Cranberry Sauce for Thanksgiving in an Artist's Studio

You may think that it doesn't make much sense to give you a recipe for cranberry sauce the day after Thanksgiving.  There is however great logic to my decision.   I wanted to see the finished product presented  and enjoyed before I  published the recipe.   Seem reasonable?    Cranberry sauce is good for as long as there are fresh cranberries around  and then some as raw cranberries freeze to perfection (I've held on to them for almost a year in the freezer), and the cooked sauce lasts, refrigerated, for just as long.  Cranberry sauce is not just for Thanksgiving.   Turkey is my least favorite use for the sauce.  I love it inserted into toasted Cheddar cheese  sandwiches.  And as we discovered last night it's just the right  accompaniment to gorgonzola cheese.  I like it in yogurt, and on a piece of cheese cake.  It makes a good base for a fruity vinaigrette, and when mixed with mayonnaise elevates a turkey or chicken or ham or tuna sandwich right up to the top level.

I'm lucky to have a sister who sends me cranberries from the Nantucket bogs - the world's largest naturally contiguous  bog (and certified organic) - every year around harvest time.  The berries arrive with tiny, threadlike stems, some leaves, some rotten berries and some that are still green, they are NOT sorted in a warehouse, instead just sold straight out of the rakes - well, just about. To make the sauce I sort out stems, leaves and rotten berries, and leave a few green ones for the incredible amount of pectin that they produce.  The sauce thickens up in the blink of an eye.

This is how I made this year's  CRANBERRY SAUCE:

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts

2 pounds fresh, rinsed cranberries
1 orange, thinly sliced then cut into 1-inch sections
juice from three oranges
2 cups organic light brown sugar
1/2 cup pure honey  (I use my brother-in-law's  honey whose bees drink from the cranberry blossoms in the bog a short flight from their hives)
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
4 or 5 cardamom pods
cheesecloth
butcher's twine

1.   Add the cranberries, orange sections and juice, sugar,  and honey to a large non-reactive saucepan over medium heat.  
2.  Tie the cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom up in the cheesecloth and stir into the cranberry mixture making sure that it's completely immersed in the berries.
3.  Cook, stirring occasionally until almost the berries pop and the sauce is the consistency of loose jam, 20-30 minutes.  Let cool with the spice sachet inside.   Remove the sachet from the cooled berries and squeeze the syrup from the cloth.   Stir through the sauce.    Refrigerate the sauce in a tightly-lidded container until ready for use.

I was fortunate to share Thanksgiving meal with old friends who I met, decades ago on Nantucket, and have lived in Hudson for over 20 years.   Don't you just love when life's circles close.  

Margaret (no website - Google Margaret Saliske to see her work) set the table in her studio near some of her sculpture and  a few of her husband, Tony's Hudson River Valley landscape paintings.  We were in place, in place.  A small group of family, and I who has been around at least as long as most of them.  As the song says, "the vittles* we et were good you bet and the company was the same".

 

* .   roast turkey with chestnut and mushroom dressing, pan juice gravy
   .   roasted acorn squash
   .   spicy, sauteed Swiss chard
   .   roasted potatoes
   .   pan roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon
   .   cranberry sauce
   .   Kunik cheese and Amish-made gorgonzola cheese
   .   pecan pie
   .   raspberry linzer torte

SUSANSIMONSAYS:    

Make these tea sandwiches for one of your wintertime gatherings - or when someone asks you to contribute to a potluck meal:
CHEDDAR AND CRANBERRY -BUTTER TEA SANDWICHES

makes 48 two-bite sandwiches

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup cranberry sauce - above recipe
24 slices very thin whole wheat bread (Pepper Ridge Farm makes it)
1/2 pound sharp Cheddar cheese cut into 1/4-inch slices

1.   In a bowl, blend the butter and cranberry sauce together
2.   Line up the bread in pairs.   Butter each slice of bread with the cranberry-butter.  Cover one side of each pair with Cheddar.  Top the other side, pressing gently but firmly.  Trim away the crusts.  Cut each sandwich on the diagonal to make 4 triangular sandwiches.
3.   Serve immediately, or refrigerate, covered with damp paper towels, until ready to serve.

Last Weekend

The gorgeous Allegra & I are off the Nantucket this upcoming weekend.    But, first, a quick word about last weekend - Memorial Day weekend - which we spent in the relative quiet of New York City.  

I started the weekend on Friday by inviting a friend over for lunch.   

We ate outside, sitting in the shade of Norway maple tree that overhangs my terrace.  I made salad with grilled chicken, very slim green beans dressed with peanut sauce ( see blog posting from  January 8th 2011 for recipe) all sitting on a bed of green leaf lettuce.

Serves 3 - 6

GRILLED CHICKEN, MAY 27th 2011
Marinate 1-inch wide strips of 6 chicken breasts in:
2 tablespoons sesame oil
zest & juice of  1 lime
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger root
1 clove garlic mashed through a press
2 tablespoons soy sauce
a few drops of sriracha sauce
Let marinate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.
Grill over a charcoal or gas grill for about 3 minutes on one side and 2 to 3 minutes on the other

Blanch the green beans, toss with enough peanut sauce to evenly coat.  For this particular dish I fried 'til crisp the white part of ramps (because their season is just ending) and tossed them into the beans.

Pile pieces of green leaf lettuce on a serving platter.  Top with the beans, then the chicken.  Serve immediately.   While the grill was going  I toasted some pieces of olive-oiled baguette to accompany the salad.

We had a bowl of frozen vanilla yogurt topped with the rhubarb-strawberry compote from my last blog.  I often serve amaretti cookies with a dessert like this one and show my companions how to smash them, either between your hands or on the table then sprinkle the crumbs over the dessert.  Yum!

Fast forward to the Monday, the 30th, Memorial Day and another little meal outside, under the maple.  By Monday it was steaming hot - which translate ito drinks poured over mountains of ice and freezer-chilled beer.

To go with those gelid beverages we - my guests & I were fed fried asparagus by another guest, His Royness, Roy Finamore, legendary cookbook editor, and winner of a James Beard award for his book, "Tasty, Get Great Food on the Table Every Day" ( Houghton Mifflin Co. 2006).  Roy used his string beans fritto  recipe from "Tasty..." for the Pecorino cheese battered, rolled in bread crumbs, olive oil fried asparagus - and, Man, oh Man were they deeeeeeeeeeee-vine.    Salty, crunchy, and grassy with a tiny spritz of fresh lemon juice for a tiny bit of tang - the asparagus got us started in fine style.

Our main course were grilled cheeseburgers ( made with local, grass fed beef) and  two salads:

STEAMED POTATO SALAD WITH MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE AND CAPERS

Serves 4 or 5

1 pound smallish red skin potatoes cut in half, steamed until a fork passes through them with ease

While the potatoes are steaming add a heaping tablespoon of finely chopped shallots, 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, 1 tablespoon prepared Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1/4 extra virgin olive, 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped capers (preserved in salt)  and 1 teaspoon sea salt to a large bowl and whisk together until emulsified.   Cut the hot potatoes into 1/2-inch chunks and add to the vinaigrette - toss together.   The hot potatoes will absorb the vinaigrette  as they cool.   Taste for seasoning and add as needed.

RADISH & BLACK OLIVE SALAD

Serves 4-ish

1 large bunch radishes, leaves and root end removed.  Rinse thoroughly - they are covered in secret pockets of dirt!
Use a mandolin to thinly slice.  Wrap the sliced radishes in a layer of paper towels or a cotton tea towel so they can sweat out some of their liquid.   Let them rest for an hour or so.
Toss together with some coarsely chopped black olives, chopped chives, chopped fresh mint, extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice and sea salt to serve.

We started our meal with a "Tasty..." recipe and ended with one too.  Roy's Strawberry SHORTCAKE.
Shortcake capitalized because that's recipe included in the book.  Once you've got it - use it with any fruit in season.  When the strawberries have gone it's onto to peaches, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries - you get the idea.
Here's what Roy says, "I've been baking this tender cake - almost cake, almost biscuit - for thirty years now.  When I lived in Vermont , I'd make it for breakfast, putting slabs of the cake into bowls with fresh-picked raspberries from the yard and ladling in top milk, which we got from the dairy farmer down the road."

 Makes one 8-inch cake
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch sat
1/3 cup butter softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
Beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until it starts to lighten.  Gradually pour in the sugar, beating while you pour, and continuing beating until very light.  Beat in the eggs.
Now switch to a wooden spoon and stir in the dry ingredients and milk in batches: half the dry, all the milk, and the rest of the dry.   Beat for a moment or two with the spoon until the batter is smooth.  It will be stiff.
Add the the batter to the pan and pat it out into the pan with floured fingers.  Give the pan a rap on the counter top to release any air bubbles, then slip into the oven.  Bake for about 25 minutes, until risen and browned in spots.
Let the cake cool on a rack for about 5 minutes, then turn out of the pan and let cool completely on the rack.
Roy sliced about a pint of strawberries and let them macerate with 1 packed tablespoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and a few grinds black pepper.

Assemble the cake:   Spoon some of the strawberry juice over the cake and then spoon on the fruit.   Whip a cup of heavy cream and spread over the berries.
Serve right away, or refrigerate for later.



SUSANSIMONSAYS:   I'm all talked out.   Next week, Nantucket!

Nantucket in the wintertime

"What's the island like in the wintertime?" is the question most asked by Nantucket summertime visitors.
First of all, and lucky for the Islanders, winter arrives on Nantucket a little later than it does on mainland New England, warmed as it is by the surrounding Gulf Stream. (the blizzard that paralyzed the northeast over Christmas weekend didn't touch the island ).  In the wintertime, Nantucket Island, world-class summer resort, sheds its fancy designer duds and is once again a New England small town inhabited with busy people.  In the almost quiet privacy of wintertime Nantucket is a beehive of activity.  Islanders finally have the time they need to socialize, share recipes, tend to their  businesses readying them for the next season, fish for world-famous Nantucket bay scallops, take long walks along the desolate moors - right out of "Wuthering Heights", beaches and ponds. It's a romantic and cozy time on island - a time that year 'rounders cherish.

The lighthouse at Brant Point welcomes visitors to the island as they round it and enter the harbor.  At Christmastime the Coast Guard, stationed on the Island, decorates it, anchoring the wreath with oars.

Every year I spend Christmas Day on Nantucket with my sister Laura, and her husband, Jimmy. And every year Jimmy treats us to the crepes that he's been cooking since he was eight years old.  They're simple, and the batter doesn't need to rest before cooking.

JIMMY GROSS'S CHRISTMAS-DAY CREPES

Serve any day, any time of the year.

Makes about 24 9-inch pancakes

4 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups whole milk
unsalted butter for frying

1.   Beat the eggs in a large bowl.   Alternately add the flour and the milk, mixing continuously with a fork or a whisk (you'll run out of flour before milk).  Keep mixing until the batter is completely smooth and relatively thin - about the consistency of buttermilk.
2.   Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a 9-inch omelet pan (Jimmy uses 2 at a time).   Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter into the center of the pan and tip it from side to side to let the batter cover the bottom, not the sides, in a thin layer.  Cook for 1 1/2 minutes, or until the edge begins to curl and pulls away from the side of the pan.   Flip the pancake with a metal spatula and cook for 30 seconds more.  Add another 1 teaspoon butter to the pan every other batch.  Pile the cooked crepes on an oven proof serving platter and keep warm in a 200 degree F. oven until all are cooked and ready to serve. 
3.   Serve with a selection of fillings from sour cream and caviar, applesauce and heavy cream, marmalade and whipped cream, butter and maple syrup - and our favorite way with creme fraiche, just-thawed-from-Laura's-summertime garden red and white raspberries and blueberries, and maple syrup.

Steve Bender harvests oysters from his Pocomo Meadow farm in Polpis Harbor. He reminds everyone who's fortunate enough to have one that they must chew it in order to have a real oyster experience!  It's true - while the oyster's liquor is ocean-salty-briny, its meat is sweet.

Marina opens a daily catch of the world-renown Nantucket bay scallops.  The mollusks provide excellent employment opportunities for Islanders as fishermen, cullers, and openers during the commercial season which begins on November 1 and ends on March 31st.

A few unharvested cranberries frozen for posterity- or until the spring thaw - in the world's largest, naturally contiguous, bog, Windswept Cranberry Bog.  Sure, there are larger bogs in the world - but they are man-made.

CRANBERRY CRUNCH

serves 6 - 9

2 cups cranberries, rinsed and picked over
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 tablespoon water
1 cup oats
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cold unsalted butter

1.  In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir the cranberries, sugar, cloves, salt, dates, and water together.  When the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes, or until most of the cranberries have popped.   Remove from the heat and let cool.
2.   In a bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, pecans, and flour.  Use a pastry cutter or 2 knives to cut the butter in to form a crumbly mixture.
3.  Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.  Put half of the oatmeal mixture in the prepared pan and evenly cover the bottom using a rubber spatula.  Spread the cooled cranberry mixture over the oatmeal layer.  Top with the remaining oatmeal mixture.  Bake for 45 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling around the sides and the top is deep gold and crisp.  Cool on a wire rack.  Cut into 6 or 9 pieces.  You may want to quarter those pieces for one-bite morsels.

Semi-frozen Polpis Harbor.  Check out  the eyelash, treetop silhouette way in the background.  It's one of my favorite island sights 

Maxcy's Pond is located on the island's north side.  It's the site of an early 17th-century settlement.  Maxcy is a variation of Macy, one of the island's original families.  The scrubby green growths near the pond's shore brighten the grey wintertime scene.


Long-time islander, Christie Cure has followed in the footsteps of  Nantucket women who opened shops in town to keep busy while their husbands were out whaling.  She's opened the parlor of her home on Orange Street, calls it #8 ,and sells an eye-catching collection of her favorite things from note pads, soap, candles, masks, re-envisioned furniture, rugs woven with rags and chewing gum wrappers- all displayed on sleigh beds, antique cribs and library ladders.

SUSANSIMONSAYS:

Coatue is a barrier beach that separates Nantucket Sound from Nantucket Harbor.  Here's Coatue as seem from Brant Point Lighthouse.   Go to Nantucket in the wintertime - you're in for a treat!