Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

After Benjamin Franklin, my favorite 'American Eccentric' has always been Tasha Tudor (1915-2008).

At a certain point, Tasha appears to have decided that she should have lived - and should always live - in the early 19th Century. She proceeded to build a long lifetime in accord with that ideal, wearing the clothing of that era, cooking and house-holding as a woman would have done then, even learning to roast a turkey in a 'tin oven' before a fire; and devoting herself to country life, art, hand-crafts, gardening, and animals. She is famous for her artwork and illustrated books for children; but her inner life was much larger than that; and she believed in, and exemplified, Thoreau's advice in 'Walden':

"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours..."

Among the many lovely things that Tasha left us are a number of recipes; and one of my favorites is her Cranberry Sauce recipe, a very simple one found in 'The Tasha Tudor Cookbook'. I actually bought an antique yellow-ware mold with an ear of corn carved in it, so that I could make this recipe exactly as Tasha did; the only problem is that I'm the only one in my circle who really LIKES Cranberry Sauce; so I don't get to make it very often.

This has always unmolded for me very nicely:

Cranberry Sauce Tasha Tudor

2 pounds fresh Cranberries

2 Cups cold Water, approximately

2 Pounds Sugar

Place the cranberries in a large saucepan and add enough cold water to not quite cover the berries when they are pressed down. Add the sugar. Bring to a simmer and skim off the foam occasionally. Cook the cranberries until their juice jells when it is dropped on a cold plate.

Pour into a mold and chill overnight.

To remove the sauce from the mold, gently run a paring knife around the edge, dip the mold in hot water for a moment, and then invert it onto a platter. Yields approximately 1-1/2 quarts.

If you are interested, here is a short video of Tasha which shows her in her garden and house, and showcases some of her artwork (the narration is in Japanese; she has had a very strong 'cult' following among the Japanese):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zU-15to8d4

________________________________________________

Some years ago, I heard people raving about a seasonal offering at Starbucks: Cranberry Bliss bars. I don't think Starbucks still offers this; but it looks very nice. Here is a copycat recipe that I found and want to try during the holidays:

http://www.food.com/recipe/cranberry-bliss-bars-starbucks-copycat-203229

[trisham]

I’m not a fan of Stevia, because it does have carbs, and what I consider an unpleasant aftertaste.

Spenda has a baking option that comes in a yellow bag.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Trivia!

Early settlers called these red berries “crane berries” after the Sand Hill cranes that were pervasive in the new country at the time. Sand HIll cranes have a red top knot. Somewhere along the way, they dripped the e, and the word became cranberry. I gleaned that bit of trivia from a special on the Sand Hill crane a few weeks ago.

[Liz]

Pioneer Woman’s Cranberry Sauce

Cook fresh crans, maple syrup, cran juice, oj, grated orange zest.

[Jamestown1630]

I didn’t know that! Thank You!

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

She made a pretty good living, by living her dream! At death, her estate was valued at 2M; and she had apparently already given away at least that much.

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

If you’ve ever had a UTI, and your Naturopath told you to drink plain, unsweetened Cranberry juice - the real stuff, from a health-food store - You KNOW what Cranberries taste like ;-)

-JT

[Aliska]

I made these several times last winter but I don't remember putting the orange in, must have done something. I didn't like the topping so I used the oatmeal topping one for the Honey Peach Muffins with Oat Streusel Topping which look delish but I haven't made them yet. Could rehydrate some dried apricots and maybe substitute those.

I cut the cranberries in half and reserve well I will use one cup. One half to go into the batter, halved, and 1/2 to place on top of the streusel cut side up. You won't regret making these.

If I don't have buttermilk, I use sour milk up to about 4 days, or can use sour cream thinned with milk or plain yogurt. I improvise a lot.

I can't wait to stock up on bags of cranberries for the freezer although I could used the dried, soaked in cold water.

Another trick I do is I like this store brand just add water pancake mix, don't measure, just stir up enough to fit my smaller fry pan, 10-inch I think. Makes a plate-sized pancake. I use a big spatula to flip it, sometimes miss by just a little. After I put the batter in the hot oiled pan (I use a little butter and margaring, don't recommend olive oil), I add a liberal amount of washed rinsed drained frozen cranberries, don't bother to thaw. Then when you flip them, the cranberries will start popping. I love that sound! Then I use the cheaper syrup with liberal real butter. Yum.

Orange Cranberry Buttermilk Muffins

Honey Peach Muffins with Oat Streusel Topping

I saved both these recipes so if you have trouble copying them, let me know and I'll post them with attribution. Sometimes when I embed a photo, the site doesn't like it and munges it away. I always save a photo with recipes I copy from the web, have quite a collection now.

[Jamestown1630]

Thanks, Aliska; I followed the links and saved. It looks very good!

-JT

[Liz]

Cranberry confection is a nice garnish ---or sweet holiday snack.

Sugared Cranberries

METHOD Stir/dissolve 1/2 cup ea/water sugar over med 2-3 min. Stir in / coat well
12 oz bag fresh cranberries. Liftout to wire rack; let dry 1-2 hours. Working in
batches, roll cranberries in 1 1/2 cups sugar until well coated; let dry for 1-2 hours.

[Aliska]

I also make a cranberry red raspberries from frozen relish, will post the instructions if anybody wants to try that. It is so much better and prettier red than the canned (which I eat all year). I improvised that, put it through my Foley food mill, a seed or two gets thru.

It needs an extra stir before it sets or sometimes the thicker part rises to the top and it's a little too thin in the bottom. Little kids love it though. It looks so pretty in my mom's cut glass bowl.

Maybe I need to get some pectin and use a little? Not sure. Cranberries by themselves have enough pectin and will set up perfectly; my mom made the plain kind every Thanksgiving.

And you're welcome and good luck. I was never much of a muffin fan, but I crave the cranberry ones and also some banana streusel ones that are the top hits on one of the big recipe sites, food.com, allrecipes, can't remember.

[surroundedbyblue]

I use liquid stevia drops and sometimes stevia glycerate that doesn’t have the aftertaste. Also, for powdered, I’ve switched to erythitol. Splenda contains maltodextrin which can spike blood sugars as high as regular sugar. Truvia contains the same.

[Jamestown1630]

Please post. I love raspberries, too.

-JT

[Conservative4Ever]

My mother taught me this very recipe for cranberry sauce. She even had a certain cut crystal bowl reserved for this one dish for one day of use. Thanksgiving dinner was a serious and formal business in my youth. I loved every bit of it.

[Nea Wood]

Sounds like my kind of recipe...easy, and not too many ingredients! I’ve saved it to try. Thanks!

[Califreak]

Cranberry upside down cake is good.

Also like to make orange budt cake with cranberries and walnuts

[Jamestown1630]

I think it’s probably a very old, very basic American recipe.

My memories of Thanksgiving are serious, too; but mixed with a lot of pleasure, as yours are.

Happy Upcoming Thanksgiving! :-)

=JT

[Aliska]

I'm ordering some food from Walmart, free shipping on orders over $50. I called our Supermart tonight, and they said they were "having an incident" so she would go and look for the tomatoes for me (I posted a photo last week). They didn't have any so I found a different brand online made in Italy of the same plum tomatoes. A lot of stuff they won't ship or you have to buy in bulk amounts that I don't need. But I did order six cans, the lg fruit size, of the tomatoes.

The tomatoes are $3.48 a can (more than what I usually buy), but amazon wants over $5 a can. So I only buy grocery items there as a last resort. Don't you have recipes that call for something exoticc or unusual? I just thought I will look for this special Chinese chili sauce I need. Everything around here is Taiwanese now.

Sorry I never wrote it down. Try the single version first (I think I doubled it once but would have been more than that one bowl I use. 1 pkg std size fresh cranberries, 1 frozen red raspberries sweetened in juice (if can find, otherwise adjust sugar. The amt of water it calls for on the Ocean Spray Cranberry package for the jellied - not the one with skins.

You cook, watch and stir until it reaches the jelly stage but not too far. It would be the same as for the plain sauce. Put through a Foley food mill and put in pretty bowl, cool, refrigerate.

If you don't still use a Foley food mill, you can probably process 1/2 or so at a time in your food processor and put through a strainer. Too fine, and it might trap the pulp. Also a food processor might grind up the seeds which I wouldn't want.

Later I will look on the web and see if anybody has made it. Walmart crashed on me lol. You are pretty experienced so you may do a better job with it than I did. No need to add food coloring..

[kalee]

Cranberry Orange Jam I recently got this recipe from a friend.

2 bags (12 ounces each), fresh or frozen
2 cups sugar
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons orange zest
1 cup water
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Place all ingredients in a stockpot and bring to a boil.Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 to 30 minutes uncovered, stirring frequently to help remove water, until mixture is a little thinner than jam (mixture will thicken more as it cools).

Remove from heat and mash well with a potato masher, until all cranberries are in small bits.

Keep in an airtight container in refrigerator for 3 to 4 weeks.

[Conservative4Ever]

Considering my age and it having been a recipe my Mother used, it is indeed an old basic recipe. LOL. They were indeed happy times.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, also.

[doorgunner69]

My wife makes a bodacious cranberry sauce with brandy worth waiting all year for.

That the remaining brandy and any rum go down nice with eggnog is another issue.

Costco has had a delicious cranberry bread recently I was surprised that I enjoyed, like a better flavored raisin bread when toasted.