine from the Lunenburg County Winery at Hackmatack Farm. From Wisconsin, I brought Fireside Jam, a delicious blend of cherries and cranberries, purchased from The Summer Kitchen’s booth at the Dane County Farmer’s Market.

To build the rest of our holiday meal, my family and I made an expedition to the Dekalb World Market in Atlanta. My regular readers might be getting the idea that this is one of my favorite finds in Georgia, and they would be right. I’m generally a huge advocate of local food, but the atmosphere, incredible variety, and great prices at this international market have become something of a moral splurge for me.

After stocking up on Sunday afternoon, we spent most of Monday (Christmas Eve) preparing a big family meal. It included mascarpone chive mashed potatoes, green bean and artichoke casserole, double cranberry apple sauce, and a grilled beef tenderloin all served with whole wheat rolls and cranberry wine. The mashed potato recipe came from a fellow food blogger at http://www.goodlifeeats.com, although I did add extra mascarpone cheese. The green bean casserole preparation was the same as described in my November 2012 Thanksgiving post. And although I modified it a bit, I have to give props to http://www.myrecipes.com for the original cranberry apple sauce idea.

Double Cranberry Apple Sauce

6 small to medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced to 1” cubes

1 (12 oz) package of fresh cranberries

3 tsp lemon juice

1 cup granulated white sugar

3/4 cup water

¼ tsp ground ginger

1 cup sweetened, dried cranberries

Combine the apples, fresh cranberries, lemon juice, granulated sugar, ginger, and water in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the cranberries pop and the mixture starts to thicken (still stirring often). Remove from heat. Mix in the dried cranberries for texture. Pour the mixture into your serving dish and chill in the refrigerator. Serve cold.

My husband was the grill master for our tenderloin. He and I agree that the most important trick for any meat course is to start with a high quality cut. Don’t be afraid to ask your butcher what they have in the back. In our case, we had a perfectly sized section cut from the middle of the loin by the helpful people at the Dekalb Market, and we still spent less than at a traditional grocery store. We seasoned it simply with salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and garlic powder and cooked it to a medium rare over hot charcoal.

The cranberry wine was a nice touch with dinner, and the cranberry jam was perfect over toast for Christmas Day brunch. Speaking of Christmas Day, I have to take a second to brag on my foodie loot for the year. Instead of stocking up on candy that I shouldn’t eat, my family has gotten into the habit of exchanging nuts, dried fruits, and fun snacks (like the green bean and plantain chips pictured below). I’m excited to say that I also received a set of sustainably produced bamboo kitchen utensils, two new pans, two small spatulas, an herb chopper, a fun set of monster bag clips, a pie crust design cutter, and an adorable set of glass jars for herb storage. For some great culinary ideas, I received the Cooking Behind the Fence cookbook from Oak Ridge, Tennessee and the two-book set of Julia Child’s historic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The piéce de résistance of the morning, however, was my new food processor. I’m sure these goodies will inspire a host of fun blog topics for 2013. I hope you’re looking forward to it as much as I am.

From my family to yours….Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Photos by Jenn Ballard

Happy, Happy Birthday

It’s almost Christmas, and it’s already been an exciting December.  I started the month by hosting my very first five-course meal to celebrate my 29^th birthday.  The meal started with a variety of cheeses, wine, and beer while everyone arrived and mingled. It continued with a wilted green salad and bacon vinaigrette dressing; a rustic mushroom soup; an entree of fig and goat cheese stuffed pork tenderloin and roasted vegetables; and a whiskey-cherry upside down cake.  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that made this celebration possible. It was by far the best “grown-up” birthday I’ve ever had.

The mushroom soup was delicious and super easy! The recipe came straight from my fellow bloggers at http://blog.seasonwithspice.com.  The tenderloin was also incredibly straight forward. I made it with figs from my own yard (frozen back earlier in the year) and seasoned goat cheese instead of the blue cheese recommended in the original recipe (http://www.whatwereeating.com).  The whiskey-cherry upside down cake is one of the more complicated cake recipes I’ve made, but it is totally worth the effort. For great directions on this culinary treasure, see www.endlessimmer.com.

After the birthday excitement, my husband and I celebrated another first. We bought a live Christmas tree for the very first time.  We visited Jack’s Tree Farm in Talking Rock, Georgia and picked out a fresh white pine.  Unfortunately, when we arrived home, we discovered that our tree stand was not quite large enough for our selected tree.  It spent the night in a stock pot of water before being set upright and decorated.   Aside from the natural beauty and lovely smell of a live Christmas tree, there’s a lot of peace of mind for this nature-loving hippy in knowing that this tree is produced sustainably and can be composted after the holidays.

 

Photos by Jenn Ballard, Jamie Brantley, and Maria Evola

I've Got Plenty To Be Thankful For....

Bing Crosby once sang "I've got plenty to be thankful for," and this year I'd have to agree with him. My husband and I have been blessed with two good jobs, a roof over our heads, and the best families we could ask for. We had a wonderful November full of birthdays, anniversaries, and Thanksgiving, and we're looking forward to the rest of an exciting holiday season. We celebrated Thanksgiving on the farm here in Georgia. Our meal had some great classics like fried turkey, mashed potatoes, skillet seared Brussels sprouts, and pecan pie. I also got to try a couple of new dishes:

Souffled Pumpkin Pancake
adapted from a recipe on Foodnetwork.com

5 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup pecan halves
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
dash of cloves
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs, separated
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
maple syrup for serving

Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Add brown sugar and stir until the sugar starts to melt. Add the pecans and stir to coat them with the mixture. Cook 2 minutes and remove from heat. Set pecans aside and save skillet for pancake.

In a small mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, sugar, salt). Melt the remaining butter. In a separate bowl combine the butter, egg yolks, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add pumpkin puree and combine well.

Beat the egg whites to soft peaks (add a dash of cream of tartar if desired). Fold the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture in two parts. Mix carefully. Pour into skillet. Sprinkle top with pecans. Bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes.  Service in slices with warm maple syrup.

My family and I usually have cinnamon rolls on Thanksgiving morning while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  This recipe was a really tasty change of pace for our breakfast.

Green Bean and Artichoke Casserole
adapted from a recipe on MarthaStewart.com

1 lb green beans (fresh: washed and trimmed to 1-2 inch pieces or frozen: cut green beans)

2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups milk
1 can (12-14 oz) artichoke hearts in water, drained and quartered lengthwise
ground cayenne pepper
ground black pepper and kosher salt
1 small canister of French fried onions




Boil green beans in salted water until tender, drain and set aside.  In a dutch oven, melt butter, add garlic and cook until softened but not browned! Add flour and mix to make a blond roux. Add milk and bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat and allow to simmer (stirring often) until mixture has thickened. Add a dash of cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper to taste. Add green beans and artichoke hearts to the mixture and fold until well combined. Pour filling into a baking dish. Top with French fried onions, and bake at 425 F for 7-10 minutes or until filling bubbles and topping is lightly browned.

I've been working on tweaking this recipe for the last couple of weeks.  I think it's really top notch, and I'm excited to share it with the rest of my family on Christmas. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving as much as we did. I would love to hear from my readers. Please post your favorite Thanksgiving day recipe or memory.

"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." 2 Corinthians 9:11

 

Photos by Jenn Ballard

In The Mood For Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year, and it's been a super busy October for us. Deer season is in full swing, and the garden has finally frozen back.  Only the Brussels sprouts have been left behind at our house, but that doesn't mean all the produce in the area is finished.  To get ready for Halloween, my husband and I went to Washington Farms in Watkinsville, GA. This is the same you-pick farm that I wrote about previously.  It turns out that they are just as useful for pumpkins in the fall as they were for strawberries in the spring. We decorated the pumpkins in a new way, hoping they would last through Thanksgiving. Pecans are another important fall crop here in the south, and there's nothing like fresh pecans for a nice fall pie. My favorite recipe for pecan pie is my Grandmommy's. You can find it, along with her perfect pumpkin pie, in my Thanksgiving 2011 post.

 

My husband at Washington Farms; our pumpkins decorated for Halloween; and me dressed as Rosie the Riveter for a costume party. Happy Halloween everyone!

Photos by Jenn Ballard

 

In the spirit of a beautiful fall, I'm going to share another recipe that I really look forward to this time of year. It came from my Grandma Martin, and she calls it "One Dish Dinner." There are probably as many versions of a one dish dinner as there are casseroles, but the general idea is that a meat, a vegetable, and a starch are all prepared in a single dish for convenience sake.  Technically, chicken pot pie and shepherd's pie would also fall into this category, but my grandma's version is a hearty, southern take on the idea. I've tweaked it a bit, and the recipe below is my version. I think it still captures the spirit of the original dish, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do on cold fall evenings.

 

Grandma Martin's One Dish Dinner

1 lb ground beef

1 10 oz can Rotel(R) Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies

1 10 oz can tomato sauce

2 cups frozen English peas

1/4 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt, pepper, Tabasco

12 uncooked biscuits (homemade or pre-made both work - refrigerated not frozen!)

 

Directions:

Break apart and brown the ground beef in a deep skillet or dutch oven over medium to medium high heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper as it cooks. When the beef is nearly finished, add the onion and garlic. Stir frequently to prevent the garlic from burning. When the onions and garlic are soft, reduce the heat to medium low and drain the excess fat. Add the Rotel(R), tomato sauce, Tabasco sauce(R), and peas. Bring to simmer. Add more salt and pepper if desired. When ingredients are warm and well combined, place raw biscuits on top of the mixture. Cover the dish and cook for approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The meal is ready to serve when the biscuits are fluffy and the insides look done. The outside of the biscuits will not brown because of the moisture; this is normal. Serve a biscuit covered in hearty stew and enjoy!

 

"Grandma Martin's One Dish Dinner"

Photo by Jenn Ballard

 

Note: Some people don't like the texture of the biscuits cooked over the dish. This is my favorite part, but others prefer the liquid portion poured over an oven cooked biscuit. I have also used a large jar of homemade, restaurant style salsa instead of the two canned products. This works well if you have some on hand.

Late Season Crops

The tomatoes have died back, and the cool weather is arriving day by day. This has brought about a resurgence in a vegetable that I dearly love: the eggplant. This year I started two eggplants in pots. When the yellow squash died back in early summer, I moved them to the garden. They were pretty quiet most of the hot season, but now they are starting to really take off. As a result, I am forced to find new things to do with them. My traditional approach to eggplant is to make eggplant fries. These were always a great change of pace for my husband and I when we lived in Missouri  and a common request from my vegetarian friends for dinner parties.








Eggplant Fries:
1.  Slice 1-2 large eggplants (skin on) into strips (roughly 3/4 X 3/4 X 3 inch)
2.  Dip the strips into a whisked egg dredge (I did say vegetarian, not vegan)
3.  Take the strips directly from the dredge into a mixture of white corn meal, salt, ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper (proportions to taste)
4.  Drop the breaded strips into hot vegetable oil and cook until golden brown
5.  Drain on paper towels and serve
(Note: these do not reheat well so eat 'em while they're hot)

Obviously, you're not going to make eggplant fries to go with everything. So, I've had to expand my eggplant range to include a classic meal: eggplant Parmesan.  My inspiration for this recipe came from a similar recipe on http://smells-like-home.com.

Eggplant Parmesan:

2 large eggplants
4 eggs
4 cups of Panko breadcrumbs
1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1/2 Tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1 cup all-purpose flour
vegetable oil
Your favorite spaghetti sauce
fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced and pressed lightly to remove excess water

1. Wash and slice 2 large eggplants (skin on) into 1/2 inch medallions
2. Press each slice firmly between clean paper towels to release excess moisture
3. Prepare a three-step dredge with flour and 1/2 tablespoon of salt in the first bowl, whisked eggs in the second, and a mixture of bread crumbs, pepper, oregano, and remaining salt in the last bowl. Put the slices through each of the three bowls, coating well at each step
4. Using a brush or paper towel, lightly coat a baking rack with vegetable oil
5. Place breaded slices on the baking rack over a cookie sheet and bake at 425 F for 30-45 minutes, flipping over half way through
6. Allow the eggplant slices to cool slightly
7. Lightly coat the bottom of a square, glass baking dish with spaghetti sauce
8. Lay eggplant slices out in a single layer on top of the sauce
9. Spoon approximately 1 cup of sauce over the slices
10. Place a single layer of thinly sliced mozzarella over the sauce
11. Repeat the process with  eggplant, sauce, and cheese until the baking dish is full (ending with a layer of cheese on the top)
12. Bake together until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has browned (approximately 15 minutes)

This a great option for vegetarian dinner parties but still not something to make all the time. A much easier, everyday use for eggplant is to grill it as a side dish. The way I learned to do this is to wash and slice the eggplant vertically. Using a sharp knife, make partial thickness cuts to score the flesh. The cuts should be an inch apart, going vertically down the eggplant and then crossing over at 45 degrees.  Brush the cut surfaces with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and dried thyme.  Cook on a hot charcoal grill, cut side down, over indirect heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour (moving to direct heat to finish if necessary). Serve with a vinaigrette dressing and a soft, herb goat cheese.

My last eggplant experiment was a pretty lofty one. I saw the picture on http://foodgawker.com and followed the link to http://dine-dash.com. The finished product was very attractive, but pretty bland. I have some ideas for spicing it up next time. For the basic recipe, you thinly slice an eggplant and three zucchini squash.  Arrange them in a flower shape inside a pie crust with a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and thyme. Bake at 350 F for 35 to 40 minutes. I used my homemade spaghetti sauce instead of the recommended tomato sauce. It worked really well, but next time I will use more. I will also slice the vegetable pieces thinner and toss them in the olive oil, salt, and thyme for a better coating before arranging them in the pie crust.  One thing I learned pretty quick about this recipe: don't overbake it. The crust will be very light brown when it's ready. Overcooking makes the eggplant skin tough. Lastly, serve this with fresh Parmesan. I think this recipe has a lot of potential if you can make the flavor match the wow factor of the appearance.

 

 

Photos by Jenn Ballard