Tag: Cranberries

Very Berry Pie

Note: I was sent a Glass 9″ Pie Plate, a Steel Pie Server, a Double Pastry Wheel, and a 1″ Pastry Brush from OXO. All opinions are alone.
This time of year get’s crazy busy doesn’t it?  I feel like December always flies by! Before you know it, the holidays are here. And prepping for them can be tough; it’s difficult to figure out what can be made ahead of time without sacrificing quality.
This Very Berry pie recipe is here to save the day! It can be prepared ahead of time and frozen.
I call this a Very Berry Pie, because it has 5 (!) different types of berries in it: Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Strawberries and Cranberries. It uses frozen berries to make prepping even easier.
 
When ready to bake, thaw in your fridge overnight and then bake. Simple right?
Making it even more simple is the use of an OXO Glass 9″ Pie Plate. All OXO Glass Bakeware is made of thermal shock resistant borosilicate glass, so you don’t need to bring it to room temperature before adding it to your oven! (The other glass baking dishes are perfect for pre-made sides for your holiday dinners as well!)
Source: OXO.com

 

OXO has many other tools that help make preparing for the holidays even easier. You’ll see quite a few of them pop up throughout this post.
Ingredients:
For the pie crust:
  • 1 1/3 cups cold butter
  • 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup ice-cold water
  • Note: You can also buy pre-made pie crusts. I won’t tell.
For the pie filling:
  • 2 (16 oz) bags frozen mixed berries (mine had blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries)
  • 1 (16 oz) bag frozen cranberries
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top of the pie
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 egg white

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Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce

 

My house is filled with pomegranates and pomegranate arils. Being a food blogger is tough 🙂

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so I wanted to share a recipe for one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes: cranberry sauce!

This recipe uses pomegranates two ways: in a pomegranate molasses and as whole arils, or seeds. Pomegranate molasses can be found in well-stocked grocery stores or Middle Eastern food stores. But I also show you how to make it below if you so wish.

Ingredients:

Cranberry Sauce:

  • 1 bag (16 oz.) cranberries, thawed if frozen
  • 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar (or light brown sugar to make less sweet)
  • 4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (recipe below)
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 containers POM POMS Fresh Arils (about ~1.5 cups)
  • the juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

Pomegranate Molasses:

  • 2 cups pomegranate juice
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

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Holiday Nut Crunch Bark #GoNutsForNuts

** This shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias (Collective Bias, Inc.) and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. **

Is this year moving too quickly for anyone else? I cannot believe it is almost the holiday season! It’s probably a safe assumption the rest of the year is going to fly by as well, so I wanted to get a head start on the holidays now. I’ll hold off on the shopping for a few more days, but it’s never too early to try out some recipes, right? I love giving desserts as small gifts during the holiday season, and bark is a fun and simple option! This bark recipe uses one of Planter’s seasonal nut mixes, which can be found in your local Walmart. Some stores have these great Planter’s holiday displays with all of their seasonal mixes, so it’s so easy to #GoNutsForNuts!

I used Planter’s Holiday Nut Crunch for this recipe, but you could also use one of the other seasonal options, such as Planter’s Cocoa Almonds or Winter Spiced Mix. For additional inspiration, check out the Cooking Up Good website. They have recipes, sweepstakes, loyalty programs, coupons and more! What’s not to love? If you’re looking for a new dinner idea or a chance to win some awesome prizes, be sure to check it out!

Planter’s also has a Blippar app to help you find more fun recipes to try using their products. Blippar is an app that has image recognition capabilities and gives you the opportunity to interact with Planter’s brand. You can swipe through Holiday Gift Tips, take a selfie with Mr. Peanut, and browse Planter’s holiday products!

Ingredients:

  • 1 bag dark chocolate chips (~10 oz)
  • 1 bag milk chocolate chips (~11.5 oz)
  • 3/4 cups Planter’s Holiday Nut Crunch mix
  • 1/2 cup green chocolate wafers
  • 1/4 cup white chocolate wafers

Continue reading Holiday Nut Crunch Bark #GoNutsForNuts

Cherry Port Cranberry Sauce

I absolutely love cranberry sauce. This not-too-tart and not-too-sweet Thanksgiving staple is always a favorite of mine.

Now I don’t turn my nose up at the canned stuff, but this homemade version for Cherry Port Cranberry Sauce is a really simple alternative. It’s also a bit of a chunky sauce instead of the smooth canned version, so it has a really nice texture to it. Plus, it can be made in 20 minutes!

If you don’t want to use port in the recipe, you can substitute in pomegranate juice.

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups fresh cranberries (about 8 ounces)
  • 3/4 cup dried sweetened cherries
  • 3/4 cup port wine
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 

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Plum Sweet and Spicy Chicken

Certain foods just seem to be ingrained in what we thing about certain cities, countries or regions. The South is known for its barbecue (which is different state to state), Italy is known for its pasta, Philadelphia is known for its cheesesteaks… you get the idea. I was recently sent a cookbook that plays off of this idea of a region’s traditional foods: The Yankee Chef: Feel Good Food for Every Kitchen by Jim Bailey. The cookbook is filled with traditional New England fare, from pot roasts to chowder, but also gives a “Yankee” spin to other foods, such as Lobster Fried Rice.

Jim, the Yankee Chef himself (or, more appropriately, third generation Yankee Chef) fills the pages of the cookbook with background stories, tips, and a bit of humor, which had me reading the cookbook page by page. Not to mention, the photos are breathtaking! I wish my photos looked like the ones found on these pages.

I wanted to test out one of his recipes so I went for the Plum Sweet and Spicy Chicken because I don’t think I’ve ever made anything like it, and it sounds fantastic! I altered the recipe so that I didn’t have to cook a whole chicken and added some fresh seared plums to top it off. I also made a quick homemade chutney that I thought would highlight the plums in the dish.

Ingredients:

Chutney:

  • 2/3 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, divided
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 strip of orange peel
  • 1/4 cup red wine
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger
  • 1 tablespoon golden raisins
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1/2 each lemon and orange, sliced
  • the juice of the other 1/2 of the lemon and the orange
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Chicken:

  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 chicken breast and 1 leg (multiply as needed)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1/2 cup plum preserves
  • 1/4 cup cranberry-citrus chutney (recipe below)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
  • 1 plum, sliced

Continue reading Plum Sweet and Spicy Chicken

“Jim Dandy on the Cape” Cocktail

Philadelphia is a food lovers dream. The city is filled with amazing restaurants around every corner. I love living here because no matter where I go to eat, I am inspired by what the restaurants are able to deliver. I do my best to emulate my favorite dishes and drinks throughout the city, with a bit of a twist.

I recently attended a new menu launch event at Serrano. An Old City staple, Serrano has been open for over 25 years. I’ve only eaten here once before, before attending a show at Tin Angel upstairs, so I was excited to revisit the restaurant. Serrano is a cozy restaurant that’s warm atmosphere feels like miles away from the busy Old City streets.

from Serrano’s website

Chef Gina Rodriguez has compiled a truly delicious spring seasonal menu. The restaurant was also debuting two new cocktails, The 6th Thyme and Jim Dandy in the Everglades. The 6th Thyme is made with in house made mead (made with locally sourced honey), Aperol, thyme, and white cranberry juice. The drink was garnished with a sprig of thyme, a perfect spring drink. Jim Dandy in the Everglades, made with orange vodka, peach bitters, and Proscecco was refreshing and right up my alley.

The 6th Time (Left) and Jim Dandy in the Everglades (Right)

I decided to do my own spin on the Jim Dandy in the Everglades to go along with my review of Chef Rodriguez’s menu. My recipe uses a homemade cranberry-orange vodka but keeps the rest of the drink true to form. (The addition of the cranberry is why my drink references the Cape instead of the Everglades).

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Mini Cranberry-Vanilla Coffee Cakes

What is it about tiny treats that make the food taste better? I love perfectly portioned food so I was excited to be sent Petite Treats: Mini Versions of Your Favorite Baked Delights. The cookbook has recipes for mini donuts, muffins, scones, pies, and bundt cakes. The recipes sound absolutely delicious but to make most of the treats, you’ll need quite a bit of hardware: mini bunt cake pans, mini donut pans, mini scone pans, mini cupcake pans, etc. There are a few recipes that use a normal muffin pan that sounded really appealing, including mini cakes, but I decided to make the mini coffee cakes so I could have breakfast all week.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries (I used frozen cranberries, thawed)
  • 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter,at room temperature, divided
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

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Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce

It isn’t Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce. We’ve always had the canned cranberry sauce at my Thankgivings growing up; I honestly believed the ridges from the can were there so I knew where to cut. I am all for the canned version, but I thought I’d attempt to make a homemade version in my slow cooker. I based it slightly off of Cooking Light’s Classic Cranberry Sauce but changed up a few ingredients and the method of cooking.

Ingredients:

  • 1 12 ounce package of cranberries
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup port wine
  • 1/2 cup orange juice (or 3 oranges, squeezed)
  • 1 tablespoon zest (also about 3 oranges)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • a dash (1/8 tsp or smaller) allspice

Continue reading Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce

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