Homemade Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cranberry

Living in non-seasonal, tropical region of the world means many things. One of it being: expensive imported berries. Hence my attachment with affordable locally-produced frozen berries; I just wish they can bring out more frozen blueberry than they do with frozen strawberry. Nevertheless I thank the farmers up in Northern Thailand whose hard works find their way into my list of homemade's.

I have made countless bottles of homemade strawberry jam and raspberry jam from frozen local produce. This time, it's homemade cranberry sauce with dried cranberry. Making your own cranberry sauce is simple and delicious. And it’s a great winter immune system booster. Not that we have that weather spell here but it is raining a lot, and heavily so, these days. My first encounter with cranberry was its expensive juice said to contain proanthocyanidins that can prevent the adhesion of certain bacteria, such as E. Coli, to the urinary tract wall hence prevention of urinary tract infections. This anti-adhesion properties of cranberry may also inhibit the bacteria associated with gum disease and stomach ulcers.

Getting hold of fresh or frozen cranberry is a challenge; it's rare and often expensive. That's why this recipe is so good. Just bear in mind that dried cranberries are often sweetened - be cautious about how much sugar you add; it could be overly sweet. I prefer it to be on the tart side and used no more 1/4 cup of sugar.

Updated: Some serving ideas -

Use it as filling and top with the crispy walnut crust from this Apple Crisp recipe.

Serve it with pesto in this savory baked Camembert and Cranberry-stuffed Eggplant.

Ingredients

• 2 oranges, juiced
• zest of 1 orange
  
• 2 C dried cranberries
• 1/4 - 1/2 C natural cane sugar
  
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 apple, peeled and grated

1. Wash the cranberries in a bowl of hot water, to remove any oil coating. Drain.
2. Put cranberries and orange juice with 100ml water in a pan. Cover and simmer very gently for 10 minutes, until the cranberries are starting to plump up. Leave covered for an hour.
3. Add 1/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon and apple, and simmer for 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
4. Check for sweetness and add more sugar, if necessary.

Apple Crisp

I have little resistance against warm baked fruit topped with tasty crust. Crisp is just another name for crumble. So called because when you pull the dessert out of the oven, the top has now become all wonderfully crispy and crumbly. This crispy topping is similar to the killer Blueberry Oatmeal Crumbs except it's spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. The filling combines apple and berry (I chose frozen blueberry), a British favorite flavorful crisp. I like my Apple Crisp warm with a dollop of softly whipped cream. I tried a second serving with sour cream and it's just as good. The chunky walnuts, crispy crust, tarty apple/ blueberry all come together real nice and delicious with just the right amount of sweetness. I enjoyed having it with mint, too! Unless my memory has failed me, otherwise I'm thinking this is better than the Blueberry Oatmeal Crumbs.

Gate tried her hand on the Blueberry Oatmeal Crumbs but it somehow didn't turn out right. I figured it could be the oat she used. Hence, I like to share a few notes on oats. As with the Blueberry Oatmeal Crumbs, this Apple Crisp, too, uses old fashioned rolled oats. Oats are a cereal grain that is rich and flavorful and comes in many forms. Oats to be consumed by humans are cleaned, toasted, hulled to become what we call oat groats. The oat groats are then steamed and flattened to become rolled oats or old-fashioned oats. Old-fashioned rolled oats are not to be confused with quick-cooking rolled oats. These are oats cut into pieces before being steamed and rolled into thinner flakes. They cook quickly, about 5 minutes, but their flavor and texture are a little different than old-fashioned rolled oats. You should not use quick-cooking oats for this recipe, nor the Blueberry Oatmeal Crumbs.

You can choose to make this into individual ramekins, or a deep 8x8 baking dish as I did. Refrigerate leftover and reheat before serving again.

Ingredients:
(8 ramekins or one 8x8 deep baking dish)

Topping:

• 1/2 cup unbleached flour
  
• 1/2 cup natural cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (84 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
  

Filling:

• 4 Granny Smith's, peeled and chopped into 1" chunks
• 1 cup frozen blueberry (optional)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons natural cane sugar

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Lightly grease a 8x8 deep baking dish. Set aside.
2. For Topping: Place all the topping ingredients (flour, sugars, spices, butter, oats and nuts) in a food processor and process until the mixture is crumbly (looks like coarse meal) and there are no large pieces of butter visible. Set aside while you prepare the filling.
3. For Filling: Place the apple chunks in a large bowl, along with the berries (if using) and lemon zest. Toss with the lemon juice and sugar. Transfer to your prepared baking dish.
   
4. Spread the topping evenly over the apples.
5. Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes or until bubbly, and the topping is golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes before serving.

Apple Pie with Cream Cheese Crust

Ever since my first success with dough, I've been itching to place my hands on a second. I have my eyes on some pie recipes for awhile and now is time to put my skill to test.

One reason I chose this recipe out of thousands other: it uses cream cheese for the pie crust and I happened to have extra from the Cream Cheese Dip with Tomato and Basil. It is also a little bit more tedious than a basic pie crust would be; it satisfies my need for challenge. However, 1/2 way through the dough, I cursed my stubborn need: should have stick with basic - The consistency of the dough wasn't the same as the recipe describes. Nevertheless I marched on.

Then came the real challenge: waiting time. It requires at least another 3 hours from preparing the filling to pulling the pie out from the oven. You know that little voice coming from nowhere inside of you? I heard it many times: "Uh uuuh" And I stubbornly ignored it. Only while I was waiting for the last part of chilling - after the assembling, before baking - that I realized I didn't add butter to boiling the juice. "UH UUUHHHH". Big time. It really was no turning back at this point.

Tick Tock Tick Tock.... it was excruciating to wait when you knew something had gone awry. Anyhow I survived the 50 minutes baking time, AND another 120 minutes of cooling - you want to make sure it cools completely before cutting it.

Verdict: It passed! I wouldn't have thought otherwise if I didn't knew about the missing butter. Neither did Adrian not my neighbors (they still don't know). Now, I'm curious to find out how different it would be if I had not forgotten the butter....

Ingredients:
Cream Cheese Pie Crust
(makes two 9" pie crusts)

• 12 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
  
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 41/2 oz cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp ice water
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1. Place a medium sized bowl in the freezer to chill.
2. Place flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Cut in the cream cheese until the mixture becomes a coarse meal.
   
3. Spoon the mixture and the cold cubed butter into a ziploc bag. Expel air, seal and using a rolling pin flatten the butter into thin flakes. Once done put the bag of flour mixture into the freezer till firm. About 10 minutes.
4. Transfer flour mixture to chilled bowl. Sprinkle with ice water and vinegar. Toss to mix.
   
5. Divide dough into 2 and put each portion into separate ziploc bags. Knead until the dough holds together and is slightly stretchy when pulled.
6. Wrap and flatten into discs. Refrigerate overnight or at least 45 minutes.

The Apple Pie Filling

• 6 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/4" thick
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup castor sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch
  

1. Before making the pie filling, roll out one half of the pastry and line a pie pan. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.
2. Macerate apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt for between 30 minutes to 3 hours. Then transfer to a colander and collect the juices.
3. Boil down the juice to between 1/2 and 1/3 cup with the butter.
4. Toss the apples and the cornstarch until there are no more traces of the cornstarch. Pour boiled juice over apples.
5. Roll out top crust ready to cover the pie. Fill the lined pie pan with the apple pie filling, brush edges with a little egg yolk and then cover with the top sheet of pastry. Trim the edges, crimp the edges, make 3 slashes on the top pastry. Brush the top with egg white. Refrigerate 1 hour.
   
6. Bake at 200C for 45 - 55 minutes. Let cool before serving.
   

Cinnful Apple Fruit Salad

This was my first at tempt of making fruit salad. I just can't resist it because it comes with cinnamon. And I thought it would work well with the Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast. Indeed. They went SO well together that the Breakfast Salad paled in comparison.
It's super easy - you just need to soak the raisin in apple juice the night before and toss all the ingredients together just before serving and Voila!

Ingredients:

(makes about 9 cups)

4 crisp sweet apples

2 bananas, sliced thin

2 sweet pears

½ cup raisins (I mixed raisins with dried blueberry and cranberry)

1 cup unsweetened apple juice

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt

¼ tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. cinnamon

Sliced roasted almonds (optional)

1. Pour raisins into juice and refrigerate overnight. Also refrigerate all uncut fruit overnight.
2. Chop fruit shortly before serving and mix in large bowl.
3. Fold in yogurt, lemon juice, apple juice with raisins, vanilla and cinnamon.
4. Sprinkle each serving with sliced almonds. (I forgot this last step....)
   

Eggplant and Broccoli for the Cupcakemaker

My lovely Filipina yogini friend has just revived her cupcake blog. It certainly provokes me into buying a proper cupcake pan instead of the aluminum tin that I reuse again and again (my bit of contribution to stop global warming....;p), which reminded me of the moment-of-truth conversation with a chef friend - Dan Ivarie. He gave me an estimate of how much I could spend on a well equiped home kitchen. Geeez..... let's just say I've got to throw in more Private Yoga teaching hours than what I'm currently clocking in. "They last a life time" Dan's words of wisdom dwell.....

So where was I? Hmmm....Right, Peewee (what an adorable name) was asking for some eggplant/ broccoli recipes. I'm a sucker for both. Unfortunately the man whom I co-habit with isn't too fond of eggplant; something to do with mimicking his brother's food preference while growing up. But I do sneak in the purple nightshade now and then. Especially since I was introduced to the awsome Eggplant Parmesan made by a friend in Seattle.

I think broccolis are best steamed or boiled. I like the crunchines and greenness that get retained when it's not overcooked. There are a few broccoli recipes that I like. To go with the eggplant parmesan, I think the Broccoli Crunch would do.

Eggplant Parmesan

This is relatively easy to make. You just got to be patient with salting and draining the eggplant slices.This draws the water out of the eggplants and makes them less bitter. It also means they absorb less oil if you're frying them, which is exactly what we are going to do. The recipe calls for pasta sauce. You can use any bottled pasta sauce you like. When I feel like going the extra mile, I would crush and juice some fresh tomatoes and cook with minced garlic, mushroom and mixed herbs as the sauce.

Ingredients:
(serve 4)
1 eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch coins
1 Tablespoon of salt for salting
1/2 pound ricotta cheese
6 ounces shredded Mozarella
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 egg, beaten
1/2 Cup fresh basil, chopped
4 C pasta sauce

1. Sprinkle and rub both sides of eggplant coins with salt. Let sit in a colander for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 180C.
3. In a bowl, mix together ricotta, mozarella and 1/4 of Parmesan. Whisk in beaten egg and chopped basil.
4. Rinse the eggplant coins in cold water to remove excess salt. Pat and dry on paper towel.
5. Fry and brown eggplant coins on both sides.
6. Pour 3 Cups of pasta sauce to the bottom of a baking dish. Arrange a single layer of eggplant coins on top. Top the eggplant layer with 1/2 of the cheese mixture. Repeat layering with eggplant then cheese. You want the top most layer to be eggplant.
   
7. Pour remaining pasta sauce over the top. Sprinkle with the other 3/4 of Parmesan.
8. Bake 30 - 45 minutes until the sauce is bubbly.

Broccoli Crunch
The success of this dish relies on the broccoli. Make sure they are fresh. You don't want to overcook them; you want them to give a green pop in the mouth. Watch not to let them become mushy. Instead of using almond butter, tahini taste just as good, and cheaper too (even cheaper if you make it: just blend roasted white sesame seeds + oil).

Ingredients:
(serve 2)
2 Cup tiny broccoli florets
1 glove garlic, smashed and chopped with a pinch of salt

1/4 Cup almond butter
2 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon hot water

1 small crisp apple, quartered into bite-size (soak them in lemon water until ready to use)
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 C toasted walnut, coarsely chopped
1/6 C pan-fried shallot
Small handful of chive, chopped

1. Shallot: Pan fry shallot with oil and salt over medium heat. Stirring every few minutes. It takes about 15 minutes for the shallots to turn brown. Blot on paper towel and set aside.
2. Boil a pot of water with salt. When the water boils, put in broccoli florets and let cook for 10 seconds. Quickly remove and run them under cold water. Drain.
3. Whisk garlic, almond butter, lemon juice, honey and olive oil in a small bowl. Add a tablespoon of hot water to thin it out. Whisk till creamy. Taste and adjust accordingly. You may add more water for a smoother consistency.
4. Toss together almond butter dressing with broccoli, apples, red onion, 3/4 of pan fried shallot and toasted walnuts.
5. Top with chopped chives and the remaining pan fried shallots.

*I used to throw away the broccoli stalks. What a waste! Simply peel the outside skin from the stalk and cook as you would with the rest of the broccoli. Or, I would keep them for future Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup

Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup

This is one of my favorite soup. Broccoli AND blue cheese. Can it get any better than that?

Ingredients:
(serve 2)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 large potato, cubed (don't bother peeling)
500mL vegetable stock (I mixed 1 tablespoon of miso with 2 Cups of water)
1 head of broccoli, chopped
50gram Blue Cheese

1. Saute onion with a pinch of salt. Add cubed potatoes and stir for 2 minutes. Pour in the stock. Let it simmer.
   
2. When the potatoes are tender, add broccoli and cook until just tender (still bright green). Stir in 1/2 the cheese and transfer to a food processor. Blend to mix. Season with salt and pepper. Add the remaining Blue cheese.

* I like to add a swirl of cream to the soup, too.

Tangy Lentil Bake served with Red Cabbage Apple sauce, and Roasted Pumpkin with (unknown leaves) Salad

A student came back from a holiday break in Chiang Mai. Today was her first day back to the studio and she was eager to introduce me to her daughter and friend. She thought finally they get to meet the teacher she has been raving about *blush*. I said to her, with an apologetic smile, "I'm not teaching this week". And her daughter and friend will only be in Bangkok this week. Oops....

I have a good reason for that though: our favorite Queen of Back Bends - Paddy McGrath - is leading a series of morning practice based on her YogaPad series at Yoga Elements this entire week. I had, due to some reasons, been missing Paddy for the last couple of times she was in Bangkok. I missed her "stickman" and "chicken arms".

For some weird reason, the image of a red cabbage came into my vision as I was watching Paddy in her Downward Facing Dog rugby-hooligan style. Could be the purple she was wearing? By the way, why is red cabbage red cabbage when it actually is purple? Anyway that gave me idea for dinner - Lentil Bake served with Red Cabbage and Apple sauce.

As I ran my mind tasting and matching the few salad recipes that I could remember with the Lentil Bake, roasted pumpking sprung to the tip of my tongue. I love how they have different variety of pumpkins: Japanese, golden, Thai...etc. Although most of the time I let my wallet decides instead of the flavor. This time, I was attracted to the vibrant orange of Golden Pumpkin.

Don't you just hate it when they don't sell the thing that you want on the day you need it? That's how I felt when I couldn't get arugula. I distinctly remember they had it just two days ago (although they were labeled as rocket). And how convenient that they should have fresh rosemary and marjoram when I'm not needing them!! Anyway I bought a box of mixed greens that kind of resemble arugula/ rocket. Someone should talk to somebody about the importance of labeling in English for the sake of the under-educated self-proclaimed cook. Oh! and proper shelfing too.

Enough of my whining.

For Lentil Bake
I chose red lentil but green would work just fine. I also added some chopped parsley and oregano that still linger in the refrigerator after one week. The last time I made this dish, I also added sauteed mushroom to the bottom of baking dish before pouring the lentil mixture over. If you don't fancy spices, you can omit the coriander/ cumin/ paprika. This dish is good on itself but I really like the hint of sweet cinnamon that the Red Cabbage and Apple sauce impart onto the tanginess of lentil bake. Adrian and I like it sour. Feel free to reduce the amount of lemon juice/ zest called for.

Ingredients:

(serves 2)
1Cup lentils, rinsed
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 glove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon each of ground coriander, cumin, paprika (or 1 teaspoon of any one of these)
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
500mL Water (divided)
1/2 Tablespoon fresh herbs (eg. parsely/ oregano/ thyme leaves/ marjoram)
vegetable stock (I used 1/2 Tablespoon miso paste)
50g grated cheddar cheese
Handful of white sesame seeds (pine nuts are good, too)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Saute onions with a pinch of salt. Add in garlic when onions turn translucent. Saute until fragrant. (If using: add coriander, cumin and paprika. Fry for another minute)
   
3. Stir in rinsed lentil and fry for 2 minutes. Whisk in 1/4 C of water and stir. Pour in lemon juice and zest. Add another 1/4 Cup of water and let it simmer.
   
4. Mix in vegetable stock/ miso paste. Continue to add water 1/4 Cup at a time until the lentils are cooked, about 20 - 30 minutes. It took me about 1 cup of water.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and melt in 2/3 of cheddar. If you are using herbs, add them in now.
6. Pour over baking dish. Top with the remaing cheddar cheese and sprinkle with white sesame seeds. Bake at 200C for 30 minutes.

Red Cabbage and Apple Sauce
Below is from the original recipe I found in VegBox. I added nutmeg and replaced brown sugar with a handful of raisins. You want to make sure there's enough raisin for every bite of the sauce or it can be very bland.
Ingredients:
1/4 medium size red cabbage, slice thinly
1/2 large apple, grated
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup water

1. Saute red cabbage with a little bit of oil and stir for 5 minutes (add raisin if you are using).
   
2. Add cinnamon, sugar (omit it if using raisin), apple and water. Keep stirring for another 5 minutes or until most water evaporated.

Roasted Pumpkin with Arugula Salad

So I made a few changes to the original recipe: I replaced arugula with some greens that Adrian said were rhubarb but were not because apparently rhubarb leaves are inedible. I also used shaved Romano cheese in place of Parmesan. The sharp cheese more than made up for the lack of unique peppery arugula. By the way, the pumpkin skin is also edible and rather sweet.




Ingredients:
(serve 2)
1/4 medium pumpkin, cut into wedges.
1/2 medium shallot, sliced thinly
2 Tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
1Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/3 Tablespoon brown sugar
Salt, cayenne pepper

1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 teaspoon honey
2 Tablespoon Extravirgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 bunch aurgula, washed and trimmed
Handful of pine nuts
1 ounce Parmesan, shaved

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar,sugar, salt and cayenne pepper. Toss in pumpkin wedges and shallots.
3. Wrap with aluminium foil and bake covered for 20 minutes.
   
4. Unwrap the foil and bake uncovered for another 30 minutes.
5. Whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
   
6. Toss arugula with 1/3 of the honey vinaigrette.
7. Spread arugula on a plate. Arrange pumpkin wedges and shallots on top. Sprinkle with pine nuts and top with shaved parmesan. Drizzle the remaining honey vinaigrette over the plate.