Cranberry sorbet

I made this cranberry sorbet as part of my annual ice cream birthday party.  I've done it for a few years now and I always like to use different recipes for the social.  After I had all my ice cream recipes gathered (oreo cheesecake, lemon curd, Irish Car Bomb with Guinness ice cream and a Bailey's Irish Creme swirl, honey vanilla coconut, basil, dulce de leche, and sweet cream), I realized that all the flavors were heavy and cream-based and there wasn't anything light and fruity.  After a quick search, I settled on the season-appropriate cranberry sorbet. 

I've made sorbet before and it froze rock-hard, even with alcohol. For this cranberry sorbet, I waited to churn it until shortly before the party.  I needn't have worried, though. I've had it in my freezer for 2 weeks now, there is nary an icy chunk to be found, and it's still as good as when I first made it. We can thank the Grand Marnier for that; there's just enough to keep it soft and enhance, without overwhelming, the cranberry.

This sorbet exceeded my expectations! It was tart and sweet and it was fairly creamy (as far as sorbets go). One of my guests had the brilliant idea of pairing it with the lemon curd ice cream and it was super yummy!

Cranberry season may be winding down, but there is still plenty of time to make this sorbet, so hop to it!

Cranberry Sorbet
Barely adapted from UseRealButter who, in turn, adapted it from David Lebovitz.

The liqueur is optional, but highly recommended.  The flavors really work together but, more importantly, it keeps the sorbet scoopable directly from the freezer.  If you nix the liqueur, you'll need to let the sorbet stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before scooping.  Also, if you don't have any Grand Marnier, I bet you could substitute vodka, but go easy on it. 

Makes about 1 quart.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups cranberry-raspberry juice
• 2-3 teaspoons Grand Marnier (optional)

Directions

Heat cranberries, water, and sugar in a medium saucepan until liquid begins to boil. Let boil for 1 minute then remove from heat and cover. Let stand for about 30 minutes. Purée the cranberries and their liquid in a blender or food processor then press through a sieve to remove the cranberry skins and seeds. (conversely, you could use a food mill fitted with a fine disk). Stir in the juice and the liqueur. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Wordless Wednesday: Unfortunate result of my cooking and baking habits

Cashew butter cookies

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we can focus on Christmas! Here are those cashew butter cookies I promised in the oh-so-Thanksgiving-appropriate cashew nut butter post.

Just like the Key West lime coconut butter cookies, these cookies were a result of another nut-butter fail.  I don't think I mentioned it in the cashew nut butter post, but my cashew butter was extremely dry and thick.  It was barely spreadable.  I worked with it as long as I could, but after that, I knew some cookies were in order.  

(L) Cashew butter, (R) Coconut butter

I actually made these the same day as the coconut butter cookies and it was a toss up as to which ones Tara and I liked better.  These cashew butter cookies were a little softer, richer, and more like peanut butter cookies.

Regardless, if you normally make peanut butter cookies for your cookie exchange, consider these cashew butter cookies instead.  Or, better yet, make both - 'Tis the season for giving!

Honey cashew butter cookies
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 75th year anniversary

This is another riff off the classic peanut butter cookie recipe.  The only thing I changed, aside from using cashew butter, was subbing in 1/4 cup honey for the brown sugar.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup cashew butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• Granulated sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F.  In a large mixing bowl beat butter and cashew butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, honey, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and lime until combined . Beat in the flour, stirring if necessary. If the dough is difficult to handle, cover and chill for about 30 minutes.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in additional granulated sugar to coat. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten by making crisscross marks with the tines of a fork. Bake for 9 to 13 minutes (less for softer cookies) or until bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer to a wrack and let cool.

Cashew nut butter

I realize that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I should probably post a more appropriate recipe, but this is what I have ready, so this is what you get!  There are a few Fall/Thanksgiving appropriate dishes on the blog that you can check out if you need some last minute inspiration, though.

I enjoy making my own nut butter flavors at home.  They're relatively easy and you can experiment with any number of nut/flavor combinations you can think of. I'm still experimenting with flavors, but so far, I've made plain pumpkin seed butter (can't wait to try this with some cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger or all 3), maple cinnamon pecan butter (OMG, to die for, recipe coming soon), and this cashew butter.   

Nut butters can be used in the same way that you would use peanut butter: sandwiches, cookies (recipe coming up for cashew butter cookies), granola, smoothies, etc.

For the sandwiches below, I made a "Peanut butter & jelly" sandwich, but with the cashew butter and lingonberry preserves (cranberry sauce would work well, too). I gotta say, it was a pretty outstanding sandwich as far as PB&J goes.

Cashew nut butter

This is more of a concept than a hard and fast recipe; you can scale this up or down and add as little or as much flavorings as desired.  I prefer to roast my own nuts so I can add any liquids before roasting and allow for caramelization.  However, you can use already roasted nuts and add your liquids in the processor; just use a little bit less.  Also, if you don't want to add the honey, you shouldn't need to add any oil; for some reason the honey clumps up the cashew butter.

Ingredients

• 16oz (1 pound) cashews
• 2-3 Tablespoons honey, or to taste
• ~1 teaspoon salt
•  5 teaspoons oil (I used a combo of grapeseed and coconut)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Coat cashews with honey (and any other flavorings).  Roast for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally,  until they're a light golden brown; keep an eye on them because under done is better than over done in this case! 

Place nuts in food process and process until the texture doesn't change anymore, stopping regularly to scrape down the bowl.  The nuts will go through several stages (check out the above pic) and it might take awhile - 15 minutes or so. Add the salt and slowly pour in the oil.  Process until you get a fairly smooth consistency.

I store my nut butters in old glass peanut butter jars.  They'll be fine out of the fridge for a few months, but if you're unsure, you can store them in the fridge.

  

Couscous and sausage stuffed mushrooms

My meals have been less than inspired lately. It's been difficult for me because not only does Tara have the dietary restrictions due to her Porphyria, but she's pretty picky, too; top that off with the fact that she's still recovering from jaw surgery and you could understand my frustration. Soooo, we've been eating lots of pastas and cobbled together meals of leftovers.

Mark Bittman to the rescue! The NYT recently re-shared Bittman's Top 101 Head Starts on the Day from 2009.  I found so many ideas that I ended up making my own list of favorites.  Expect to see some of them in upcoming posts.  

A few things:

First, I normally have a loooong turn around time from cooking/eating a recipe to blogging about it.  Not this dish.  I made it just a few days ago and it was so good that I had to post about it as soon as possible.  Plus, it's perfect for Thanksgiving.

Second, HUGE apologies for the bad quality of photos.  I was working with the double whammy of my iPhone and bad lighting.  Normally, I wouldn't blog a recipe if the pictures looked like these, but Tara loved this dish, so I had to share. Again, it was that good!

Third, Bittman doesn't give very detailed instructions, so I kinda had to wing it as far as writing the recipe.

Couscous and sausage stuffed mushrooms
Adapted from Mark Bittman, via The New York Times (#39)

I changed a few things in the "recipe" based on what was on hand and how much time I had.  Mainly, I used couscous instead of rice, a shallot instead of onion and garlic, and a mixture of Fontina and Gruyere cheese instead of the Parmesan.  In the spirit of the recipe, I didn't measure, so take the ingredient amounts as a guide rather than an absolute, especially with the couscous, bread crumbs and cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 oz button, cremini, or portobello mushrooms
• 2 smallish mild Italian sausages, removed from casings and crumbled
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
• ~ 3/4 cup cooked couscous
• 1 egg
• ~ 1/4 cup soy free bread crumbs (I used Ian's Panko.)
• ~ 1/4 cup of grated cheese

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Add oil to a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook the sausage until it begins to brown. While the sausage is cooking, trim mushrooms and chop stems (do this first if you're not confident in your speedy kitchen skills).

When the sausage starts to brown, add stems, chopped onion, and garlic (if using).  Stir often.  (Time saving tip: Grate your cheese while waiting for the mixture to cook.)  When the mixture is cooked, remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.  Add cooked couscous, egg, bread crumbs, and cheese. The mixture should stick together a little bit, so feel free to add cheese and bread crumbs as needed.

Spoon the stuffing into the mushroom caps (and ramekins for the extra mixture) and bake until tender, about 15 minutes.

Vegetarian option:  Increase the mushrooms to 12-16oz.  Dice half and cook with the stems.  Season with black pepper and fennel.  

Onion free and garlic free option:  Replace the shallot and garlic with 1-2 stalks of diced celery.