Cranberries Two Ways

It sounds crazy to talk about "leftovers" before The Big Turkey Day but I cannot resist!  Visions of turkey dishes dance in my head along with even bigger visions of cranberries.  Turkey and Cranberries:  a perfect match. 

And since Thanksgiving is the kick off day for Roasted Turkey, I am thinkin' 'bout them fixins.  I make a much bigger turkey and more of the fixins than actually is needed so that I can make some wonderful "encore" dishes and oh, I do all of this while eating my Cranberry Turkey Sandwich.

This homemade cranberry relish is my mom's recipe - delicious and foolproof. One year I thought I was cooking it from memory and later on found out that all I had done was just dump everything together and bake it all at once...  It was delish!  0(^;^)0

You can do it this way though I recommend following the very simple directions printed below.  Double the recipe and it will keep nicely for both your Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and you can also put some in pretty jars to deliver to your friends.

CRANBERRY NUT RELISH

2 (12oz) bags of fresh Cranberries

One cup sugar

1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

One jar of Orange Marmalade (about 10 oz.)

Zest of one lemon

Juice of 1/4 or more of one lemon (taste as you go)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix cranberries with sugar in an oven proof casserole.  Cover tightly with foil and place bowl on top of a cookie sheet to prevent over-flow.  Bake for about one hour. In the meantime, toast walnuts in toaster oven or pan for 8 - 12 minutes, constantly checking and stirring, until toasted.  When cranberries are cooked,  add the walnuts and marmalade and then add the lemon juice a bit at a time, tasting as you go.  Be careful - the cooked cranberry mixture is scalding hot!  Combine well and chill. Plenty for 2 holiday meals and some gifts.

Enjoy!

Another Fresh Cranberry dish that my mom always made at the holidays is called Cranberry Nut Bread.  This bread is great with your Holiday dinner, wonderful the next day toasted with cream cheese and makes an excellent holiday gift goody. 

MOM'S CRANBERRY NUT BREAD

2 C Sifted Flour

1 C Sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
juice & grated peel of an orange
2 TB butter,
boiling water
1 C chopped walnuts
1 C raw, chopped cranberries

Preheat oven to 350.  Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in the beaten egg.  Combine orange juice and peel, butter, and enough boiling water to make 3/4 cup.  Stir into the flour mixture, mixing only until moistened throughout.  Stir in nuts and cranberries.  Turn into a well greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  *Note:  it is natural for the top of this loaf to crack while baking.
Cool bread in pan for 15 minutes then remove it from pan and cool on rack.  After it is completely cooled, wrap in foil and refrigerate overnight before slicing.

I like to double this recipe and bake it in a 12 cup bundt pan.  Test for to see if it is done after 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

I am sure you will love these 2 recipes.  If you have any other recipes with cranberries you want to share, please feel free to post them in your comment.  I am looking forward to hearing from you all.