Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

This marks my first attempt at biscotti. Why until now? I have no idea. I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it came together. The recipe reminded me a lot of an Irish soda bread, sliced and baked a second time. This particular fruit and nut combo I chose to pair with the citrus-y Belgian-style beer pictured. Though they work equally well with coffee or tea. A chocolate hazelnut version may be in the near future.

 These cookies would be a treat on Christmas morning with a steaming cup of coffee. Bright red cranberries and a hint of green from the pistachios keep them dressed up for the season.

Adapted from Kristen Jenkins’ recipe for Donna Hay Magazine

Yields about 80 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• ¾ c sugar
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp orange zest
• 1 c dried cranberries
• 1 c shelled, unsalted pistachios

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 325 F
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla and zest, beating until just combined. Fold in the cranberries and pistachios.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
• Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll each portion into a log, about 10 inches long. Flatten slightly. Transfer both loaves to a parchment baking sheet.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until firm.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Once cool, cut each loaf into ¼ inch slices using a serrated knife. Arrange slices on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake 8-0 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets.

IPA Cranberry Sauce

photo by Heather Hanson

Nix the canned cranberry sauce this year and make this homemade sauce using your favorite IPA! IPAs can become even more bitter when boiled or reduced, so I chose add it at the end. This late addition allows the more delicate hops flavors and aromas to shine through. IPAs with citrus, floral or tropical fruit notes work best with the tart cranberries. Please celebrate responsibly. The alcohol does not cook out of this one. While there is not enough beer included to get anyone tipsy, do take care to inform guests that alcohol is included in the dish.

the recipe is my own

serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 – 12 oz package fresh or frozen whole cranberries
• ¾ cup water
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tsp orange zest
• ½ cup IPA

Preparation

• In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat combine the water and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
• Add the cranberries and orange zest. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the berries burst and the sauce is thickened, about 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in the beer. 
• Serve warm or chill until ready to serve.

Creamy Barley and Cranberry Salad

Barley...not just for beer...

Summer is fast approaching, though with our chilly evenings and rainy days it's a bit hard to believe.  With summer comes a plethora of backyard barbeques and picnics.  Grills are going full throttle and dishes arrive by the bowlful to pass.  Pasta salads will certainly be in over abundance, as usual.

Change it up.

This salad is not that unfamiliar.  But the barley is an unsuspected twist.

adapted from a recipe by Bryan Marcel

serves 6

The Ingredients:
½ cup uncooked pearl barley
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 stalks celery, diced
½ cup dried cranberries 
2 small carrots, julienned
4 cups mixed greens (mesclun, frisee, radicchio, red and green oak leaf, etc)

The Process:
In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of lightly salted water to a boil.  Add the barley, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 25 minutes or until the barley is tender and the water is absorbed.  Spread the barley in a single on a baking sheet to cool.

Meanwhile whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, oil, mustard, salt, and pepper.   Fold in the celery, cranberries, and carrots. Add the cooled barley and toss to coat.

Serve over mixed greens.

Drunken Cranberry Apple Pie

After all of that starchy glorious food from Thanksgiving dinner, what better way can you think to end the day than with a slice of pie, a cup of coffee and a table sprawled with board games.

Mom graciously brought up a praline pumpkin pie.  I'm still coaxing her for the recipe.  I do not believe I can go back to regular pumpkin pie after that treat.

And this apple pie.  This pie may have ruined me for any other apple pies down the road.  Go figure it was inspired by one of Jackie's concoctions at the Beeroness.  Her apple pie still out shines this variation.  She uses a cheddar cheese pie crust.  You laugh.  If you spend anytime in Wisconsin, you would know.  Apple pie and cheddar cheese go hand in hand.  Trust me.

What makes this pie so special, besides the cranberries?  The apples marinade in beer for an added boozy boost.

Enjoy!

Inspired by Jackie's recipe at theBeeroness.com

The Ingredients:
recipe for dbl pie crust
6 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 cups cranberries
16 oz pale ale or wheat beer, I used Futhermore's Fallen Apple
2 lemons, juiced
2 tbs flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp corn starch
2 Tbsp melted butter

The Process:
Place the apples, lemon juice and 16 ounces of beer in a bowl and allow to soak at room temperature for 2 hours, tossing every half hour to redistribute. Remove the apples from the beer and allow to drain and dry for about 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl combine the apples, cranberries, flour, salt, spices, sugars and corn starch.  Toss to coat and set aside.

Roll out half of the pie dough, line in a  pie pan and press into shape, removing any excess. Add the filling.

Roll out the second disk of pie dough and add to the top of your pie.  Crimp the top and bottom crusts together.  Cut holes to vent steam.  Or try a lattice top.

Brush crust with melted butter.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Allow to cool before slicing.

Port Cranberry Sauce

As I mentioned in an early post, it's not really Thanksgiving dinner without the cranberry sauce.  The roasted beet cranberry sauce didn't' go over so well with Ross a few weeks back, but this one was a hit.

Perhaps is was the alcohol...

adapted from Food & Wine

yields about 2 cups

The Ingredients:

1/2 cup ruby port
Three 1-by-3-inch strips of orange zest, cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
3 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar 

The Process:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the port, orange zest and orange juice and bring to a boil. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.  Stir in the cranberries and reduce heat to low.    Simmer until the cranberries burst and the sauce is jam-like, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve warm or at room temperature.  

Roasted Beet and Cranberry Sauce

Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  Grocery stores are pushing their turkeys and hams.  Pie filling, stuffing, spices, cranberry sauce, yams, and other assorted staples burst off of the end caps.  All around the country households are planning their traditional family dinner.  I suspect most read something like this:

Roast turkey
pan gravy
sage and onion stuffing
mashed potatoes
corn
sweet potato casserole
green bean casserole
dinner rolls
pumpkin pie

and of course, cranberry sauce

There must always be cranberry sauce.  

Ross and I have had a tift or two over the proper sauce to serve at Thanksgiving.  I like mine from scratch.  Chunky and spiked with citrus and cinnamon.  And Ross...his prefers from a can.  Homogenous.  Jellied.  And preferably in the ringed log that slides out of the can with a satisfying plop.  We usually compromise.  I make the sauce.  He gets a can of jellied goo to himself.

So knowing a can of cranberry sauce may be close I had, I don't feel so bad for serving this version up.  He'd turn his nose up at the beets anyway.

This cranberry sauce has a very subtle sweetness.  It is far more tart than many other sauces, but feel free to up the honey if you prefer yours a little sweeter.  The beets add an earthy sweetness to balance the tart berries.  The citrus cuts through a bit.  Pecans lend a wonderful toasted crunch to the texture and a dollop of creme fraiche or a sprinkling of soft goat cheese offers a wonderful smoothness that mellows and blends the other flavors.

adapted from a recipe courtesy of Driftless Organics

serves 4-5

The Ingredients:
5-7 small beets
1 Tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 orange, juice and zest
3 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup toasted pecans
1 oz soft goat cheese or creme fraiche

The Process:
Preheat the oven to 400.  Scrub the beets thoroughly.  Trim the tops and root tips away, do not peel.   Cut the beets into wedges.  Toss with oil, salt and pepper and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast 30-40 minutes until the beets are tender and the outsides are beginning to caramelize.  Set aside to cool.

In a small saucepan, combine the cranberries, orange juice, zest, honey and cinnamon.  Stir and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries begin to burst, 1about 10-15 minutes.  For a less chunky sauce, allow to cook about 5 minutes longer and gently mash the berries with the back of a spoon.  Add the roasted beets and stir to combine.  Transfer to a serving bowl and allow to cool slightly.

Sprinkle with pecans and cheese just prior to serving.

Cranberry Crumble Bars

Need a brief reprieve from all that sugar.  Icing laden sugar cookies, candy studded gignerbread and sugar dusted snikcerdoodles seem to dominate many a holiday table.  Very the smell of the confections is enough to send you into a sugar coma! 

These bars offer a slight break from the holiday hyperglycemia.  They are rich and buttery, slightly sweet and topped with a wonderfully tart cranberry layer. 

adapted from Smitten Kitchen via The Baker Chick.

Yields 24 bars

The Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
Zest of one orange
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
4 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup white sugar
4 tsp cornstarch

The Process:
Preheat the oven to 375. Generously grease a 9×13 inch pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar,  flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and orange zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg.  The  dough will be very crumbly. Press half of dough into the prepared pan.

In another bowl, stir together the 2/3 cup sugar, cornstarch and orange juice and cinnamon. Gently fold in the cranberries. Sprinkle the cranberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the cranberries.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

The Review:
I brought these along with me to a friend's family gathering on Christmas Eve.  Everyone who tried the bars absolutely loved them!  The bars come together very quickly and were consumed almost as fast.  The crust and topping is  very basic and almost short bread like.  The crumbliness of it frustrated me at first, but these were far less stressful to make than the endless rolling and cutting of sugar cookies.

I imagine the simple buttery flavor of the dough would lend itself well to other fruit combinations.  Smitten Kitchen recipe original recipe used blueberries.  I imagine a raspberry,  bourbon peach, cardamom plum or lingonberry apple would be equally divine!