Cranberry Sauce

Every Thanksgiving I make a different cranberry sauce recipes hoping to find a keeper.  I made some recipes that use so many ingredients it didn't taste like cranberries anymore.  This year I found the one and it's simple.  Simple to make and simple in taste as you actually taste the cranberries.  So my search is over, this is a keeper.  The recipe comes from allrecipes.com, Cranberry Sauce.

Ingredients:
12 oz. fresh (or frozen) cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, let cool and place sauce in a bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

      

Pumpkin Bread

I have to post this recipe again because it's that time of year for everything pumpkin.  I LOVE this pumpkin bread, it is spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.  So much flavor and is perfectly moist.  The slightly adapted recipe comes from Allrecipes.com - Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread.  I make 6 mini loaves, that way I can share the loaves or freeze what we're not going to eat right away.

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounces) can pumpkin puree 4 eggs 1 tsp vanilla  1 cup vegetable oil 2/3 cup water 3 cups white sugar 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger pumpkin seeds (optional)

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour six  5.75 in x3 in (mini) inch loaf pans.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla, oil, water, and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.  Sprinkle some pumpkin seeds over the top of each loaf.
3.	Bake for about 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool 15 minutes and remove from pans.

The Madison Club

Tuesday night a friend (Margaret) invited me to The Madison Club (Madison Wisconsin) for a Harvest Cooking Class.  I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised as it wasn't cooking 101 but instead we got to experience cooking like a Chef at a fine dinning Restaurant.  The class was taught by Executive Chef Andrew Wilson.  The recipes we made were Steam Shellfish with Roasted Squash Curry Soup, Roasted Beet Salad with Duck, Oranges and Goat Cheese and Mustard Encrusted Venison Loin with Sauerkraut Spaetzle, Roasted Apples and Braised Cabbage.  Chef Andrew took us through each step of every recipe.  We were all given a whole duck to cut up.  I'll admit I don't even cut up chicken much less a duck but it was fun to learn. It was fascinating to learn about new ingredients and how to prepare them. After the class we all sat in the dining room where we were served what we had just learned to cook.  It was an amazing meal!  One recipe I will be making at home is the Roasted Squash Soup because it wasn't too difficult (recipe below).  I think I can find all the ingredients except maybe the galangal but will just use extra ginger.  It was delicious with the shellfish but was also delicious on it's own.  As far as the other recipes, I will leave those to Chef Andrew because I'm not sure where I would purchase  duck breast or a venison loin.  Thanks Margaret for the invite, I had a wonderful time.  Also to the other ladies in the class I enjoyed meeting all of you.  And Thanks to Chef Andrew, I left  with a full stomach and a smile on my face.

Steam Shellfish with Roasted Squash Curry

Roasted Beet Salad with Duck, Oranges and Goat Cheese

Mustard Encrusted Venison Loin with Sauerkraut Spaetzle, Roasted Apples and Braised Cabbage.

    Roasted Squash Curry Soup

1/4 cup canola oil to saute
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped
2 Tablespoons ginger, chopped
2Tablespoons galangal, chopped (see note below) (use extra ginger if you can't find)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons red curry paste
1 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
1 butternut squash, peeled and roasted (roast 350 degrees for 45 minutes until soft)
juice of 2 limes
3-4  (14oz) cans coconut milk
3 cups chicken or shrimp stock (or combo)

Directions:

Heat a large soup pot with the canola oil. Add garlic, ginger, galangai, lemongrass and onion.  Lightly caramelize over high heat until very fragrant.  Add tomatoes, fish sauce and sugar and cook to almost dry.  Add tomato and curry paste and toast lightly.  Deglaze with lime juice and stock.  Reduce stock by one third and coconut milk and roasted squash.  simmer briefly until everything is combined and soft.  Working in batches, puree curry in blender and strain through fine mesh sieve if desired.  Return curry to pot, thin with more stock if necessary and check seasoning.  Serve immediately.

Serve as is or add shellfish (steamed mussels, clams, shrimp or pan seared scallops)

Note:  Galangal
A close relative of ginger, galangal is an important and popular ingredient in the foods of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand. Ground Galangal (formerly called Laos powder) is easier to work with than whole Galangal and is commonly called for in recipes. The flavor is similar to ginger, but more flowery and intense. Use small amounts when starting out. Its flavor combines with ginger and lemon grass in Thai cooking, and with white pepper and/or cayenne for seasoning fish, meat or poultry. From Thailand.