Tag Archives: cranberry

Apple Cranberry Crisp

28 Sep

Apples and cranberries… to me these fruits speak of autumn to me.  They remind me of chilly weather and getting cozy inside when the weather is getting cooler outside.

Trying to work with what nature gives us naturally each season, this is my tribute to those fall flavors I love so much.

Apple Cranberry Dessert with Oatmeal Gluten-free topping

APPLE CRANBERRY CRISP

3 large Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into chunks

2 large Gala apples, cored and cut into chunks

½ cup dried cranberries

1 cup cranberry sauce – recipe here

¼ cup cornstarch

1 cup brown sugar

The zest and juice of 1 yellow lemon

A pinch of salt

A pinch of vanilla powder

 

For the topping:

1 ½ cups of gluten-free flour

1 ½ cups of oatmeal

 1 ½ cups of brown sugar

1 ½ cups slivered almonds

1 ½ sticks of butter – cut into very small pieces

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla powder

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375F.
  2. In a large glass baking dish, dump the cut apples and mix in the dried cranberries, cranberry sauce, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and vanilla powder.  Mix well to combine.  Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, almonds, with the pieces of cold butter.  Using your fingers, or a fork, combine the butter with the rest of the ingredients until it becomes like the consistency of wet sand.
  4. Pour the topping over the apples evenly.  Bake in oven for about 30 minutes…  the apples will bubble and the topping will look cooked and somewhat golden.

I usually turn off the oven and leave it inside until we’re ready to eat… to me, it’s best served warm with a side glass of milk or vanilla ice cream.

 

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Roasted Pumpkin Orzo with Goat Cheese and Cranberries… or Thanksgiving in a bowl

16 Nov

I am not sure if I’m doing Thanksgiving with the family this year… my family on this side is very thin and they all have their own thing going. I may even accept an invitation to do Thanksgiving in the BVIs.

And it got me thinking of all those people out there that do Thanksgiving by themselves… or just with a partner or a family member. Those people, who like me, have their bulk of the family far away from them. My friend Sue reminded me that not everyone has or likes to cook Thanksgiving for tons of people. Sometimes it’s just you. And that’s also something to be thankful for…

I’ve done and practiced this recipe only for myself… so why adapt it to make for more people?? I’ll share it for just one person, but YOU can feel free to multiply it for as many people in your dinner party. It’s indeed something to indulge and maybe even use up any leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner.

Regardless of how I decide to celebrate Thanksgiving this year… and celebrate I will, I already know I can capture all the flavors and feelings of Thanksgiving in this bowl.

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Roasted Pumpkin Orzo with Goat Cheese and Cranberries

1/3 cup whole grain orzo pasta
2 cups of pumpkin, peeled and cut into 2 inch cubes
3 ounces goat cheese, divided
3-4 Sage leaves, fresh or dried
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
¼ cup dried cranberries
  1. In a baking dish place the pieces of pumpkin, crumble or chop the sage leaves and spread all over the pumpkin pieces. Season with salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Toss well to combine. Add about half the goat cheese in pieces andnestle them in between the pieces of pumpkin. Drizzle an extra olive oil stream over the goat cheese to make sure the cheese browns.
  2. Roast in a 400F oven for about 30 minutes. No need to move or flip anymore. When the time is done, turn off the oven. Leave everything in there to finish cooking while you boil the pasta.

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3.  Boil the pasta in salted water according to the package directions. Orzo cooks very quickly… Drain most of the water, but not all. I do not use a colander for this; I just strain most of the water thru the pot cover. The water left will help create the sauce.

4.  Add the remaining goat cheese to the pasta. Stir well to combine, melt the cheese and create a sauce. Add the roasted pumpkin pieces with the toasted goat cheese. You can save a few pieces to use for garnish if you’d like. Add the dried cranberries. Mix all the components well.

5.  Serve using the reserved pieces of pumpkin and goat cheese and maybe a few extra cranberries too.

It’s quick… and almost needs no tending to. It’s a great pasta dish to enjoy during Thanksgiving or to use up some pumpkins you may still have left from Halloween, huh??

 

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The cranberries might sound funky to you, but they balance out the tanginess and savory aspects of the goat cheese and the sage. I might add some toasted nuts next time to see how that plays up. But for now, it’s delish!!!

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Mixed Green Salad… great way to return to the land of the eaters

11 Mar

After a week without eating solid foods, you certainly want to maintain your system as clean as possible. We are encouraged to eat only fruits and salads after we finish our spiritual retreats.

This was the salad I made right after we came back to the “land of the eaters”… it was improvised by what was freshest at the market on New Year’s Day, but it turned out to be so delicious, that we prepared it exactly the same for a few days after because I got so enamored of the flavors.

This is my way to get you enamored with salads too… hope it works!!!!

Salad - After Retiro

MIXED GREEN SALAD

2 large handfuls of Baby Arugula
1 large handful of Baby Spinach
1 handful of Alfalfa sprouts
1 Tomato, sliced
¼ cup sliced Almonds
¼ cup dried Cranberries
Lemon Vinaigrette – Lime juice, Extra Virgin Olive oil, Salt and Pepper
  1. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large salad bowl. Squirt the juice of ½ a lemon, drizzle some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss all the ingredients with your hands to combine well.
  2. Eat immediately… as the lettuces will wilt if you let this salad sit for too long.

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Guava-Piña Cranberry Jam

3 Dec

I wanted to try a few different variations on cranberry sauce… I have relied on my true and tried recipe here for quite some time. It’s been a staple of Xmas for a few years and I’ve had friends and family request it for Thanksgiving and Xmas pretty often.

But I wanted to see if I could give it a more Caribbean twist… something I could put my Latin stamp on. Inspiration comes from many places and Guava-Piña is a fruit combination very popular in Puerto Rico. We happened to have frozen pulp in the freezer, left over from our Guava Fizzy Drink creation earlier and the fresh pineapples from The Boys are extremely sweet and juicy.

Would the flavors the Caribbean go well with the tart northern American cranberry flavors? Check it out for yourself…

 

GUAVA-PIÑA CRANBERRY JAM

1 12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup water
¼ cup guava pulp, defrosted
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup fresh pineapple, cut into small pieces about ¼” thick

 

  1.  Wash the cranberries.  Go thru them and throw away all the ones that have gone soft.
  2. Place the cranberries, water, guava pulp and sugar in a large heavy saucepan.
  3. Bring mixture to a boil.  I cover it so it comes to a boil faster, but watch it, because it can boil over.  After it starts boiling, uncover, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.  The cranberries will begin to pop on their own.  Stir it every few minutes, and as you stir, pop the cranberries that might be still whole.  It’s the pectin inside the cranberries that helps the sauce thicken.
  4. After the cranberries are cooked, remove from heat and mix in the pieces of pineapple.  Let cool.  Be careful, the mixture is VERY HOT and could burn you.
  5. Transfer to smaller jars or plastic bowls.

 

It’s nice because you can actually taste the guava and the pineapple pieces in the sauce.  The flavors do not get masked with the tartness of the cranberries.  This is awesome to serve over pancakes, over vanilla ice cream or to just eat over crackers…

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