Cranberry Cleanser Drink

It's Sunday, my day of rest.... ha-ha; the internet never stops and nor does the gravitational pull of blogging and the potential of spreading the fun of food. Well, what better way to start the morning with a good cleansing fruit and vegetable juice? Cranberries are also called “bounceberries” because they bounce when ripe. Imagine how these are going to rejuvenate you and have you bouncing all over your life! Cranberries are high in vitamin C, and have antioxidant and antibacterial effects in the body. 
These little red jewels are a rich source of the flavonoid quercetin which can inhibit the development of both breast and colon cancers and drinking cranberry juice is also good for the health of the heart. Research confirms that cranberries are an excellent source of antioxidants which may protect against cancer, heart disease and other diseases. 

They are also indicated for digestive tract health and healing from the mouth to the anus. To start, cranberries decrease production of cavity and plaque producing bacteria in your mouth. Moving to the stomach, they reduce the bacteria associated with peptic stomach ulcers. In the colon their juice has been found to reduce the incidence of colon cancer. Research shows that the cranberry contents of proanthocyanidins and ursolic acid brought on cell death in colon cancer cells. 

Cranberries are especially beneficial to the eyes where they significantly improve symptoms of cataracts, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy and are well known for their assistance in maintaining a healthy urinary tract. 

But…The health benefits of cranberries are almost totally depleted when generous amounts of sugar is added. Thus the cranberry cannot provide you with its full phytonutrient benefits when there has been lots of sugar added.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/cranberries-little-powerfood-with-a-big-punch.html#ixzz2iuCDFMkz

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100823183807.htm

http://www.peakhealthadvocate.com/2149/cranberries-may-help-with-cancer-prevention/

Cranberry Bliss Bars

These bars are topped with a white-chocolate-cream cheese frosting. They’re sprinkled with dried cranberries and drizzled with white chocolate squiggles.

The first layer is blondie-like- so sweet, soft-ish, but firm- and a great base for this bar. There’s white chocolate and dried cranberries mixed into the base too.

This recipe will make a total of 16 cake bars, at a fraction of the cost of the original.

Ingredients:

Cake

3/4 cup butter, softened

315ml packed light brown sugar

3 eggs30ml minced crystallized ginger

7.5ml vanilla extract

2.5ml salt

375ml flour

2.5ml baking powder

190ml chopped sweetened dried cranberries

100g white chocolate, cut into chunks

Frosting

100g cream cheese, softened

750ml icing sugar

20ml lemon juice

5ml vanilla extract

65ml chopped sweetened dried cranberries

Drizzled Icing

126ml icing sugar

15ml milk

10ml vegetable shortening

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Make cake by beating the butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, ginger, vanilla, and salt and beat well. Gradually mix in the flour and baking powder until smooth. Mix the chopped dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks into the batter by hand. Pour the batter into a buttered 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned on top. Allow the cake to cool.

Make the frosting by combining the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. When the cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread the frosting over the top of the cake.

Sprinkle 65ml of chopped dried cranberries over the frosting on the cake.

Make the drizzled icing by whisking together powdered sugar, milk, and shortening. Drizzle this icing over the cranberries in a sweeping motion with a squirt bottle or fill a small plastic storage bag with the icing and cut off the tip of one corner.

Cover the cake and let it chill out in the fridge for a couple hours, then slice the cake lengthwise (the long way) through the middle. Slice the cake across the width three times, making a total of eight rectangular slices. Slice each of those rectangles diagonally creating 16 triangular slices.

Cranberry Chicken Salad

Although salads are not such great fare during the festive season,

or not in the northern hemisphere at anyrate,

this salad makes a great detoxing luncheon after the festive indulgence.

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Ingredients:
2 skinless chicken breasts
20ml olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
2 small red onions, thinly sliced
200g mixed salad leaves
1/2 cucumber, deseeded and sliced
25g dried cranberries
85g cranberry sauce
juice of 1 lime
30ml water

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Method:

Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally to give 4 thin breasts.

rub each breast with about 10ml of olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat a non-stick frying pan and fry the chicken for 3 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Set aside on a plate.

Heat the remaining oil in the pan and fry the onions for 5 minutes.

Slice the chicken and layer with the onions, cucumber and dried cranberries on the salad leaves.

Mix the cranberry sauce, lime juice and any remaining chicken juices with about 30ml water and drizzle over the salad.

Cranberry Orange Scones

This makes quite a large batch of scones.

Once the dough is made, it can be frozen for later use.

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Ingredients:
For the Scones:
1L flour
60ml sugar
30ml baking powder
10ml salt
zest of 2 oranges
185g butter
4 eggs, at room temperature
250ml double cream
60ml dried cranberries
60ml flour to coat the berries before adding to the dough
1 egg, beaten for egg wash
Caster sugar to sprinkle on scones before baking

For the Orange Glaze:
60ml icing sugar
Juice of 1 orange

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, zest and butter in a bowl by hand, rubbing the butter into the other ingredients to give a crumbly mixtre with the crumbs being about the size of a lentil or baby pea.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, adding the double cream.
Add the egg mixture to the crumb mix to form a wet dough.
Dredge the cranberries in 60ml flour before adding them to the dough.
If so desired, the dough can be frozen at this point for later use.

Roll the dough out to about 3/4 inch thickness. Cut out with a circular scone cutter. Put the rounds on a baking tray prepared with baking paper. Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash and sprinkle with caster sugar.
Bake in a moderate to hot oven, 200C, for 20-25 minutes

Remove from the oven and transfer the scones to a cooling wrack.
To make the glaze, mix the icing sugar and orange juice in a small bowl. Drizzle this over the scones while they are still warm.

Cranberry Preserve

This preserve is great served with turkey,

gammon or lamb

or spread as jam on scones, pancakes

or sweet breads.

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Ingredients:
500g cranberries, fresh or frozen
340ml sugar
250ml water
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped in fine dice
zest and of 1 orange
zest and juice of 1 lemon
125ml chopped walnuts
125ml raisins

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Method:
Put the cranberries, sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer until the berries pop.
Add the apple, orange zest and juice, lemon zest and juice and cook for a further 15 minutes.
Ad the walnuts and raisins and mix into the cranberry mixture. Cook a further 5 minutes.
Store in sterilised jars until required.

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Apple and Cranberry Torte

Ingredients:
Dry Mixture:
250ml flour
2ml salt
7.5ml baking powder
5ml cinnamon
zest of 1 orange

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Wet Mixture:

125g unsalted butter, melted

80ml sugar

5ml vanilla extract

4 eggs at rook temperature

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250g frozen cranberries

50ml Grand Marnier Liqueur

2 Granny Smith (or other apples of choice), peeled and chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

100g walnuts

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Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.

In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients, whisking together.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, a little at a time.

Soak the cranberries in warmed Grand Marnier Liqueur. Allow them to absorb as much of the liqueur as possible.

Soak the chopped apples in lemon juice to stop them oxidising and going brown.

Drain the fruits and add them to the batter along with the walnuts. Fold into the mixture to spread the fruit and nuts evenly.

Pour the mixture into a buttered 8 inch square baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 180C.

Serve hot with whipped cream.

Cranberry and Almond Pudding

By now, you may have registered that I rather enjoy cranberries.

In fact I regularly consume these wonderful health-giving fruits,

whether in juice, or sauce,

or the fruit themselves in pies or puddings.

Cranberries contain a high level of oligomeric proanthocyanidins,

Which are powerful antioxidants with anti-inflammatory,

anti-carcinogenic and antimicrobial properties.

Here's a few of the health benefits:

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Urinary tract infections:

The acidic nature of the fruit changes the PH of urine, thus preventing bacteria form adhering to the bladder walls where they multiply, causing infection.

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Stomach ulcers and cancer:

This fruit's acidity has the ability to destroy Helicobacter pulori bacteria, which have been found to cause stomach ulcers, and in severe infections, lead to stomach cancer.

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Respiratory infections:

Cranberry helps fight strains of Haemophilus Influenzae bacteria found in the nose and throat of many healthy people, which is responsible for causing many throat and ear infections.

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Cardiovascular disease:

The polyphenols present in cranberry appear to increase the levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and decrease the levels of Bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

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Oral health:

Cranberry juice is effective in reducing harmful bacteria in the mouth.

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Other benefits:

Prevention of kidney stones

Slows the aging process

Aid in weight loss by emulsifying fat deposits in the body

These fruit are a good source of calcium

..

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Cranberry and Almond Pudding

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Ingredients:

250g frozen cranberries

50g butter

50ml sugar

125g melted butter

2 eggs

zest of 1 orange

175g self raising flour

175g sugar

2.5ml baking powder

50-60g flaked almonds

30-40ml demerara sugar

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Method:

Preheat the oven to 160C.

Put the cranberries, 50g butter and 50ml sugar in a pan and cook gently until the fruit begin to pop and ooze their juices.

In a bowl, add the eggs and orange zest to the melted butter and whip together. (wet ingredients)

In a second bowl, mix the flour, sugar and baking powder. (dry ingredients)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients to make a batter.

Grease a pie pan or a spring form round cake tin. Put half the batter mixture on the bottom of the pie pan. Pour the cranberries over this and top with the second half of the batter mixture. Sprinkle with flaked almonds and demerara sugar.

Bake in a relatively low oven, about 160C, for about 60 minutes.

Serve hot with whipped cream, custard or ice cream.

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Garlic, Lemon and Cranberry Lamb

Every year, just before Christmas,

a chap my husband works with brings us half a lamb,

or if we are lucky, half a hogget.

A hogget is a lamb more than a year old,

but not as old as a sheep, which it becomes at three years old.

They are much more rich in flavour than their younger siblings.

We had the leg for our Christmas dinner.

Usually we do it with garlic and rosemary,

but this year we tried something new that turned out absolutely fabulous.

Try it and I'm sure you will agree.

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Merry Christmas one and all.

Ingredients:

Leg of Lamb or Hogget

For the Marinade:

peel and juice of a large lemon

6 cloves of garlic, sliced

250ml cranberry juice

250ml red wine

60ml olive oil

15ml dried oregano

a handful of fresh basil leaves chopped

10ml sea salt

For the Gravy

Juice from the marinade

50ml Cranberry jelly

15ml cornflour, slaked in a little water

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Method:

Score the surface of the lamb or hogget about 1/4 inch deep. place it in a large plastic bag in a container you can put in your fridge. Mix the ingredients for the marinade and pour over the lamb or hogget. Seal the bag, expelling all the air as you do so. Marinade over night in the fridge, massaging the meat once or twice.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Remove the meat from the bag and place in a roasting pan. Set the marinade aside.

Roast 18-20 minutes per 500g for rare,

20-25minutes per 500g for medium,

25-30 minutes per 500g for well done.

While the roast is cooking, pass the marinade through a sieve or muslin cloth to remove the solids. Reduce the liquid in a pan to less than half of the original volume.

Once the roast is done, place the joint on a wooden board to rest for 15 minutes, covered in foil.

Use the reduced marinade to deglaze the roasting pan. Add the cranberry jelly and seasoning and blend in before adding the slaked cornflour to thicken. The sauce should take on a translucent look.

Serve with festive vegetables and enjoy!

Double Stuffed Goose

Christmas is getting nearer

and the goose is getting fat.

And it will just have to get fatter

because we are going to my mother-in-law

for Christmas Dinner

and she won't eat goose.

She used to keep them as pets

and insists they are inedible.

;-))

Love you Mom,

but I also love eating goose at Christmas......

This is a great traditional way to do goose

for the festive dinner on Christmas day.

Ingredients:
1 goose, about 5kg more or less

For the Neck-end Stuffing;
100g dried cranberries, apricots or raisins (or a mix of dried fruits of your choice)
60ml medium sherry
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 rashers of unsmoked back bacon, cut into strips
50g butter
2 garlic cloves, chopped or mashed through a garlic press
450g good sausage meat
3 slices of fresh white bread, crumbed
30ml chopped fresh parsley
a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves stripped off the stems.
150g cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped
1 egg, beaten
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

For the Bum-end Stuffing:
350g shallots, thinly sliced
60g butter
15g caster sugar
finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
50ml fresh sage, chopped
85g roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
5 slices of fresh white bread, crumbed
1 egg, beaten
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Method:

To make the neck-end stuffing, soak the cranberries in the port for an hour. Fry the onion and bacon gently in the butter until the onion is tender and the bacon cooked.

Add the garlic and fry for another minute or so. Cool slightly then mix with the remaining ingredients, including the cranberries and port, adding enough of the egg to bind.

Fry a small piece of stuffing to test seasoning and adjust accordingly.

To make the bum-end stuffing, fry the shallots gently in the butter until golden, then add the sugar and the orange juice.

Simmer until the liquid has virtually all evaporated leaving a delicious jammy mass of shallots.

Pour boiling water over the sage, leave for one minute, then drain and squeeze dry. Add to the shallots, along with all the other ingredients.

Fry a small piece of stuffing to test seasoning and adjust accordingly.

Preheat the oven to 190C.

To prepare the goose, trim the excess fat from inside the goose. Pack the neck-end stuffing into the neck end of the goose, pressing it firmly and then tucking the flap of skin neatly down around it.

Secure firmly underneath with wooden cocktail sticks or a metal skewer.

Three-quarters fill the stomach cavity with the bum-end stuffing.

Prick the skin of the goose all over with a fork. Season with salt and pepper. Lay some of the fat removed from the cavity over the thighs to keep them moist.

Cover with foil and place on a rack in the oven with a tray underneath so that you can empty out the fat regularly.

Roast a 4kg goose for three hours, a 4.5-5kg goose for three-and-a-half hours and a 5.5kg goose for four hours.

Remove the foil for 30-40 minutes before the end of the cooking time so that the skin can brown and crisp.

To test it is cooked, pierce the fattest part of the thigh with a skewer. If the juices run clear then the bird is done.

Rest for 20-30 minutes, oven turned off with the door ajar, before carving.

Apple and Cranberry Chutney

Cranberries always remind me of Christmas.

With them being available fresh and dried at this time of year,

I'm always looking for new ways to use them.

This festive chutney rather took my fance.

Ingredients:
750g Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
250g dried or fresh cranberries
1 onion finely chopped
350ml apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
200g sugar
5ml ground ginger
5ml ground turmeric
5ml ground cumin
5ml ground coriander
10ml salt

Method:
Chop the apples up into slightly smaller than 1 cm cubes.
Place them into a saucepan with all the other ingredients.
Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring to ensure a good mix.
Reduce the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes,
or until the chutney has thickened and the fruit has become soft.
Store in sterilized jars, ready for serving with any festive meal.

Onions ~ Autumn Chutney

Onions are one of our oldest vegetables, most likely used primarily as a medicine. They are reputed to have been used in ancient Mesopotamia as a cure-all. Today, the production of onions is the second most important horticultural vegetable crop, only superseded by tomatoes. 

Onions contain a range of strong antioxidants; they are reputed to exert anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antiviral, anti-allergy and anticancer activity.

In Chinese medicine, onions have been used to treat angina, bacterial infections, coughs and breathing problems.

This class of vegetables, belonging to the Allium or lily family, includes chives, garlic, leeks, onions, scallions and shallots. The varieties range through the spectrum from red to yellow to green and white. They can be eaten raw, cooked, fried, dried or roasted and range in flavour from strong to mildly sweet.

These vegetables have been found to contain a range of bioflavonoids or phytochemical micronutrients, characterised primarily by their rich content of odorous sulphur compounds including thiosulfinates, sulfides, and sulfoxides. The cysteine sulfoxides are what are responsible for making you cry when cutting onions. The thiosulfinates exhibit antimicrobial activity.

Another group of micronutrients, of which onions are a rich source, are fructo-oligosaccharides. These oligomers stimulate the growth of healthy bifidobacteria in the colon, suppressing the growth of potentially harmful bacteria, which leads to a reduction in the risk of tumors that may develop in that part of the intestine.

Yellow and red onions and shallots supply the richest known source of quercetin, one of the most potent of antioxidants known. Quercetin's initial activity as an antioxidant is to neutralise free radicals before they damage cells. This is potentially the process in its mechanism, which includes a range of activities.

Quercetin displays an antihistaminic action, improving lung function, decreasing bronchial spasm and reducing allergy symptoms, thus helping in the relief of respiratory conditions such as emphysema, bronchitis and asthma. It also shows anti-inflammatory properties which may help to reduce pain from disorders such as arthritis. Research shows that quercetin may help to prevent cancer, especially prostate and stomach cancer and may also help to reduce symptoms like fatigue, depression and anxiety. It enhances cardiovascular health, relieves varicose veins, improves fragile capillaries and alleviates bruising; it thins the blood, wards off blood clots and counters atherosclerosis. Quercetin is also highly effective in preventing the oxidation of LDL, or 'bad cholesterol', and may help to balance the LDL~HDL ratio in the blood by raising the production of HDL or 'good cholesterol'.

I would say this gives us a multitude of reasons to eat onions on a regular basis.

Tip for mosquito bites. Rub with a cut onion to reduce the sting.

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Autumn Chutney
Ingredients:
15ml olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 inch root ginger, peeled and grated
3 plums or apricots, stoned and roughly chopped
1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped
150ml cranberry or red grape juice
50g Muscovado sugar

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion garlic and ginger. Cook for a few minutes until softened and slightly coloured.
Add the fruit, fruit juices and sugar. Simmer for about 10 minutes until reduced and slightly sticky.
Serve with steak, lamb or pork chops.

Cook's Tip

Adding salt to frying onions brings the moisture out and helps to caramelise them quickly.

Tangy Cranberry Pork Chops

Even though cranberries are traditionally connected with turkey,

I have used them with pork, a meat they go very well with.

these are great done on the braai or barbecue.

Serve with baked potatoes filled with butter or salad cream and a green leaf salad.

Ingredients:
6 large pork chops
Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to season

For the Marinade:
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
30ml chopped fresh marjoram
30ml vegetable oil
zest of 2 oranges
2ml ground black pepper
6 bay leaves, each torn in half.

Method:
Place on a cutting board and, with a sharp knife, cut through the fat about 2cm apart. This is to stop the chops from curling at the edges during the grilling process and allow for more even cooking.
For the Marinade:
Mix the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl , leaving out the bay leaves.
Place the chops in the bowl one at a time and rub the marinade over both sides of the chops. Place a torn bay leaf on each chop, pack into a plastic bag and leave in the fridge over night, or for at least 3 hours.
Give the chops enough time out of the fridge to loose the chill and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper before grilling.
Preheat the grill to a medium-high or "sizzling" temperature.
Grill the chops for 2 minutes on each side to seal the meat.
Spread the chops with "Cranberry and Orange Sauce" and return to the grill under a reduced heat for 5-7 minutes.
Repeat this grilling of the other side of the chops.
Transfer the chops to a warmed serving tray and allow to rest for 4-5 minutes, covered with vented foil before serving with more Cranberry and Orange Sauce.

Cranberry and Orange Sauce
Ingredients:
250g cranberries
100g white sugar
200ml orange juice
2ml freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf

Method:
Combine the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil.
Simmer gently for 20-25 minutes.
After about 15 minutes the berries will begin to soften. Help them to break down by crushing them with the back of a wooden spoon.
Pour into a sterilised jar.
Allow to cool and keep in the fridge until required. It will keep for a few weeks.