Thanksgiving – Three Berries in One Wonderful Cranberry Sauce

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blueberries, blueberry, Pioneer Woman, raspberries, raspberry, very berry cranberry sauce

One of the things you can do a couple days in advance of the holiday is make your cranberry sauce. I’ll admit that I have often used canned cranberry sauce, because I had yet to find a homemade recipe that made the work of making from scratch worthwhile. That definitely changed after I made this last year!

I recently watched the TV special Pioneer Woman’s Ultimate Thanksgiving again. One of the recipes she shared on that special was Very Berry Cranberry Sauce. I made this recipe last year and my husband and I agree; YUMMMMM! It will definitely be gracing our Thanksgiving table again this year!

It has the usual tangy flavor and bright color that you would expect from cranberry sauce, but this sauce sports more than just cranberries! It also has raspberries, blueberries and a surprise ingredient. Whiskey!!! I was worried that the whiskey would overpower the fruit flavors, but that was not the case at all! That flavor is really not distinctive, it blends in to simply make a great, fruity tasting sauce! The 3 different berries are what really make it!

So thanks to Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman! I would like to share her recipe.

Very Berry Cranberry Sauce

2 bags fresh cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup whiskey (I used Jack Daniels)
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries
Put the first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan and stir. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. When boiling, lower heat to low and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining berries and cook for an additional 4 minutes. I noticed a lot of whole cranberries still, so I used my potato masher to gently mash it a little and break up the berries. Remove from heat, cool and refrigerate until cold and thick.
The original recipe says it makes 24 servings. I can believe it’s that many small servings. It makes quite a bit.
Super simple and it tastes fantastic! 
Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dish – Sweet Potatoes and Apples

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side dish, Sweet Potatoes and Apples, Thanksgiving, vegan, vegetable, vegetarian

About 20 years ago (man, I’m old!), I was at an office potluck and a co-worker of mine brought the most wonderful sweet potato dish. Keep in mind, prior to this I did not like sweet potatoes. My mom didn’t cook them much at all growing up, so my only exposure was that dish where they’re covered in marshmallows and to top it off, I don’t like marshmallows much either! Anyway, this dish my coworker brought was both sweet and savory. In addition to the sweet potatoes, there were apples in the dish.

I asked her for the recipe and she said she didn’t have it. Her mother had made the dish for her to bring, so I asked her to please ask her mom for the recipe. She comes back into work and tells me that her mom won’t give her the recipe. It’s a “secret” family recipe. What’s a girl gotta do to get that stinkin’ recipe!?! Thanksgiving was coming and my friend said that her mom would make those sweet potatoes every year, so I gave her marching orders to hover around her mother and take copious notes. Well she came through!!!

This dish has been a family favorite for the last 20 years and it always gets rave reviews when I share it with others. I’ve taken it to a few church potlucks and the such.

Not only is this dish delicious, it’s also pretty darn easy to make. Nothing complicated, but the flavors come together wonderfully! The recipe I have is pretty rough and these days I usually just make it from memory. It’s kind of a vegetable lasagna as you’re simply layering the ingredients and it’s easy to increase/decrease the recipe based on how many people you’re feeding. I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do!

Sweet Potatoes and Apples

4-5 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in half, short-ways

2 – 15 oz cans apple pie filling
Butter or margarine
Brown sugar
1 tbsp Brandy
Place sweet potatoes and 1 tbsp brandy into large pot of water making sure to cover potatoes. Bring to a boil and let boil for about 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove potatoes from hot water and slice into ½ inch slices. Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray and spread one layer of sweet potatoes, then thinly cover this with a layer of pie filling (about ½ can or more if you need it), spoon dots of butter over apples about a teaspoon or so 2-3 inches apart. You just want them spread apart. Then sprinkle about 1/3 cup brown sugar. Now repeat these layers. I usually try to end with the brown sugar on top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes until warmed through and bubbly. If you’re making a bigger batch, it may need to cook longer.
You really can’t go wrong with the amounts of the ingredients, so play with it and see what looks good to you. It’s amazing how much flavor that little bit of brandy in the water adds!

Thanksgiving Dutch Apple Pie – A Traditional Favorite

Tags

baking, dessert, Dutch Apple Pie, Thanksgiving, vegan, vegetaria

Yesterday I was a baking fool! First I made cranberry pecan muffins. These were only so-so, so I won’t burden you with that recipe! BUT then, I went on to bake an apple pie and chicken pot pie. Now these two recipes are worth sharing! Today I’ll start with the Dutch Apple Pie. This was my first time ever baking an apple pie! I decided to keep it basic and use a frozen ready made pie shell and went with a dutch topping, instead of crust. The pie was fairly easy to make and it was delicious!!! If you’re looking for a pie to serve at your Thanksgiving dinner, this is an easy version that can fit into your busy cooking schedule. Pies even freeze pretty well, so you can make it ahead and freeze for the big day.

Now I say this was pretty easy, but this is coming from a girl who was blessed to receive a Kitchen Aid spiralizer for Christmas last year. This particular spiralizer has a spiral slicing blade along with a peeling blade, so I did not have to peel and slice 8 cups of apples! Having to do this manually would make this pie more time consuming to make. If you don’t have a Kitchen Aid mixer, but you think you might make this more if you didn’t have to peel and slice apples consider investing in an hand crank apple peeler/corer that attaches to a table. We have an antique one of these and they work great!

Lastly, I cannot take credit for this recipe. This is a Betty Crocker recipe minus the portion to make your own pie crust. I substituted a frozen pie shell.

Dutch Apple Pie

1 frozen pie shell (set out and let thaw for 10-15 minutes)

Filling

8 cups peeled and sliced apples (I used about 5 medium sized apples)

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Preheat ove to 400 degrees. In large bowl, toss Filling ingredients. Pour into pie plate, mounding apples toward center.

In medium bowl, use pastry blender or fingers to mix butter, 1 cup flour and the brown sugar until a crumb forms. Sprinkle evenly over top of pie. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon granulated sugar on top.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until pie crust and crumb topping are deep golden brown and filling begins to bubble. Transfer to cooling rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Garden Fresh Salsa – The Perfect Use for Tomatoes From Your Garden!

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fresh, salsa, tomato, vegan, vegetarian, zucchini

One of my favorite foods in the world is salsa!!! And it gets even better when it’s made with tomatoes fresh from your own garden! If you’ve never grown you own tomatoes, you need to give it a try! Store bought tomatoes have a fraction of the flavor as home grown. I had lot of tomatoes on the vine. I had originally planted them with the intention of making marinara sauce, but salsa was calling to me!!! This recipe is easy to make. It just involves some chopping, but it is worth the effort! It is so flavorful and when you’re making your own you can adjust the heat level to your liking. You can’t beat the flavors of salsa made with fresh, garden grown tomatoes, cilantro and peppers!!!

I find the salsa is best made ahead and allowed to chill in the fridge. Letting the salsa rest a few hours to a day, allows all the flavors to mingle and blend together nicely.

Healthy tip: For me it’s all about the salsa! The chips are a vehicle to shovel the salsa in my mouth. Another vehicle I use is sliced zucchini. I put my mandolin slicer to work and slice up a bunch. It’s a great alternative for all kinds of dips.

Garden Fresh Tomato Salsa

4 cups tomatoes, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

Salt

Pepper

Seasoned salt

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Juice of 1 lime

1/2 tsp Red pepper flakes

1 clove garlic, diced or pressed

1 1/2 Serrano chilies, seeded and diced very finely

1 tbsp olive oil

In a bowl, mix tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lime juice, red pepper flakes. In a sauce pan, saute garlic and chilies in olive oil until slightly browned. Add garlic and chilies to other ingredients in bowl and stir well. Store in fridge for several hours before serving. You can eat immediately, but the flavor is better if allowed to mingle a bit.

Enjoy!

Grilled Watermelon – You Threw What on the Grill???

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barbecue, fruit, Grilled watermelon, Grilling, melon, vegan, vegetarian

OK, I’m new to the grilling fruit concept!!! I realize this might not be ground-breaking news to some of you, but I thought I would share this for those of you that are like me and are late to the party. I was recently introduced to the idea of grilling watermelon on one of the many TV cooking shows I watch. We were barbecuing and had some watermelon on hand, so I thought we should try it. It was very good!!! The sugar in the watermelon carmelized a bit changing the texture and the barbeue adds a smokey flavor. It was delicious!!!

There is definitely still a place in my heart for ice cold watermelon!!!  But those watermelons are pretty big, so throw some of the slices on the grill and give it a try!!!

You really only have to grill them a couple of minutes on each side, depending on how hot your grill is. I just cooked them until I had some decent grill marks.

Enjoy! For all my U.S. Readers, I hope you have a safe and wonderful 4th of July weekend!

Ratatouille with Black Beans and Zucchini – A Healthy Choice as a Side Dish or Main

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Black Beans, main dish, onion, Ratatouille, side dish, tomatoes, vegan, vegetarian, zucchini

It’s that time of year here in California where the zucchini is in great form and is plentiful! I had some beautiful, organic zucchini and wanted to do something a little different with it. I decided to make something with beans rather than the typical potato, rice or pasta side dish. This ratatouille like dish that I threw together hit the spot! It had a variety of flavors highlighted by fresh, organic veggies and herbs. It was the perfect side dish to our barbecued chicken. 

You could also make it with a little more sauce and serve it over rice or pasta as a vegetarian main dish. Leave out the Parmesan cheese and you have a satisfying Vegan dish!

Ratatouille with Black Beans and Zucchini

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (Tip: Fresh cooked beans would taste the best or you can go the quick route and use canned, like I did. To reduce the salt in canned beans, be sure to rinse them well.)

3 zucchini, sliced

3 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 medium red onion, diced

3 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (or you can use dried)

1 tsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 tbsp garlic infused olive oil (or use regular olive oil and add a clove of fresh garlic to the mixture.)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Add olive oil to large saute pan or wok. Heat over medium heat. Add all ingredients and saute until onions and zucchini soften. I like my zucchini more on the al dente side. Top with Parmesan cheese just before serving.

Enjoy!

Quick red cabbage sauerkraut

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Pickles, Sauerkraut, Sides, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian

Our family just loves red cabbage sauerkraut, but I’ve never made it myself. Gonna have to give this recipe a try! This was originally shared by another food blogger. 

It’s very evident from the changes in food on these pages that I am susceptible to food fads and trends. Just this weekend, we put our juicer out for the council collection as green smoothies have faded out of our diets.  Our kitchen now has evidence of embracing (perhaps a bit after the fact) fermentation […]

http://beachkitchen.com.au/2016/05/15/quick-red-cabbage-sauerkraut/

Fresh Beets with Blood Orange, Raspberry, Wine Sauce – I’m a Beetliever!!!

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beets, blood orange, raspberry, red wine, vegan, vegetarian

  I have never liked beets! They are one of those foods I keep trying, because everyone else seems to like them. Beet salads have been popular. Tried one and didn’t like it. But I have seen the light!!! I saw a cooking show (Don’t remember which one. Yes, I watch too many!) where the chef cooked fresh beets in a blood orange and red wine sauce. This really appealed to me. I took a peak on the Internet to see if I could find the actual recipe, which I could not, but I found another recipe that also involved raspberry vinegar and a light bulb went off! I just happened to have all these ingredients and guess who likes beets now?!?

My husband and older daughter love the typical pickled beets that people put on salads. I can’t stand those! I got some fresh beets in a recent organic produce delivery and right about that time I saw this cooking show with a movie theme. One of the chefs had the horror movie theme and decided to make a bloody red beet dish. This is what inspired my recipe.

With this dish you still get the beet flavor, but with an incredibly tasty sauce. The dish was served warm, but the beets still had a good texture to them. They weren’t too mushy and not too crunchy. Just right!

Fresh Beets with Blood Orange, Raspberry and Wine Sauce

2 blood oranges, juiced

1 tbsp raspberry vinegar (Thanks to my friend Rachel for the home made raspberry vinegar!!!)

1/3 cup red wine

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp thyme

3 large beets, peeled and cut into a large dice

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp raspberry pecan vinaigrette 

Whisk together first 6 ingredients in a skillet and bring to a simmer. While this is simmering, peel and cut up beets, and then add to the skillet. Cover and simmer on medium low for 30-40 minutes until tender. I had to cook mine little longer than expected and the liquid started drying up, so I added the water and vinaigrette. I didn’t want to just add more vinegar and have that over power them. Basically, keep them moist and simmer until tender, but not mushy!

There were other people at dinner that were on the fence about beets that loved this dish. If in doubt, give it a try!!! I served them warm, but I think these would also be good chilled and served with a green salad.

Broccoli and turnip soup

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Broccoli, Green, healthy, low-fat, soup, turnip, vegan, vegetarian

 

This recipe comes from another blogger. I thought it looked like a great spring soup. It could even be served with Easter dinner. I love the color! And this recipe can easily be adapted to be a vegan dish.

Though I have not posted anything for a while, I keep cooking and taking photos when I try new recipes. I am now working (it’s been already a year and a half!) and I don’t have much time for innovation but now and then I cook new stuff. This winter, I started to cook soups. This […]

https://petitefrenchy.wordpress.com/2016/03/19/broccoli-and-turnip-soup/

Warm Greek Quinoa Salad – Going Meat-free Tonight and Loving it!

Tags

Artichoke Hearts, Bulgar, Cooking, Food, Goat Cheese, kalamata olives, quinoa, recipe, vegan, vegetarian

 

Once again, I had a major learning experience in the kitchen. In dreaming up this recipe, I thought I would buy some good goat cheese rather than the feta in a plastic bowl that I usually buy. I’m here to tell you Feta Cheese does NOT = Goat Cheese. This fabulous ingredient is just one in the symphony that made this dish sing! This was a vegetarian dish that was bursting with flavor! We ate it warm, but it would be great served chilled as well. The expected Greek flavors of kalamata olives and goat cheese, were complimented by artichoke hearts and fresh, organic spring onions. The quinoa/bulgar mix made it a hearty dish that was very satisfying.

Tip: If you’re looking to cut fat and calories, canned artichoke hearts are a great ingredient! These canned hearts are usually packed in water. Their counterparts in glass jars are usually packed in oil. Of course, if you’re cooking your own artichokes you can totally control the fat content! 

You can easily adapt this into a vegan dish by leaving off the cheese. It would still taste great, but the cheese definitely adds  great flavor!

Warm Quinoa Salad

8.8 oz of quinoa or bulgar/quinoa mix

4 oz cherry tomatoes, halved

1 can artichoke hearts, quartered

2 spring onions, sliced

5 oz kalamata olives, sliced

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp Garlic olive oil

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

Salt and pepper

2 oz goat cheese, crumbled (See tip below)

Fill a large sauce pan with water and bring to a boil. Add quinoa or bulgar mix, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Half way through the cook time, sauté next 5 ingredients in garlic olive oil over medium heat. When quinoa is doing cooking, drain in a sieve and then add o sautéed vegetables. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper and stir well. Scoop up servings on plates and sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.

Tip: I found the goat cheese to be very soft and sticky, so it was difficult to crumble. I put the cheese in the freezer for a few minutes and it hardened enough so that it crumbled much easier. Only put it in the freezer for a FEW minutes though! It hardens up very fast.

Enjoy!