Cranberries and Broccoli and Carrots, Oh My!

It's Friday night, we have six days until we leave, and we still have produce in the fridge. Oh my!

Last night we did a stir fry. Who says that you can't use leftovers in a stir fry? We cooked up some jasmine rice and tossed in chopped crystallized ginger when it was done cooking, removed from heat, put the lid on - amazing, easy, could eat this three times a week no problem. Then we cut some fresh broccoli into florets (leftover from when we had roasted broccoli), sliced baby carrots thinly (trying to finish off the bag), thinly wedged half an onion that was hanging out in the fridge, and sliced a leftover grilled ribeye steak (great way to make one moderate sized steak feed two people). Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil or wok oil in a skillet heated over medium heat, toss in the veggies, and stir fry. I put a little water in after five minutes (maybe a couple tablespoons) and put the lid on to gently steam the broccoli. Remove from heat, toss in the steak, put the lid on, and by the time you have the plates out and the rice dished up, the steak has been heated through but not really cooked more.

Tonight is french bread pizza. Day old french bread bought at a reduced price, cut in half, and frozen has been pulled from the freezer to thaw on the counter (won't take long, maybe 30 minutes). Usually I cook down plain tomato sauce until thick enough to be pizza sauce, but tonight it's clean out the fridge, so we're using leftover spaghetti sauce as the pizza sauce. Top with cheese that needs to be used and some pepperoni that was in the freezer (takes 5 minutes to thaw enough to pull apart, if that), and we have S's pizza. For the grown ups, we'll top with lots of stuff from the fridge, whatever is at hand. There's a bell pepper in there, so pepperoni, bell pepper, maybe some onion or thinly sliced garlic. Leftover grilled chicken, pork chops, and steak make great toppings when thinly sliced and added at the very end of baking. Even kielbasa and taco meat work out great!

One other thing that I'll be making either tonight or tomorrow morning is cranberry almond coffee cake, a big favorite for S and for me. It's just as good using frozen cranberries as it is fresh cranberries, so this is one of my recipes I like to make in the depths of winter with cranberries I've stashed in the freezer. The golden color of the coffee cake, studded with brilliant red cranberries, wafting the aroma of almonds and cranberries is delightful, and paired with the tender but firm texture, the smooth almond flavor, and the pop of the cranberry tartness is something that draws me back again and again. I make my own almond paste, but you might be able to find it in your grocery store, especially with the holidays upon us. One batch of almond paste makes three of these coffee cakes. Buy up some fresh cranberries and stash them in your freezer to make this for the holidays! In fact, this recipe looks like it would also work with blueberries, huckleberries, gooseberries, or cherries, so maybe do some experimenting and enjoy the results!

Cranberry Almond Coffee Cake
1/2 c. almond paste
6 T. butter or margarine, softened (3/4 stick)
1/2 c. sugar plus 2 T sugar for sprinkling on top
3 eggs or 3/4 c. egg substitute
1 1/3 c. flour, divided
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. fresh or frozen cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8" square baking dish.
In a small mixing bowl, cream almond paste, butter, and 1/2 c. sugar until fluffy.
Add two eggs, beating well after adding each one.
Combine 1 cup flour and baking powder; add to creamed mixture.
Beat in the remaining egg and flour.
Stir in the extracts.
Gently fold in the cranberries
Spread evenly into the prepared baking dish; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Almond Paste
1 1/2 c. blanced almonds (I like to use sliced, it comes together faster)
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 egg white
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt

Place almonds in a food processor; cover and process until smooth.
Add the remaining ingredients; cover and process until smooth.
Divide almond paste into 1/2 cup portions; place in airtight containers. Refrigerate for up to 1 month or freeze for up to 3 months.

Both recipes are from Taste of Home.

Freezing What I Can

One of the things that I will do the day we leave on a trip is to freeze everything I can from the fridge and pantry. Here are some ideas on what to do with your leftovers.

Freeze bread, rolls, bagels, English muffins, and such. Just toss them in the freezer in the original bags, then pull them out when you get home - bread thaws in minutes on the counter. This is perfect for trips: your loaf of bread is frozen in a moment of time while you are gone, then when you get home, you have bread within 15 minutes of your arrival without having to run to the store.

Freeze your milk. If the jug is full, you will need to pour some out (for a gallon jug, I empty the shouler area - down to the straight sides. I generally freeze without the cap on to allow the extra to escape as the liquid expands with freezing, then put the cap on (the frozen milk will be up to the lid). It will take a day to thaw in a cool water bath (like you would do to thaw a turkey) or a couple days in the fridge, and you will need to give it a good shake before using to make sure any fats are reincorporated, but you won't lose your milk. Alternately, freeze in an ice cube tray in 1 tablespoon measures, then bag the milk cubes to use in your coffee or to thaw more quickly than a big jug of milk.Tip: there are 16 tablespoons in a cup, so 4 tablespoons of milk will equal 1/4 cup of milk, making measuring for recipes a snap.

Freeze leftover meat, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, and rice in individual portions. You can pull them out and heat and eat for a quick meal. Leftover meat can be diced and used in soups or an omelet.

Freeze bits of fruit to use in smoothies or to cook and puree later into fruit sauces.

Things like sauteed onions and mushrooms also freeze well, so don't be afraid to bag them up and freeze them too!

Worst case scenario, try freezing leftovers from your fridge rather than throwing them away. What do you have to lose if it doesn't freeze well?

Using Up the Jam

Life last week was crazy, but I'm back! Next week we go on a trip to see family for the holiday, so for the next 10 days, I'm going to tackle two things that are pressing issues in my kitchen right now: using the bags and bags of fresh cranberries we found at Sam's and using up as many leftovers and odds and ends in the fridge as we can before we leave. I canned 13 pints and 13 pint-and-a-half jars of cran-applesauce on Saturday, so there went 3 of my 8 bags (each bag is 3 pounds) of cranberries. Tonight's dinner will be grilled chicken, steamed veggies, and surprise muffins, our all time favorite way to use up the bits of jam in the fridge. Surprise muffins are extremely versatile, and everyone in our family loves them. I've done them not only with the basic muffins but also with cornbread muffins, so take your pick! The cran-applesauce would be a great addition to your holiday dinner table, and you can either freeze it or can it. I use a Foley food mill to puree my sauce, but I know other people have an attachment for their food processor, and still others like to peel and core the apples, then use a ricer or potato masher to make a chunkier sauce. If you've never canned before, buy a Ball Blue Book for $5 - $6 and check out the step-by-step instructions!

Surprise Muffins
1 egg or 1/4 c. egg substitute
1 c. milk or soy milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
jam of choice

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin papers.
Beat egg, then stir in milk and oil.
Mix in remaining ingredients just until flour is moistened. Batter should be slightly lumpy.
Fill muffin cups 1/3 full. Put 1/2 - 1 tsp of jam on top in the center. Put more batter in the muffin cup until 2/3 full.
Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Lesser amounts of jam will result in a hidden center of warm jam in each muffin. Greater amounts of jam will result in some breakthroughs, so there will be the warm jam middle but some evidence of it on the outside.
Try with cornbread muffins too, making centers of pepper jelly, lime jelly, honey jelly, etc.
Original muffin recipe is the popular muffin recipe from old Betty Crocker cookbooks.
Makes 12 muffins.

Cran-applesauce
4 1/2 lb sweet apples, bad spots removed - core and peel if not using a food mill
1 1/2 lb fresh or frozen cranberries (not craisins!)
1 c. water
Put all ingredients in a 6-8 qt pot with a lid, cover, and cook on medium-high until apples are soft and falling apart and cranberries are burst, about 20 minutes.
Mill using a food mill. If not milling, put the mix through a ricer or mash with a potato masher.
The sauce is done. No kidding! Now you may serve, freeze, or can.
If freezing: pour/ladle into freezer containers, cool, put lids on, label, and freeze.
If canning: ladle into prepared/sterilized jars, put on prepared lids and bands, and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.
Makes 9 cups.

Apple Bread

I still have apples everywhere, waiting for cranberries to be in the stores so I can make batch after batch of cranapplesauce. In the meantime, it's high time to use up some of these apples! I posted on Oct 16 about making apple pie jam. Today I'm going to make some apple bread, a nice quick bread. I've had this recipe for so long that I can't remember where it came from - my original copy is actually a handwritten recipe card. This only uses about 1 large apple per loaf, but it's very good and freezes very nicely. It's also a very simple recipe with very few ingredients, making it an easy quick bread to tackle. While apples are $1/lb in most places, buy some apples and do apple week with me!

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. shortening
2 eggs
1 1/2 T buttermilk (you can use fresh milk or add 1/8 tsp lemon juice or vinegar)
1 tsp vanilla
2 c. flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 c. chopped apples (peel, core, chop, then measure)
1. Grease a bread pan. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cream the sugar and shortening (mix until creamy, smooth, slightly whipped).
3. Mix in the eggs, milk, and vanilla.
4. Mix in the flour, salt, and baking soda, then stir that into the wet mixture.
5. Stir in the chopped apples.
6. Spread into the prepared bread pan, then bake for one hour or until a toothpick poked into the center of the bread comes out clean.