"A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch." - James Beard
Fresh cranberry sauce was one of the first things I learned how to make and it was my contribution to our family Thanksgiving dinner for years.
And it's SO easy! There's no need to buy canned or pre-made sauce. All you need is a $2.00 bag of fresh cranberries, some sugar and some water to make a tasty sauce. I added a few extra flavours but they're totally optional.
This recipe makes a lot of cranberry sauce, but it keeps for months in the fridge or freezer so use the whole bag.
When you cook the cranberries you'll hear them pop. Cranberries are full of pectin so the sauce will thicken up as it cools.
You can make this ahead and chill it for Thanksgiving day!
Here's the recipe:
340 g (12 oz) bag fresh cranberries, rinsed well
1 cup water
3/4 cup - 1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (optional)
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest (optional)
Place the cranberries, water, sugar, ginger and zest in a medium pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes until cranberries pop. Remove from heat and cool.
Every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas I'm responsible for making the cranberry sauce. I usually make a very simple whole-berry sauce with just cranberries, sugar and water. Sometimes I add a little orange zest.
I had plenty of cranberries left and Natrel Organic was kind enough to send me a preserve kit with jars, tools and labels for canning.
Here's a quicky part 3 of my braised lamb and beans recipe. This gremolata gets sprinkled over the lamb and stirred into the beans to add a lovely, fresh, bright flavour.
Gremolata is a condiment made of lemon, parsley and garlic. No oil at all! It really brightens things up, especially braised meats and veggies that have a rich flavour but lack that fresh punch at the end.
All you do is throw a handful of parsley and 3 cloves of garlic in a food processor along with the zest of one lemon. Pulse until combined.
This gremolata gets mixed into the beans and sprinkled over the braised lamb to give the whole meal extra flavour. Here's the full recipe again. Enjoy!
Tzatziki is cucumber garlic dip/spread that is very easy to make. It is great on Greek-style foods like souvlaki and gyros and it is delicious on pita. We used it as a topping for boiled potatoes and it made them super delicious!
All you need is Greek yogurt, cucumber, a garlic clove and some salt and pepper. I added fresh chives and dill.
Finely chop the cucumber, garlic and herbs and add them to the yogurt, sprinkling it all with salt and cracked pepper to taste.
Mix well and chill for about an hour to let the flavours meld. This is great as a dip or as a topping for chicken, pork, rice or potatoes.
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