Do you like Nutella? Wait, that was a dumb question. Of course you do. What I meant to say was, Do you like it, but kind of wish it had more hazelnut flavor like its European cousin? Do you look at your jar of Nutella and shake your fist in the air, cursing those heathens at Ferrero for not having a white chocolate version? Well curse no more, girl, because today is your day! Here is my tasty recipe for White Chocolate Nutella, which I came up with just the other night!
2 c roasted and skinned hazelnuts
2 c white chocolate chips (about 12 oz)
2 T neutral oil (any neutral oil would be fine, but hazelnut would be perfect!)
1-2 t vanilla*
1/4-1/2 t salt (1/2 is my recommended amount, but start with 1/4 if you doubt my tastes. Shame on you if you do, though.)
Putting it all together is super easy, but I'm going to skip the part where most food bloggers tell you to roast the hazelnuts at xxx degrees F/C for xx minutes, and here's why: In my experience, if you see a recipe for something like homemade white chocolate Nutella, you either say 'YES, YES, OH GOD YES!!' and run out to buy the ingredients (if you don't already have them), or you're like, 'Ooh, Nutella, yeah I'll have to get me some of that on the way home from work.' In other words, you're either the kind of person who really likes to play with their food and try anything homemade, or you think that Sandra Lee and her semi-homemade stuff is too much work. In *other* other words, if you don't already know how to roast a bunch of nuts, then you probably don't care anyway. The skinning part, however, is another matter. If you google how to peel hazelnuts, you'll find a few different ways, probably the most common being to roast them in the oven and then boil them for 3 minutes in water with a little baking soda. The other way is to wrap them in a towel while they're still warm from the oven and roll them around in it. (I've recently read that using a damp towel works better than a dry one.) That's the way I did it because I wanted the flavor of *roasted* hazelnuts, not boiled. I don't know for sure if boiling really affects the final flavor or not, but I suspect it probably does. When you roll the hazelnuts around in the towel, you definitely won't get all the skins off, but that's ok. Just tell your friends that it's vanilla bean flakes.
Take your roasted and skinned hazelnuts and blend them in the food processor. While that's going on, melt the white chocolate in the microwave. When the hazelnuts are pretty well blended and smooth, add in the rest of the ingredients and blend some more. That's pretty much it. You could additionally strain the mix through a fine mesh sieve for more smoothness and to get rid of some leftover skins, but I say why bother? I've read that hazelnut skins can add a bitter taste, but I've not found that to be the case at all.
After you first make it, your homemade Nutella will be nice and smooth and spreadable, but over time it may thicken up to almost a peanut butter-like consistency if your kitchen isn't super warm. If that's a problem, you can easily soften it back up by microwaving it for a few seconds.
***
As far as white chocolate goes, no need to use fancy-pants super expensive hipster stuff... y'know, the kind made from organic locally grown cocoa beans harvested by angels and then ejaculated by unicorns into pristine cocoa butter, etc. etc... The main thing you want to look for on the ingredient list, besides as few ingredients as possible and nothing artificial, is that cocoa butter and sugar are at or near the top of the list. I used my local grocery store's 'Private Selection' brand for mine and it came out great.
* As for the vanilla, when I was working on this recipe, I originally wrote down 1 t, but I could swear I actually used 2, so I'd start with 1 and see how it tastes and add more if you feel like it needs it.
(Hopefully a photo or two will be coming in the days ahead...)
Because recipes are for jerks.* (Some thoughts on food; and other stuff.)
Showing posts with label condiments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label condiments. Show all posts
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Monday, October 14, 2013
Chermoula
How's about some Chermoula recipes, y'all? Yeah, I know I'm a good bit behind in posting these. I've been kinda busy and totally forgot about them.
As you know, Chermoula is a popular condiment/marinade in Moroccan cooking, especially with fish. And while it's been slowly making it's way into into American cooking over the last several years (the NY Times posted a recipe in 2009), it's still not very well known around here, even among folks who cook for a living. That needs to change, because Chermoula is easy to make and tastes amazing. You *will* impress your friends and loved ones if you make them a dish with it. Even more so if you mix it with the Orange-Cardamom marinade from one of my previous posts!
I've been taste-testing some different fresh Chermoula recipes and have found at least one really excellent recipe online, and made up a couple of my own that I'm also proud of. Today's first recipe is for the online one, the other (my) two follow behind.
Let's take a look at the photo-
The spoon on top is the recipe from Choosy Beggars.
Here's the quick details-
small bunch cilantro (1/2 cup finely chopped)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp smoked paprika*
4 cloves garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon (or 1/2 preserved lemon, juice and flesh)
*If you don't have smoked paprika you can sub regular (which is what I did), but smoked is definitely recommended.
Simply mince everything up finely and mix it up in a bowl. (You could use a food processor, but this is how they outlined it on their website, and I wanted to follow their recipe as closely as possible, so I opted not to.)
Looking at the recipe before I made it, I honestly didn't expect to like it. It seemed to have about half the oil it needed and twice the lemon and chili flakes. Turns out that's not the case- it's excellent! (In fact, if you eliminated the oil and added some diced tomatoes it could also be used as an excellent salsa.)
As for how to use Chermoula, there are plenty of ideas to be found online, but one way in particular that I like is to use it as a marinade for baked chicken**. (And then to drizzle the reduced drippings over oven-roasted potatoes and onions!) Simply coat your favorite chicken parts (boneless breast is quite common, though thigh meat is much more flavorful) in a very generous helping of Chermoula and let set for an hour or two (or more) to marinate. Then bake on 350 F, along with all of the marinade, in a foil pouch or partially covered baking dish, until done (an internal temp of 165 F is recommended). As previously mentioned, drizzle the drippings over oven roasted potatoes and onions. Serve the potatoes and chicken together, with a cilantro garnish (and maybe some feta or goat cheese), and you and your friends are in for a treat!
**For extra juicy chicken, I highly recommend brining the chicken before you marinate it. While there are many elaborate brines out there with all sorts of spices and flavorings, 2-4 T kosher or sea salt per half gallon of water is all that's really needed for absolutely delectable chicken. Throw in some sugar if you're feeling sassy, but it's not really necessary. 1/2 hour to several hours, depending on your schedule, then coat in the marinade.
And now here's two of my own that I really like. (These also are great when combined with the Cardamom-Orange Marinade I told you about recently.) The two are pretty similar (but definitely different). And don't worry if you don't have everything necessary to make them, such as the Chimayo chile powder called for in the first one - I'm a firm believer in using recipes as guidelines (think of a recipe as a basic outline rather than a set of specific, necessary instructions) and going with whatever suits you instead! Here's the first one I tried-
35 g cilantro
20 g flat leaf parsley
25 g garlic (5 cloves)
25 g ginger
1 1/2 T coriander
1 1/2T cumin
1 1/2T paprika
1 1/2T Chimayo chile powder
1 T turmeric
juice from 1/2 lime
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
3 finger pinch of kosher salt
Don't have a digital kitchen scale? No problem, just start with one bunch each of parsley and cilantro (use a little less parsley); as for the ginger, just pick up 5 cloves of garlic and use your best guess as to an equal amount of ginger. (Seriously, it's really that simple.) Use more or less depending on your preferences. As for the Chimayo chile powder, regular chile powder would work, but if you can get guajillo or ancho, those would be closer. (If using whole chiles, start with 3-4.) Simply drop everything into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Second recipe is as follows-
40 g cilantro
20 g flat leaf parsley
25 g garlic (5 cloves)
25 g fresh ginger
1 1/2 T coriander
1 1/2T cumin
1 1/2T paprika
1 T dried mint
1 1/2 t chili flakes
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 c + 2 T neutral oil
Two 3 finger pinches of kosher salt
As you can no doubt see, this one is pretty similar to the first one, but it's different enough to stand on its own too. If you look at the photo above, the first spoon is the recipe from Choosy-Beggars, the second spoon is the second recipe, and the last spoon is the third recipe. You can see the greener color from the added cilantro and the addition of mint. As with the first recipe, simply drop everything into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. As for how to use Chermoula, besides marinating and baking chicken, and then drizzling the juices over oven-roasted potatoes and onions, Chermoula also goes especially well with (and is traditionally used over) fish. As for our dried Chermoula, if you mix it with roughly equal parts olive oil, and lemon juice to taste, it can be used exactly how you'd use the fresh stuff, but we've heard great reviews of folks sprinkling it into ground beef for tacos (in place of traditional taco seasoning) and over rice with a splash of fresh lime juice and a pinch of cilantro, as well as mixing it into ground turkey for a definitely non-traditional pasta sauce! Fresh or dried, I highly recommend you try some Chermoula soon!
As you know, Chermoula is a popular condiment/marinade in Moroccan cooking, especially with fish. And while it's been slowly making it's way into into American cooking over the last several years (the NY Times posted a recipe in 2009), it's still not very well known around here, even among folks who cook for a living. That needs to change, because Chermoula is easy to make and tastes amazing. You *will* impress your friends and loved ones if you make them a dish with it. Even more so if you mix it with the Orange-Cardamom marinade from one of my previous posts!
I've been taste-testing some different fresh Chermoula recipes and have found at least one really excellent recipe online, and made up a couple of my own that I'm also proud of. Today's first recipe is for the online one, the other (my) two follow behind.
Let's take a look at the photo-
The spoon on top is the recipe from Choosy Beggars.
Here's the quick details-
small bunch cilantro (1/2 cup finely chopped)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp smoked paprika*
4 cloves garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon (or 1/2 preserved lemon, juice and flesh)
*If you don't have smoked paprika you can sub regular (which is what I did), but smoked is definitely recommended.
Simply mince everything up finely and mix it up in a bowl. (You could use a food processor, but this is how they outlined it on their website, and I wanted to follow their recipe as closely as possible, so I opted not to.)
Looking at the recipe before I made it, I honestly didn't expect to like it. It seemed to have about half the oil it needed and twice the lemon and chili flakes. Turns out that's not the case- it's excellent! (In fact, if you eliminated the oil and added some diced tomatoes it could also be used as an excellent salsa.)
As for how to use Chermoula, there are plenty of ideas to be found online, but one way in particular that I like is to use it as a marinade for baked chicken**. (And then to drizzle the reduced drippings over oven-roasted potatoes and onions!) Simply coat your favorite chicken parts (boneless breast is quite common, though thigh meat is much more flavorful) in a very generous helping of Chermoula and let set for an hour or two (or more) to marinate. Then bake on 350 F, along with all of the marinade, in a foil pouch or partially covered baking dish, until done (an internal temp of 165 F is recommended). As previously mentioned, drizzle the drippings over oven roasted potatoes and onions. Serve the potatoes and chicken together, with a cilantro garnish (and maybe some feta or goat cheese), and you and your friends are in for a treat!
**For extra juicy chicken, I highly recommend brining the chicken before you marinate it. While there are many elaborate brines out there with all sorts of spices and flavorings, 2-4 T kosher or sea salt per half gallon of water is all that's really needed for absolutely delectable chicken. Throw in some sugar if you're feeling sassy, but it's not really necessary. 1/2 hour to several hours, depending on your schedule, then coat in the marinade.
And now here's two of my own that I really like. (These also are great when combined with the Cardamom-Orange Marinade I told you about recently.) The two are pretty similar (but definitely different). And don't worry if you don't have everything necessary to make them, such as the Chimayo chile powder called for in the first one - I'm a firm believer in using recipes as guidelines (think of a recipe as a basic outline rather than a set of specific, necessary instructions) and going with whatever suits you instead! Here's the first one I tried-
35 g cilantro
20 g flat leaf parsley
25 g garlic (5 cloves)
25 g ginger
1 1/2 T coriander
1 1/2T cumin
1 1/2T paprika
1 1/2T Chimayo chile powder
1 T turmeric
juice from 1/2 lime
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
3 finger pinch of kosher salt
Don't have a digital kitchen scale? No problem, just start with one bunch each of parsley and cilantro (use a little less parsley); as for the ginger, just pick up 5 cloves of garlic and use your best guess as to an equal amount of ginger. (Seriously, it's really that simple.) Use more or less depending on your preferences. As for the Chimayo chile powder, regular chile powder would work, but if you can get guajillo or ancho, those would be closer. (If using whole chiles, start with 3-4.) Simply drop everything into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Second recipe is as follows-
40 g cilantro
20 g flat leaf parsley
25 g garlic (5 cloves)
25 g fresh ginger
1 1/2 T coriander
1 1/2T cumin
1 1/2T paprika
1 T dried mint
1 1/2 t chili flakes
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 c + 2 T neutral oil
Two 3 finger pinches of kosher salt
As you can no doubt see, this one is pretty similar to the first one, but it's different enough to stand on its own too. If you look at the photo above, the first spoon is the recipe from Choosy-Beggars, the second spoon is the second recipe, and the last spoon is the third recipe. You can see the greener color from the added cilantro and the addition of mint. As with the first recipe, simply drop everything into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. As for how to use Chermoula, besides marinating and baking chicken, and then drizzling the juices over oven-roasted potatoes and onions, Chermoula also goes especially well with (and is traditionally used over) fish. As for our dried Chermoula, if you mix it with roughly equal parts olive oil, and lemon juice to taste, it can be used exactly how you'd use the fresh stuff, but we've heard great reviews of folks sprinkling it into ground beef for tacos (in place of traditional taco seasoning) and over rice with a splash of fresh lime juice and a pinch of cilantro, as well as mixing it into ground turkey for a definitely non-traditional pasta sauce! Fresh or dried, I highly recommend you try some Chermoula soon!
Friday, September 27, 2013
Blueberry-Espresso AwesomeSauce
After playing around with a recipe I found for blueberry-chipotle ketchup (on Saveur.com, I think) I ended up creating the following:
Blueberry-Espresso AwesomeSauce!
1 lb blueberries
3 1/2 oz espresso
8 oz dark brown sugar (Get a kitchen scale! Best $25 you'll spend!)
1/2 c cider vinegar
1/2 c lime juice
1 can of tomato paste (the small kind, I think they're 6 oz.)
1 1/2 oz fresh ginger, minced
3 finger pinch of kosher salt
1 t ground cardamom
1 1/2 t Vietnamese cinnamon
1 t baking soda (add a pinch or two more as needed. cuts down on the acidity and gives it a smoother flavor)
3/4 t allspice
1/4 t nutmeg
5 whole cloves
Pour everything into a medium sized saucepan, bring just to a boil or to a near-boil, then turn down to about medium low. Blend thoroughly with a stick blender, then simmer until your desired consistency, keeping in mind it'll thicken up some after it cools. 15-20 minutes will give you about the consistency of apple butter. Don't forget to stir it occasionally. Hit it again, harder this time, at the end with the stick blender and you shouldn't have to strain it through anything.
Some notes:
I highly recommend using actual espresso instead of extra strong coffee, even espresso roast. I tried both ways a couple times and the espresso way is definitely better. If you can't get any actual espresso, I also made it with my normal, good quality coffee and brewed it double strength. It's still good, I just think the espresso is better.
I used whole cloves because I didn't have any ground and I knew I wanted to use between 4-6, but I didn't feel like grinding them in my mortar/pestle and it wouldn't have been enough for the coffee grinder. After a good blend or two with the stick blender, especially at the end, they completely disappeared.
I really recommend using Vietnamese cinnamon instead of regular. It's a lot stronger. Spice Barn carries it for about $8/lb. As for the amount, I added 1 1/2 t, but not until it was already done cooking. If I'd added it at the beginning, probably 1 t would have been enough. If you can't get Vietnamese, I'd use probably 2 t. Either way, I'd made about 3 batches without cinnamon, and added it to the end of the 3rd batch (which was when I'd first thought of using it), and that one was definitely the best.
Goes great on toast. Goes better on toast with peanut butter. Goes even *better* on toast with goat cheese. Or try stirring it into your plain, organic, r-BGH-free, made-organnically-from-scratch-by-your-Greek-neighbor's-organic-109-yr-old-grandmother-from-her-organic-grass-fed-cows Greek yogurt. OR just shovel it into your pie-hole with a large wooden spoon. Point is, it's GOOD. And though I haven't yet tried it out on grilled meats, it really tastes like it'd go well as a bbq sauce on chicken or pork.
This is what REALLY EFFING GOOD looks like
Blueberry-Espresso AwesomeSauce!
1 lb blueberries
3 1/2 oz espresso
8 oz dark brown sugar (Get a kitchen scale! Best $25 you'll spend!)
1/2 c cider vinegar
1/2 c lime juice
1 can of tomato paste (the small kind, I think they're 6 oz.)
1 1/2 oz fresh ginger, minced
3 finger pinch of kosher salt
1 t ground cardamom
1 1/2 t Vietnamese cinnamon
1 t baking soda (add a pinch or two more as needed. cuts down on the acidity and gives it a smoother flavor)
3/4 t allspice
1/4 t nutmeg
5 whole cloves
Pour everything into a medium sized saucepan, bring just to a boil or to a near-boil, then turn down to about medium low. Blend thoroughly with a stick blender, then simmer until your desired consistency, keeping in mind it'll thicken up some after it cools. 15-20 minutes will give you about the consistency of apple butter. Don't forget to stir it occasionally. Hit it again, harder this time, at the end with the stick blender and you shouldn't have to strain it through anything.
Some notes:
I highly recommend using actual espresso instead of extra strong coffee, even espresso roast. I tried both ways a couple times and the espresso way is definitely better. If you can't get any actual espresso, I also made it with my normal, good quality coffee and brewed it double strength. It's still good, I just think the espresso is better.
I used whole cloves because I didn't have any ground and I knew I wanted to use between 4-6, but I didn't feel like grinding them in my mortar/pestle and it wouldn't have been enough for the coffee grinder. After a good blend or two with the stick blender, especially at the end, they completely disappeared.
I really recommend using Vietnamese cinnamon instead of regular. It's a lot stronger. Spice Barn carries it for about $8/lb. As for the amount, I added 1 1/2 t, but not until it was already done cooking. If I'd added it at the beginning, probably 1 t would have been enough. If you can't get Vietnamese, I'd use probably 2 t. Either way, I'd made about 3 batches without cinnamon, and added it to the end of the 3rd batch (which was when I'd first thought of using it), and that one was definitely the best.
Goes great on toast. Goes better on toast with peanut butter. Goes even *better* on toast with goat cheese. Or try stirring it into your plain, organic, r-BGH-free, made-organnically-from-scratch-by-your-Greek-neighbor's-organic-109-yr-old-grandmother-from-her-organic-grass-fed-cows Greek yogurt. OR just shovel it into your pie-hole with a large wooden spoon. Point is, it's GOOD. And though I haven't yet tried it out on grilled meats, it really tastes like it'd go well as a bbq sauce on chicken or pork.
This is what REALLY EFFING GOOD looks like
Monday, June 17, 2013
Orange-Cardamom Marinade
This is something I've been wanting to make for awhile now. Actually, what I originally wanted to make was an orange-cardamom vinaigrette, but it ended up becoming this instead. I still have plans to work on the vinaigrette, but for now this is a really, really good diversion. It makes for a fantastic marinade for chicken, both by itself, and maybe even more so when mixed with Chermoula, which I'll be posting recipes for here in the next week or two.
The really interesting thing to me about this marinade is that, at least when you mix it with Chermoula, the dominant flavor seems to change depending on how you blend it up. Here's what happened when I made it- the first time I made it, I used my immersion blender, but it didn't really completely emulsify; the oil separated a little after awhile, which wasn't really a big deal since I ended up using it as a marinade instead of a dressing. But the second time I made it, I used a regular blender to make it, and in that case it emulsified quite well- to the point of almost being aioli-like in consistency. In fact, it could even make a good condiment! Both times I ended up mixing it with Chermoula, and the resulting blend would also make for a good condiment. The first time (when I used the stick blender) the flavor of the Chermoula was more dominant (not overpowering, but you noticed it before the flavor of the orange-cardamom marinade). When I mixed it with the the blender, the flavor of the orange-cardamom marinade was more prominent. Interesting...
Anyway, here's the recipe for the marinade, and coming in a couple weeks or so are some Chermoula recipes (with photos) that I've tried that I like (both my own creation, and a couple I found online).
Orange-Cardamom Marinade
200 ml straight (undiluted) orange juice concentrate
300 ml neutral oil (I used sunflower; I think canola tastes shitty)
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 1/2-2 T ground cardamom
1 1/2-2 T ground coriander
1 T prepared spicy brown mustard
pinch of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
A couple notes-
For this particular recipe, I ground my own cardamom in my coffee grinder, but I used pre-ground (commercially ground) coriander. If you're using pre-ground spices, 1 1/2 T is good, but since coffee grinders don't get the grind quite as fine, if you grind your spices yourself in a coffee grinder (which I recommend- fresh ground is best!), you may want to lean towards using 2 T instead of 1 1/2. Or if you just really, really like cardamom and coriander, like I do, then up the amount as well.
As for the mustard, it doesn't really make much difference whether you used plain yellow, spicy brown, or dry. The first time I made the recipe I used 1 t dry mustard. The second time, I was out of dry, so ended up using the 1 T spicy brown that this recipe calls for. I didn't really notice much difference as far as the mustard goes, so probably whatever you have on hand will be fine.
Chermoula recipes ahead, so stay tuned- they're damn good!
The really interesting thing to me about this marinade is that, at least when you mix it with Chermoula, the dominant flavor seems to change depending on how you blend it up. Here's what happened when I made it- the first time I made it, I used my immersion blender, but it didn't really completely emulsify; the oil separated a little after awhile, which wasn't really a big deal since I ended up using it as a marinade instead of a dressing. But the second time I made it, I used a regular blender to make it, and in that case it emulsified quite well- to the point of almost being aioli-like in consistency. In fact, it could even make a good condiment! Both times I ended up mixing it with Chermoula, and the resulting blend would also make for a good condiment. The first time (when I used the stick blender) the flavor of the Chermoula was more dominant (not overpowering, but you noticed it before the flavor of the orange-cardamom marinade). When I mixed it with the the blender, the flavor of the orange-cardamom marinade was more prominent. Interesting...
Anyway, here's the recipe for the marinade, and coming in a couple weeks or so are some Chermoula recipes (with photos) that I've tried that I like (both my own creation, and a couple I found online).
Orange-Cardamom Marinade
200 ml straight (undiluted) orange juice concentrate
300 ml neutral oil (I used sunflower; I think canola tastes shitty)
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 1/2-2 T ground cardamom
1 1/2-2 T ground coriander
1 T prepared spicy brown mustard
pinch of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
A couple notes-
For this particular recipe, I ground my own cardamom in my coffee grinder, but I used pre-ground (commercially ground) coriander. If you're using pre-ground spices, 1 1/2 T is good, but since coffee grinders don't get the grind quite as fine, if you grind your spices yourself in a coffee grinder (which I recommend- fresh ground is best!), you may want to lean towards using 2 T instead of 1 1/2. Or if you just really, really like cardamom and coriander, like I do, then up the amount as well.
As for the mustard, it doesn't really make much difference whether you used plain yellow, spicy brown, or dry. The first time I made the recipe I used 1 t dry mustard. The second time, I was out of dry, so ended up using the 1 T spicy brown that this recipe calls for. I didn't really notice much difference as far as the mustard goes, so probably whatever you have on hand will be fine.
Chermoula recipes ahead, so stay tuned- they're damn good!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Cranberry Awesome Sauce
Yeah, I know Thanksgiving is almost a month gone now and most people don't typically eat cranberry sauce except around then, but this ain't no regular cranberry sauce- it's a cranberry Awesome Sauce!
First off though, I have to mention that all recipe credit goes to my friend and cohort, Amy Housewine*. We went to a large Thanksgiving get-together last month and she wanted to bring a cranberry sauce to share, so she just whipped this one up, very spur-of-the-moment. First time she'd ever made it. And it turned out so good that she decided it was just too good to share, and she didn't bring it! And I agree, it is that good. I'll admit though, as a kid I used to love that gelatinous stuff from a can, and even until recently (like just before I tasted Amy's) I still used to kind of like it. But no more! Hers is just way too good to mess around with anything store-bought. And it's a cinch to make- just 5 ingredients!** As soon as I tasted it, I knew we had to post it here, so I asked her to email me the recipe. She did, and here it is in its entirety:
1 cup orange-pineapple juice
First off though, I have to mention that all recipe credit goes to my friend and cohort, Amy Housewine*. We went to a large Thanksgiving get-together last month and she wanted to bring a cranberry sauce to share, so she just whipped this one up, very spur-of-the-moment. First time she'd ever made it. And it turned out so good that she decided it was just too good to share, and she didn't bring it! And I agree, it is that good. I'll admit though, as a kid I used to love that gelatinous stuff from a can, and even until recently (like just before I tasted Amy's) I still used to kind of like it. But no more! Hers is just way too good to mess around with anything store-bought. And it's a cinch to make- just 5 ingredients!** As soon as I tasted it, I knew we had to post it here, so I asked her to email me the recipe. She did, and here it is in its entirety:
1 cup orange-pineapple juice
1 cup white sugar
12 oz cranberries
1/2 tsp (or to taste) Saigon cinnamon
Heat juice and sugar on med heat until sugar is dissolved. Add cranberries and cook until they start popping. Add cinnamon. Keep cooking till it's whatchoo want, yo. then put it in a bowl or something.
Dead simple. I love it.
**But she forgot to mention the candied pecans she added. It was something like half a cup or so. Just add them in towards the end of the cooking (or earlier if you want them less crunchy). The pecan flavor goes really, really well with the cranberries. The candied pecans Amy used that day were ones I'd gotten from work; I wrote the recipe down, but lost it (probably for the better, since they likely wouldn't want me putting it on the internet anyway) but as I recall, it's just heavy cream, brown sugar, and pecans; maybe some cayenne pepper. Then toasted in the oven, probably on 250 F or something. No egg whites, like most of the recipes I've seen on various recipe sites (Allrecipes, Simply Recipes, Epicurious, etc). If you don't have, or don't feel like making, candied pecans, regular toasted ones would probably still be just as good.
And of course, like I almost always do, I had to tweak it. Only a tiny bit, though. For starters, I pulsed mine a bit with the stick blender, whereas Amy left hers untouched. It's just a personal preference- I don't like mine too chunky or too smooth.
I figured since we were going to be using candied pecans, I'd cut back on the sugar by 1/4 cup. I've since made it again without the candied pecans (it's better with, in my opinion) and still cut back on the sugar by 1/4 cup. Her original recipe isn't too sweet, I just like sweet things that are a little less sweet than 'normal. I also add a pinch of kosher salt to mine. Pretty much any time I make anything that has a fair amount of either salt or sugar, I always add a pinch or two of the other, for 'balance.' Maybe it's all in my head, but it seems to taste better that way.
Then I made another batch with regular o.j. instead of the pineapple-o.j.- I think it's better with the pineapple-o.j. The difference is subtle, and may have been due more to the brands we used (the pineapple stuff was Dole, the regular o.j. was just a store brand), so more testing is in order, but for now I'm planning on sticking with the pineapple-o.j.
A couple other tweaks/additions to try:
Ground black pepper- a friend of mine adds it as a 'secret ingredient' and says it's wonderful. I tried it, but I think I went too light (2-3 turns of the grinder, set to fine) since I couldn't really taste any difference. I may also try ground pink peppercorns.
Cardamom- One of my favorite spices. Definitely goes well with cinnamon, so I'd imagine it'd fit well in this sauce.
Forget about that whole 'Cranberry sauce is for Thanksgiving' thing. And forget about that cranberry-flavored-crap-in-a-can... This simple, 5-ingredient recipe really is a cranberry Awesome Sauce. Depending on how thick you cook it, it could go great as a syrup over waffles, or spread on biscuits with butter. Just the other night I mixed some in with some Greek yogurt (The Greek Gods brand- it's as thick as cheesecake, and pretty damn awesome), and I have to say, if you want to get fat, that's probably a good way to go about it.
Thanks for an awesome recipe, Amy!
*probably not her real last name.
Dead simple. I love it.
**But she forgot to mention the candied pecans she added. It was something like half a cup or so. Just add them in towards the end of the cooking (or earlier if you want them less crunchy). The pecan flavor goes really, really well with the cranberries. The candied pecans Amy used that day were ones I'd gotten from work; I wrote the recipe down, but lost it (probably for the better, since they likely wouldn't want me putting it on the internet anyway) but as I recall, it's just heavy cream, brown sugar, and pecans; maybe some cayenne pepper. Then toasted in the oven, probably on 250 F or something. No egg whites, like most of the recipes I've seen on various recipe sites (Allrecipes, Simply Recipes, Epicurious, etc). If you don't have, or don't feel like making, candied pecans, regular toasted ones would probably still be just as good.
And of course, like I almost always do, I had to tweak it. Only a tiny bit, though. For starters, I pulsed mine a bit with the stick blender, whereas Amy left hers untouched. It's just a personal preference- I don't like mine too chunky or too smooth.
I figured since we were going to be using candied pecans, I'd cut back on the sugar by 1/4 cup. I've since made it again without the candied pecans (it's better with, in my opinion) and still cut back on the sugar by 1/4 cup. Her original recipe isn't too sweet, I just like sweet things that are a little less sweet than 'normal. I also add a pinch of kosher salt to mine. Pretty much any time I make anything that has a fair amount of either salt or sugar, I always add a pinch or two of the other, for 'balance.' Maybe it's all in my head, but it seems to taste better that way.
Then I made another batch with regular o.j. instead of the pineapple-o.j.- I think it's better with the pineapple-o.j. The difference is subtle, and may have been due more to the brands we used (the pineapple stuff was Dole, the regular o.j. was just a store brand), so more testing is in order, but for now I'm planning on sticking with the pineapple-o.j.
A couple other tweaks/additions to try:
Ground black pepper- a friend of mine adds it as a 'secret ingredient' and says it's wonderful. I tried it, but I think I went too light (2-3 turns of the grinder, set to fine) since I couldn't really taste any difference. I may also try ground pink peppercorns.
Cardamom- One of my favorite spices. Definitely goes well with cinnamon, so I'd imagine it'd fit well in this sauce.
Forget about that whole 'Cranberry sauce is for Thanksgiving' thing. And forget about that cranberry-flavored-crap-in-a-can... This simple, 5-ingredient recipe really is a cranberry Awesome Sauce. Depending on how thick you cook it, it could go great as a syrup over waffles, or spread on biscuits with butter. Just the other night I mixed some in with some Greek yogurt (The Greek Gods brand- it's as thick as cheesecake, and pretty damn awesome), and I have to say, if you want to get fat, that's probably a good way to go about it.
Thanks for an awesome recipe, Amy!
*probably not her real last name.
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