Mulled Wine Cranberry Sauce

This may be the second time I've made it, though perhaps the first time documenting it as a blog post. The recipe ratio comes from Bon Appetit November 2005 issue. The amount of wine was too much; the end result tasted too much like boiled wine with cranberries. Also, the amount of sugar was too low; this made the sauce not only taste like wine, but like wine with sour cranberries. And, the orange fruit segments did nothing for the sauce; and added too much texture. My corrections are noted below. I wouldn't necessarily say that I have adapted the recipe, more like I am fixing it's glaring mistakes. I'm not sure that the variety of dry red wine has anything to do with the flavor; after all, this is just a condiment the roast turkey. Cranberry sauces are typically pumped full of sugar (to balance the tartness of the fresh cranberries). I am ambivalent about how this sauce came out. The wine drinkers that sampled it on T-day were pleased with how it tasted and there was a lot of it leftover.

The additional sugar depends on how sour/tart the sauce tastes to you. It may need more or none at all.

Wine used: Woodbridge Merlot

Ingredients

2 navel oranges
One 12-oz bag of fresh cranberries, washed and picked over
6 oz dry red wine
2/3 c brown sugar + up to 1/3 c granulated unbleached cane sugar
2 tbsp crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmet

Directions

1. Zest oranges with a fine grater, then juice the oranges.

2. In a medium-sized sauce pan, combine whole cranberries, orange juice, orange zest, wine, sugar, ginger, and spices. Bring to a boil then simmer over low-medium heat until most of the cranberries burst, about 20 minutes, and the sauce has thickened slightly.

2a. Taste the sauce. It is too sour, add more sugar.

3. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Cool to room temperature. Cover and chill until ready to use; or serve warm.

Kitchen Notes:

• This ratio is terrible. Came out tasting very sour and winey.
• The original 1 1/2 c dry red wine was too much liquid.
• Do not make again (note to self).

AB Marinated Olives

These turned out tasting quite nice after a few days. I was initially concerned because of how salty the olives were after I drained them and let the olives sit in filtered water for a half hour. AB recommends up to 5 hours in water, but I didn't really have the time nor patience. I used a Cambro quart container for this because unlike the quart-size yogurt containers, Cambro containers are see-through and you can always tell how things are going without having to open the container. Except for the tarragon, everything else comes from Trader Joe's.

Recipe source: Citrus Marinated Olives

Ingredients

1 lb green olives with pits (2 jars Picholine Olives from Trader Joe's), drained and rinsed
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil (a good quality olive oil for eating)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried tarragon leaves
1/4 tsp curry powder

Directions

0. Soak the olives in clean water for up to 5 hours. This may reduce the saltiness of the olives; but after a half hour, the olives were just as salty as when it came out of the jar.

1. Combine all the ingredients in a quart container. Shake or stir the olives to make sure all the olives get covered by the marinade.

2. Let the olives sit, covered, for a day in a cool dark place. Refrigerate 1-2 days before serving. (The coldest "dark" place is my refrigerator; then at the house for T-day, the coldest place was the garage).

(not smoked) Salmon and Cream Cheese Spread

I like smoked salmon, as a luxury treat to eat on its own. This recipe does not use smoked salmon. Instead, it relies on no-salt added canned salmon and the convenience of a food processor. By way of food storage laziness, I found cream cheese takes on a crumbled cheese texture when thawed after having been frozen solid.

Ingredients

One 6 oz can TJ boneless pink salmon, drained
8 oz cream cheese, frozen then thawed
1/2 c cheddar cheese, grated
2 small dill pickles, diced

Directions

Whirl it all around in a food processor until a well combined paste forms. Scoop it all out and put into a resealable container. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Strangely enough, the cheddar cheese gives the spread a classic light pinkish-orange color.

Buttermilk Waffles with Bacon

Because bacon makes everything taste better, even waffles. The fact that the waffle maker was a $2 garage sale find makes it even more awesome. But, the prep and ingredients required to make the batter for the waffles is why I don't make waffles that often.

Buttermilk Waffles with Bacon

Ingredients

1.75 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1.5 c buttermilk
1/2 c unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/4 lb bacon, any variety, cooked and drained

Directions

Preheat waffle iron (turn on the waffle maker; I set mine to light waffles)

0. Fry the bacon. For this I used 1/4 lb applewood smoked bacon. Reserve bacon lard.

1. In a 2-cup measuring cup, beat eggs until frothy and combined. Add vanilla extract and beat again. Add buttermilk and melted butter. Mix to combine.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

3. Add wet to dry and stir together until no dry bits remain. 

4. Add waffle batter to hot waffle maker. Add strips of cooked bacon, then cover bacon with some batter. Close the waffle maker and cook until golden brown.

Chanterelle and Ginger Soup

Warm and earthy, this soup really hits the spot on a very chilly autumn day. This is a mostly clear broth. The chicken broth could probably swapped out for a vegetarian broth, if you prefer.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 quart homemade chicken broth
2 organic celery ribs, diced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1/2 lb fresh chanterelles, cleaned and halved

Directions

Bring broth to a boil. Add celery, ginger, and chanterelles. Simmer until the celery is fork tender. about 15 minutes.

Serve hot.