Make Ahead 4 Ingredient Cranberry Sauce

This is a recipe I love. It is super easy and doesn’t require much. 4 Ingredient, 1 pot.

I am making this now, so this will be one thing less I have to do right before Thanksgiving Day. I like to have all my ducks in a row when it comes to being prepared. I have had things go wrong in the past that could have been prevented. Nonetheless I will be preparing things ahead and hoping everything works fine.

 

Remember I said 4 Ingredients: I used Fresh Cranberries. Always go for fresh if you can, frozen will work too. I used pineapple juice, but any citrus juice can be switched. Orange Juice a good substitute too. Zest of an Orange. If you have a fancy zester like mine use it. If you don’t http://www.wikihow.com/Zest-an-Orange there are three other ways.  Molasses or you can use real maple syrup.

Boiling

Look Closely the berries are splitting (you’ll hear popping noises)

Simmer until thickened

See

Note the Vibrant color. This will go nicely with the Turkey. It also goes great with a pork loin.

Allow it to completely cool before transferring to a container/ziploc bag to freeze. Unthaw the day of event, rewarm and serve.

 

Update: Thanksgiving and Veterans Day

I updated my background to reflect the American holiday that I readily celebrate. Thanksgiving. My Posts this month will regard preparations for it and holiday baking.  I also wanted to point out my Image in my header. I am a Veteran of the United States Army. Veterans Day is celebrated the 11th of November to honor all veterans who have served whether long passed or still serving. I want to honor my brother and sister’s in arms who I had the opportunity to deploy with in 2007. This was the entire company of the 56th Military Police. We were stationed in Iraq.  Supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. We went in during the surge. I am proud to have worked with these individuals. Thank A Vet today! Whether you are from another country or not, I’m sure the veterans in your country would surely appreciate the sentiments.

The reason I had the opportunity to go to culinary school was because of the Army. The GI Bill afforded me the opportunity to make my dream come true with little expense to me.

Sorry for the lapse from Halloween. Been busy mama helping with some different groups on our post. Playing powder puff, organizing teen nights, FRG (Family Readiness Group ) business. I seem to be more busy than usual. No snow yet, but it is  cold. I am working on Roasting pumpkins today and a make ahead cranberry sauce. Recipe posted in a few minutes. Enjoy!

 

To Puree Squash

I puree squash. Why do you say?  Not for babyfood!  For baking, specifically squash bread.

And I know some people boil squash or pumpkin for that matter. I roast mine.  I feel it maintains the flavor and wholesomeness better.

Cut the top off. Slice in half length wise.

Please don’t tell me what they look like!

Scoop out the insides, clean the sides from the stringy pieces.  I kept my seeds in a bowl for later. (later post)

Cover each one in a coating of olive oil. (this keeps it from drying and catching on fire in the oven.

In a preheat oven of 425 degrees Fahrenheit, Roast until fork tender.

Peel the outer skin after cooling the squash for a time. It’s pretty simple. Although some pieces may try to take some meat with them.

Discard Peels

Puree in a blender, Add water if needed, it may give you some trouble in the blender. Overall its just needs a little blending as it is already mushy. Just trying to get the remaining chunks out.

Place in quart size baggies. About 2 cups per baggy.

Freeze when cool. Pull out when ready for use, allow to thaw.

Voila. How easy was that?!

Parsley, Petersilie (Peter’s Silly)

I apologize for the goofy title. The second word after Parsley is the translation for Parsley in German. We live in Germany so I had to add that in.  It does really look like Peter’s Silly.

 

So, Parsley that herb I am growing in my herb pot. It’s one of the few things that has survived mother nature’s psychotic wrath on the spring and summer this year.

 

 

 

 

So Goody for me, what do I do with it?

 

It can be a plate garnish (decoration) among other things. I know that’s what comes to mind for some people.

 

I italicized herb if you caught on to that above. What is a herb?

 

herb

/(h)ərb/

Noun Any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume. A part of such a plant as used in cooking.

(Google definition)

 

So Key Word in the first sentence FLAVORING

It flavors anything you add it to. Though, just don’t go adding it to everything. It may not taste good on a scoop of ice cream. Parsley is a herb that rarely is out of season, you can find it year around at most grocery stores.

Already a good thing.

Curly Leaf

Flat Leaf

There are two different types of parsley: Flat Leaf (Italian parsley), curly leaf:

• Flat Leaf parsley has a bolder taste, more difficult to chop finely. (flat leafs are hard to chop, really the are but this is the type you would use specifically in your dishes)
• Curly Parsley is suited for fine chopping, also a great looking garnish. (this is the garnish)

This Herb has great versatility as a seasoning into almost anything. We chopped tons of it in culinary school. We had to perfect chopping it to make it beautifully for sauces, and soups. (can’t have an ugly soup, now can we?) It is not meant to be overcooked, it loses its’ flavors. If you are adding it to hot food, add it at the end. Fresh parsley is best, dry parsley can lose flavor and has a less than beautiful color. Fresh anything is always better for nutritional reasons.Wash it well to get dirt and other foreign objects extracted from the leaves, and dry before chopping. It is difficult to handle if it is wet, it will stick to your fingers like glitter.  A Reason why well dried parsley is recommended before chopping. So don’t be lazy.

Chop close in time to when you will use or serve, it will lose color after a period of time due to oxidation and bruising from the knife.

Don’t throw away the stems they can be used as well, especially in a stock for some of the best soups.

 

Parsley can be confused with Cilantro AKA Chinese Parsley AKA Coriander (it has an almost identical look and smell) The taste is different. It was easily  mixed up a lot in culinary school.

Cilantro (Photo credit: mattjb)

I see  Coriander here in Germany more than Parsley.

If you are familiar with french cooking: you can use parsley in a Bouquet Garni (A bundle of fresh herbs) used in stocks, soups,  and sauces. The basis for any great meal. Or maybe a Persillade: Garlic and parsley finely chopped together used in French cuisine.

It’s flavor enhances many plates..

So don’t knock it and let it just lie on your plate, make use of it. You will find it can change a dish from yuck to yum!