Foodie Friday -- Cranberry Jelly

Every November, my mom makes cranberry jelly.

It's like the stuff you can buy in the cans, only better.

This year, her eyesight is starting to go--the woman is 91, so give her a break!--so I made the batch, well, actually three batches because my brother went to Sam's Club and bought a 3 pound bag for Mom. I suppose I'll be the designated cranberry jelly maker from now on. I'm good with that . . . as long as I get her antique chinois.

What is a chinois?

This is a chinois. Though my mom's is at least 60+ years old, probably older, bigger than this and it has its own pedestal.

This recipe is super easy. And if you don't get into the canning thing, then you can eat it immediately, or you can do what my mom does and pour melted paraffin wax over the cooled jelly. 

Cranberry Jelly

1 lb fresh cranberries
1 cup water
2 cups sugar

Rinse cranberries and place in medium saucepan, add water and boil until all the cranberries pop, about 3-5 minutes. Pour cranberries into chinois or conical colander. Press liquids/soften fruit from skin. Return the thick juice to saucepan, add sugar. Stir and bring to boil. Boil 1-2 minutes. Pour mixture into prepared jars. Let cool. Use immediately or seal according to canning instructions. 


Hints & Suggestions:

• Here's the dealio--Ocean Spray doesn't sell 1 lb bags of cranberries in the grocery store any longer. They are 12 ounces. Simply recalculate the recipe.  12 oz. cranberries, 3/4 cup water, 1 1/2 sugar. Easy-peasy.
• Cranberries contain a natural pectin, which allows the product to gel without the aid of an unsweetened gelatin product, like Knox Gelatin.
• If you don't have a chinois, then you can use mesh strainer or a large weave cheesecloth to smush the guts out of the cranberry skins.
• Cranberries stain everything. You have been warned.
• One pound of cranberries makes about 4 6-oz. jelly jars in this recipe.
• If you want to make it a sauce with the cranberry skins, then skip the smushing stage. Add everything into the pot and cook about 10 minutes.
• To change the flavor profile, you can add orange juice or cranberry juice instead of water, or use maple sugar or honey to sweeten, or zest an orange. Always taste for tartness and sweetness levels that you enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving, Peeps!

FOODIE FRIDAY-- Cranberry-Apple Pie

All-righty then! This recipe is originally from Bon Appetit magazine. I believe we made this recipe for Thanksgiving in 2010, AND again this year, because it is a nice autumn fruit pie/tart. During Thanksgiving, I didn’t even touch this recipe as my sis-in-law and nephew did all the work, BUT I made this for my hubby’s holiday work party last Tuesday. The only thing I did different from the recipe was to use a 2-inch deep tart pan (9-inches) instead of a pie pan. I liked heaping up the apple-cranberry filling and didn’t have to worry about overfilling and causing a mess if the juices went over the sides (they couldn’t--tart pan’s tall sides).

**I cut the apples a smaller than this-- ½ inch chunks**

Cranberry-Apple Pie

CRUST:

1 ¼ cups flour
1 Tbls sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
¼ cup (½ stick) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3 Tbls (or more) ice water

FILLING:

1 ½ pounds Granny Smith or other tart green apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1 ½-inch chunks**
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
¼ cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ cup sugar

2 Tbls flour
3 Tbls butter, melted, cooled slightly
1 large egg

White chocolate (< 1 oz., melted for drizzling), optional

Crust: Mix flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add shortening and butter, process using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3 Tbls water. Process until moist clumps form. If dough is too dry, add more water by teaspoonfuls. Gather dough into ball, flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill for 1 hour. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Preheat oven to 400° F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to deep dish tart pan with removable bottom. Trim crust and fold over making sides 1-inch high. Freeze 15 minutes.

Line crust with foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until pale golden, piercing with fork if bubbles form, about 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 325° F.

Filling: Mix the first five ingredients in large bowl. Spoon filling into pie crust. Bake 30 minutes.

Whisk next four ingredients (sugar, flour, butter, egg) in small bowl to blend. Pour mixture over filling. Bake until apples are tender and filling begins to brown, about 1 hour. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Tent pie with foil and store at room temperature.)

Drizzle with white chocolate in decorative pattern, if desired.

Enjoy!