These are the cookies that I made for the cookie swap I hosted this evening (it went smashingly). They turned out very well, but I'm not sure I'd make them again - I always find the rolling and cutting process pretty tedious!
Dough:
1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. orange rind
2 eggs
1/4+ tsp. cinnamon
1/4+ tsp. nutmeg
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Filling:
1 c. cranberries
1 c. pecans
4 medallions of candied ginger, chopped finely
1/4 c. brown sugar
Cream together the butter and the sugar until it becomes very light in color (signifying that it has become aerated), about 5 minutes. Add the orange rind and eggs (one at a time please!), then the spices, baking powder and salt. Mix until very well combined. Blend in the flour a cup at a time - if you have a stand mixer, it will probably be able to handle this fine, but if you're using a hand mixer you may need to get in there with your hands to combine the last half cup or so. Divide the dough into two portions and put it in the fridge for at least an hour (we chilled ours overnight).
While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling (hey, that rhymed!). If you have a food processor, just throw all the ingredients in there and process until it's all chopped up. If not, mix everything together in a bowl and use your blender to do it in two or three batches.
Roll out one half of the dough into a 1/4" thick rectangle (about 10"-12" on the long side) on top of a piece of parchment paper or a flexible cutting board. Spread half of the filling on the dough, leaving an inch of dough on each long side and one of the short sides. Then, using the parchment paper, roll up the dough starting at the spread short side. Pinch off the ends and roll the dough in a sheet of plastic wrap, then pop it back in the oven, this time for at least four hours (!)
Once the dough has chilled - it should be super firm at this point - use a sharp knife to slice into 1/4" cookies. You should try to rotate the roll after every few cuts so you don't smush it on one side. Bake 8-15 minutes (depending on thickness) at 375°F.
And just for fun, here's the rest of the spread, post-party:
Dee-lish!
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Cranberry-ginger and orange pinwheels
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Cranberry Redux
Okay, so Jackie made a nice post about cranberry orange jelly, which reminded me about my absolute favourite Thanksgiving time treat (and yes, I'm including the pumpkin pie which Mom only makes twice a year). I hereby present to you a tart and textural version of Jackie's lovely recipe:
Cranberry Orange Relish:
1 large navel orange
1 16 oz. bag of cranberries
Quarter the orange. Get out the food processor (or for a very visceral experience, an old-fashioned food grinder) and pour in the cranberries--process for about 15 seconds. Add the orange quarters one at a time, blending for 10 seconds after each. This will give you a relish with lots of big pieces and bursts of flavor. You can add sugar to taste--how much depends on how sweet your orange was, and how sweet you like things in general.
You can serve this with turkey or chicken or duck, but I have a hard time not eating it all straight out of the bowl. It keeps for a long time in the fridge, and can be frozen pretty much forever. And it's also good on vanilla ice cream, for a different tasty treat!
Monday, November 06, 2006
Cranberry-orange jelly
If you're hosting any sort of holiday gathering - or attending one where you've been requested to bring food - nothing seems to impress people more than homemade cranberry sauce. I don't know why, since it's actually really easy to make. It's also one of those things that tends to taste much better homemade. I couldn't find my fave recipe (no clue where it came from, even), so I tried to approximate it tonight. It came out very well, and just as tart as I like it!
Ingredients:
1 lb. bag cranberries (fresh, NOT dried!)
1 c. water
zest and juice of 2 medium oranges (you can leave out the zest if you don't have a grater)
2/3 c. sugar (add up to 1 c. to taste)
pinch salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
5-10 whole cloves (or pinch ground)
1 whole star anise (optional, but very cool)
1 1/2 c. water [replace up to a cup of this with a good red wine for more depth of flavor]
Directions:
Stir everything together in a large saute pan or medium saucepan. The cranberries should be covered by liquid. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer (turn heat down to medium) and cook about 10 minutes; don't worry about stirring. While it is simmering, you will start to hear the cranberries popping out of their skin - you should continue to simmer until the popping stops.
Turn the heat down to low and taste. If it is too sour, add a little extra sugar at this point. Cook another 5-10 minutes with stirring - this allows some of the water to boil off and the sauce to thicken a bit. It will thicken a lot more upon cooling, but you can serve it warm if you like.
I love to eat this on toast (as pictured), as a side dish, in turkey sandwiches, or on top of a simply prepared roast chicken breast... in fact, I don't even know how long it keeps because I've never had leftovers longer than a week! This recipe should serve 6-10 as a side dish.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Multigrain Cranberry Muffins
On a recent health food kick, I bought a box of multigrain cereal - the sort you cook like oatmeal. I tried a bowl and wasn't a fan, even after I loaded it up with honey and brown sugar (which kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?). So I had to think of something else I could do with the stuff. I also need some baked goods to bring to my lab meeting on Wednesday, so I decided to try this recipe for multi-grain cranberry muffins.
These came out fairly tasty, but a little dry - perhaps altering the vegetable oil-to-applesauce ratio would moisten them up a bit? As far as this batch is concerned, they'll be perfect heated up and slathered with (low-fat) butter (spread).
Ingredients
1 c. milk
1 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil [I used 1 Tbsp oil and 2 Tbsp applesauce, but I think the muffins would be moister - and therefore better - with more fat]
1 c. uncooked multigrain cereal
1 3/4 c. AP flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. allspice [the original recipe calls for mace, which I didn't have. Cinnamon would probably work equally well.]
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 c. dried cranberries
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat milk, vegetable oil and applesauce in a saucepan over medium heat until very warm (but not boiling). Stir in multigrain cereal and let stand 10-15 minutes. While this is 'cooking,' mix together flour, salt, baking powder and spice(s) in a large bowl.
Stir brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract into the cereal mixture. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir very briefly, until flour is almost incorporated (big clumps/streaks are ok at this point). Stir cranberries in gently. [NB: You never want to overbeat this type of mixture (muffins, pancakes, waffles, etc) or your end product will come out very tough. Just stir until you don't see obvious streaks of flour. For this recipe, I think it's especially important as the whole grains will get very tough if you give them a chance to produce a lot of gluten during overmixing.]
Scoop into greased muffin tin; sprinkle the top with some turbinado (unrefined) sugar if desired. Bake 12-15 minutes at 400°F. I got 15 smallish muffins using an average cupcake tin from this recipe.
