Orange Cranberry Apple Pie

After trying my hand at one cranberry pie, I decided to try another one.  We all know that orange and cranberry go fairly well together, so I decided to try that combination in a pie.  I found a recipe for an Orange Cranberry Apple Pie.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Now you will need:

4 medium sized apples (cored and sliced)
Zest of 1 orange
Juice of 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups cranberries, chopped (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, and put into a frozen pie crust.  (If you have too much filling for the pie, you can always set it aside and eat it later.  That's what I did.)  Now for the topping, you will need:

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup oats

I combined all these ingredients into a food processor, and processed it until blended.  If you want a smoother topping like mine, you can put the oats in before you blend it, or you can put them in after you blend it to maintain their structure.  Sprinkle this evenly over the pie.

Now to bake.  I recommend putting the pie on a cookie sheet so it doesn't spill over into the bottom of the oven.  Bake it for 30 minutes, and then pull it out and cover it loosely with aluminum foil.  Bake for another 30-45 minutes until the apples are soft when you insert a knife in the pie.  Pull it out and let it cool first.

I like this pie so much better than the Lemon Ginger Cranberry Pie because this one is less tart and has a refreshing apple pie sort of taste.  I hope you enjoy this pie as much as I have.

Lemon Ginger Cranberry Pie

So it has been a while since I have had a chance to try something new.  You know how life goes, one minute it's super slow, and the next it's really busy.  This weekend I was able to try a few new recipes, and to try out cooking with cranberries.  I was searching for things to do with cranberries, and after my success with the Lemon Ginger Cranberry Bread, I thought I would try a Lemon Ginger Cranberry Pie.  Like always, I find it very useful to get all of your ingredients out before you start to cook.

3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (About 4-6 lemons)
Zest of 2 lemons
2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
3 whole eggs
1/4 cup cornstarch
4 tbsp butter (1/2 stick)
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 frozen pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Once preheated, bake the frozen pie crust for 10 minutes.  Now for my favorite part, making the custard filling.  In a double boiler, mix all the ingredients except the butter, olive oil, and cranberries.  Stir constantly until the custard thickens.  About 10-15 minutes.  Remove the custard from the heat, and add the butter and olive oil, mixing until the butter is melted.  Add the cranberries and mix until well incorporated.  Pour the filling into the pie crust, and bake for 30-45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the top of the pie has a nice golden color to it.  Pull it out and let it cool on a wire rack.  It is good while it is still warm, and with some vanilla ice cream.  The pie is a little tart, but still a good fun way to use my cranberries from Bountiful Baskets.

Mulled Apple Cider

I love this time of year when the trees change color and we walk on crunchy leaves.  I also love the fresh cider that we can get too.  I went to a local orchard, Zollinger's, and bought some of their delectable fresh cider. 

I love spiced cider, and with some trial and error I believe I have come up with one of the best recipes.

To start, pour one gallon Apple cider in the crockpot.  Add 1/4 cup brown sugar, 3-4 oranges (quartered), and 2 linear (quartered).  You can either create a spice pack for the spices, or just put the spices in whole, and fish them out later. 

To make the spice pack, take a piece of cheesecloth, and put 2-4 cinnamon sticks, 12 clove buds, 12 allspice berries,and about 1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg.  Tie the cheesecloth shut and place in the cider.

The rest is easy, cook it on low for 2 hours, and keep warm until ready to serve.  This also tastes good cold, so feel free to chill and serve later.

Lemon Ginger Cranberry Bread

I have a lot of lemons from Bountiful Baskets a few weeks ago, and I decided to get the cranberry extra this week (24 pounds of cranberries).  I am pretty excited to try new recipes that call for cranberries!   I was looking for some recipes that called for cranberries and found one that also called for some of my excess lemons.

This bread is as visually stunning as it delicious because the bread is a pale yellow with bright red cranberries throughout.

This recipe is very moist, and has a light sweet taste with hints of lemon and ginger intertwined with tart cranberries and crunchy almonds.  For starters you will need to preheat your oven to 350 F.  If you don't already have toasted chopped almonds, once your oven is preheated you can place your chopped almonds on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.

1/4 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp fresh ginger, ground
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 tsp lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
1 1/2 cups cranberries
1/2 cup toasted almonds

Combine the lemon juice and milk in a bowl and set aside.  Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl.  I used my Bosch mixer.  Mix the dry ingredients, and then add the butter and mix until it looks like small crumbs.  In a separate bowl, combine the milk mixture, ginger, vanilla, egg and lemon zest.  Then add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.  Mix in the cranberries and almonds.  Pour the batter into a loaf pan, and bake for 65-70 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Let it rest for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to allow it to completely cool.  Serve and enjoy!

An oldie but a goodie...

I made this recipe up on my own, and so I don't know what to call it other than Potato Corn Chowder.  It is so made up that the recipe changes based on what I have.

Here is the basics, and you can add whatever else you want.

Chicken
Corn
Potatoes
Onion
Fresh garlic, pressed
Broth of some kind (I used no salt added vegetable broth this time, but I have also used chicken bullion)
Milk
Grated cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

I start out with a little butter or oil of some kind to sautee the onions in.  I like adding bacon, so I cooked up a pound of bacon, and sauteed the onions and garlic in some of the bacon grease.  I then added some celery, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, corn, chicken, potatoes, and butternut squash.  I added some vegetable stock, oregano, thyme, sage, and rosemary, and let it cook for about 30-40 minutes until the veggies were still just a little firm, then I added about some milk, and about a pound of shredded Italian cheese blend.  I mixed it all up, and used some flour and water to thicken it and then seasoned with salt and pepper until it tasted good.  I have also added nutmeg and cinnamon to this, and it gives it a nice taste as well.

This is such a simple meal to make, and since I make it with whatever I have in the fridge, it is a great way to finish up some of the vegetables from my Bountiful Baskets each week.  Not to mention on these colder nights, it warms you through and through.

Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

I got a few acorn squashes in my Bountiful Baskets last week, and I couldn't decide what to make with them.  I found a great recipe for Roasted Acorn Squash Soup, and thought I would give it a try.  Roasted Squash of any type just sounds great, and since it is a little chilly outside and snowing, soup sounds really good.  This soup is a little sweet, and with the pepper it has quite a kick to it.  I really enjoyed it, but I put in way too much heat for my liking.  (I did adjust the recipe from what I did to make it a little less spicy.)

First you need to roast the squash.  Preheat the oven to 400 F, and then cut your squash in half and seed it.  Coat each half with olive oil, and place on a baking sheet skin side down.  I used a Misto sprayer to spary the olive oil on.  Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven for 45-50 minutes.  Once cooled, you will need to scoop out the flesh and discard the skin.  (You could probably do this ahead of time, and just let it sit in the fridge until needed.)  Now you will need to gather the rest of your ingredients.

2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 onion, chopped (red or yellow)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated (or 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
4 cups vegetable stock

Now the fun begins, heat the olive oil in a stock pot.  Add the carrots, apple, shallot, and onion, and sautee until tender for about 6-8 minutes.  Once tender add remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil stirring frequently.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the pot from heat, and either using an immersion blender, or a regular blender, puree the soup.  Once puree'd, add salt and pepper to taste.  Now serve and enjoy.  This should warm you up on the upcoming cold winter days.

Depending on the spiciness you want, you can include, omit, or increase the cayenne pepper.  I also tried it using roasted anaheim peppers, and that was pretty good too.

Garlic and Lime Rice

This was very easy to do.  You can see a picture of it in my other post Lemon Balsamic Chicken.  I have about a dozen limes left over from my Bountiful Baskets and decided I would make some garlic lime rice to serve the chicken on.  I used my rice cooker, so this recipe is even easier to make.

1 scoop rice
1 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove garlic minced
1 lime cut in half
1 tsp olive oil
dash of salt and pepper

Place the rice in the rice cooker and rinse it if needed.  Add the required water.  Add the remaining ingredients, and stir.  Make sure you squeeze the juice out of the lime when you put it in there.  Cook it in the rice cooker, and then enjoy!

Lemon Balsamic Chicken

I haven't made anything with Balsamic Vinegar in a while, so I decided I would look for a recipe I could use it in.  I came across a recipe that uses some of the many lemons I got in my bountiful baskets, and balsamic vinegar.

Sorry it doesn't look like much, but it was great with some garlic and lime rice.  Talk about a great combination.  I started by making the chicken, and then while it was cooking, I made the rice, and they finished at about the same time.  To start, preheat the oven to 400 F.  Now gather your ingredients.

4 boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup Olive Oil
3 tbsp minced garlic (about 9 cloves)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
zest of 2 lemons
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp tarragon
Salt and pepper

Warm the olive oil in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, and add the garlic.  Cook for about 1 minute making sure not to brown the garlic.  Turn off the heat and add the balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, tarragon, and 1 tsp salt.  Pour into a 9x13 pan.

Arrange the chicken breasts in the pan, and then brush the chicken with the sauce in the pan.  Now sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken breasts.  Drizzle with a little extra balsamic vinegar.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is done.  Pull it out and cover it with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.  Serve it hot over some Garlic and Lime Rice like I did, and maybe throw in some green beans for a complete meal.  Make sure you spoon some of the juices from the chicken over the rice too, it makes it so much better.

You could also cook this in a crockpot, I would suggest just throwing everything in the crockpot, and then letting it cook for 6-8 hours on low, or 3-4 hours on low.  It should turn out just as good.

Drying Herbs

I purchased a couple of herb packs from Bountiful Baskets this week, and was trying to think of the best and fastest way to dry them.  I have tried drying them in a dehydrator before, but I didn't feel like doing all that work this time, so I thought I would get something to hang them from the ceiling.  I went to Lowe's to see what they had, and couldn't find anything, they suggested I try the local kitchen store (Kitchen Kneads).  I went there, and found they don't carry them either, so I told the clerk what I was looking for, and she suggested a pasta dryer.  I checked it out, and I think it is going to work.  Right now I have all of my herbs drying on that, and I think it will work well, I just need to keep the air circulating so it doesn't get too moist and end up molding.

This is one side of it, and it is just great.  I used butcher's twine to tie the ends together, and then hung them from branches up-side down.  I am pretty excited to see how well it works.

Here is another view of it.

Double Chocolate Heaven...I mean Pomegranate Cookies

Since I have a few pomegranates, and I really liked the Chocolate Pomegranate Cookies, I thought I would also try this recipe.  I LOVE these cookies.  I love the chocolate, and the hint of sweet pomegranate, not to mention the dark cookie accented by pink arils.

To start, preheat the oven to 350 F.  To make the cookies, you need:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening (I used solid coconut oil since it is about the same consistency, or you could use more butter.)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
12 oz bag semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 cup pomegranate arils (about 1 medium pomegranate)

I used Ulga, but you could mix the butter, shortening, white and brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Beat on medium-high speed until creamy.  Now, in a separate bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  Then slowly add to the butter and sugar mixture.  Now you can add the chocolate chips.  Add the pomegranates last, and mix them in as little as possible to prevent bursting them.  Place them on a pan in about 1 1/2 inch balls.  They will not spread much while cooking, so you can place them closer together.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Allow them to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

They are very rich, and delicious, and they taste great dunked in milk, so grab a glass of milk and start dunking.

Update 11/5/12:  I tried using 1 cup coconut oil, and that worked just as well, if not better.  I also tried using scented coconut oil, and found that it gives it a nice hint of coconut.  From now on, I will be using the scented coconut oil to make them.