Pineapple Cranberry Sauce

Ever since the first time I made fresh cranberry sauce, I have been trying to improve upon it and each time I try something new I like the result. The following recipe is an example.

 

Ingredients:

1 bag fresh cranberries

3/4C Pineapple juice

3/4C sugar

1 small can crushed pineapple

Place the pineapple juice and sugar into a pot over medium heat and wait for it to boil. Add cranberries, lower the heat and wait for them to pop, then stir and add the crushed pineapple. If you wish you may puree the mixture for a smooth consistency, but I prefer the texture that results just from cooking. Pour into a serving bowl and set it aside until it is room temperature and ready to serve alongside your turkey or chicken dinner.

The Cheese Course

While renting a vacation apartment near Campo Dei Fiore in Rome, I took the opportunity to cook for friends and was drawing a blank when it came to dessert. Because I had seen so many cheeses in the nearby shops, it seemed like a good idea to finally try making a cheese plate, so I did.

  

After selecting several types of cheese, I decided to include individual condiments with each selection. Since I had a Pecorino Romano with it's salty, strong taste, I decided to pair it with a shallot and fruit jam to contrast sweetness with the saltiness. First I sauteed the shallots in olive oil, added chopped cranberries and for good measure, some apricot juice.

As it cooked down, it needed a little kick, so I added some balsamic vinegar and cooked it down even more until I had a reasonable density and textural contrast for the cheese.

I resorted to my old standby of goat cheese, walnuts and honey for the second course. I discovered that combination in the Dordogne area of Southern France and have been using it in salads ever since. Because I already had a strong cheese on the plate, I combined the goat cheese with the sweeter, more buttery tasting Mascarpone.

After mixing the equal parts of cheese together, each piece was rolled in chopped walnuts and a "dimple" was placed on each piece, so that they would  be able to hold some of the honey in place.

Although it is not shown in the first photo of this post, I also paired a semi firm truffle cheese with walnuts and that proved to provide a nice contrast in flavors and textures.

I've saved the best for last. I couldn't resist trying a sheep's milk ricotta, even though I had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be the sweetest most luscious ricotta I have ever eaten.

The condiment was so easy I didn't bother to photograph it. I merely heated some dried cherries in balsamic, let it reduce and develop a syrupy consistency and adjusted the taste with a little sugar.

It was so delicious, I used the leftovers for a small lunch the following day.

Smoky Rub for Pork

I came up with this recipe when I tried roasting pork tenderloin for the first time. I wanted to do something that would work as a nice counterpoint to the sweet balsamic onion relish that I would be serving with it.


Ingredients:

2t garlic powder
1t smoked paprika
1t garam masala
1t ground cumin
1T extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Mix all ingredients into a paste and rub on pork tenderloin or center cut pork chop, roast or grill and you're done. This rub may be applied just before grilling the pork chop, but for the pork tenderloin, I suggest letting it sit for one hour, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.

This center cut pork chop is sitting in a fruit sauce made with cherries and enhanced for this particular use with hot curry powder that I made from 1 part ground cumin, 1 part hot red pepper powder, and one part ground tumeric.

Brandied Cherry Compote

I chat online with a group of friends that are serious cooks. A posted recipe for a braised pork dish helped me to come up with this compote that works so well with duck. It can be used for chicken, turkey and pork too. I took the main ingredients of dried sour cherries, brandy and bay leaf from the pork recipe and branched out from there...it was a short limb, as the only new idea was to add chicken stock and eliminate the other spices.

Ingredients:
3/4C dried Montmorency cherries (any kind that is tart)
3/4C brandy
1 1/2C chicken stock
3 bay leaves

Directions:
In a small saucier, or even a small frying pan (we're looking for lots of cooking surface so the liquids can reduce) simmer the cherries and brandy. When the cherries start to plump up, add the chicken stock and bay leaves. Stir occassionally until all the liquid has reduced by 2/3. This very simple to do while you cook other items. The taste is rather spicy and rich, so adding butter was not necessary.

Orange Balsamic Onions

This variation of my balsamic onions was inspired by a single ingredient, Balsamfrutta orange flavored balsamic vinegar, the rest just fell into place. I'm not tied to a particular orange flavored olive oil but both O and Etruria are decent.


Ingredients:
2 large yellow onions
2T orange flavored olive oil
3/4C orange flavored balsamic
3T extra virgin orange flavored olive oil
salt
zest from half an orange


Directions:

Peel and slice the onions thinly, then place them into the pan with the olive oil, that has been heated over a medium flame. Salt and saute the onions until softened, then add the balsamic vinegar. Lower the heat and let the vinegar slowly absorb into the onions. Taste and adjust the amount of vinegar to your liking.

Add the orange zest and continue cooking until the onions are completely cooked.

Note: If there seems to be enough reduced balsamic in the pan, after you have removed the onions, you can make a very nice sauce by adding butter and a small amount of brown sugar.

Balsamic Fig Jam

This jam is made fresh but I may try canning it in the future. It works well with both meats and cheeses as a condiment. My inspiration came from a pizza I had eaten at Fig's in Boston. It had gorgonzola and dried figs that had been plumped in balsamic, as well as prosciutto. I dare say this might be nice on a grilled ham and cheese sandwich too. I'll have to try that one of these days.


Ingredients:

8 oz. dried Mission figs
1/2C balsamic vinegar
1/3C fig jam

Directions:

Stem and chop the figs. I use a very fine dice when making this for use in appetizers, but if it accompanies duck or pork a rough chop would work well. Simmer the balsamic and add the figs.

After the figs have cooked down a bit and the balsamic is being absorbed into them, add the comercially prepared jam and continue cooking down over a very low flame until a nice thick consistancy is achieved. Cool down and use. Refrigerate afterwards and it will last for months, although I would suggest that it be used within one month.

Nana's Salsa

This is not a traditional salsa as it is cooked, not fresh, but it's the one we grew up with and used exclusively with French bread. We would have been happy to make a meal of it. I guess you could say it was Nana's bruschetta topping. It's perfect for topping a meatloaf too.


Ingredients:
2 large yellow onions
2 medium green Bell peppers
12 cloves smashed garlic
extra virgin olive oil for sauteing
8C Roma tomatoes
salt to taste

Directions:

Cut the onions and peppers into large dice, sprinkle with salt and saute in the olive oil over a medium low heat until the onions become translucent. Add the mashed garlic cloves and saute until they soften a little, but do not change color.

Rough chop the tomatoes and add to the onion mixture, stir in, salt and saute to break them down a bit, then cover the pot and lower the heat to simmer. When the tomatoes have cooked down, they're ready to add to sterilized jars and preserve. Place in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.


This recipe will only make about 4 pints of salsa...not nearly enough!

I actually did make a meal of it by adding a fresh salad that included uncooked salsa ingredients of fresh tomatoes, bell peppers and red onions instead of yellow, along with mixed salad greens of red butter lettuce and what Papa called "cicoria".

Nana used her "salsa" on plain French bread, but I decided to up the ante and toasted the bread, then layered it with some fresh pesto. It was good that way too, but no better than the way I originally tasted it.