Farm Direct Coop Recipesor. . . what you can do with your share!

I made this recipe the first time I cooked Thanksgiving dinner, twenty years ago! I’ve been meaning to post it here, but couldn’t remember which of my many cookbooks had the recipe. A web search revealed that I’d been looking in the wrong books – the recipe is from Betty Groff’s Country Goodness Cookbook.

Bettie Stewart’s Squash and Cranberries

• 2 lbs butternut squash
• salt
• 2 cups water
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed (can substitute maple syrup)
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries, cut in half (frozen berries don’t need to be halved)
• freshly grated nutmeg (or regular ground nutmeg)

Peel the squash and cut into cubes. Cook in lightly salted water until tender. Drain well, then puree by putting through a food mill or food processor. There should be about 4 cups. Mix well with the eggs, butter, sugar, salt, pepper, and cranberries. Put in a buttered 1½-quart casserole. Grate nutmeg over the top. Bake in a preheated oven at about 350° F. for 45 minutes.

If you’ve never had a homemade angel food cake, you’re in for a treat. It’s one of those things that tastes soooo much better when you make it fresh; I think it is totally worth the effort (and the investment in an angel-food cake pan). This recipe is from Gale Gand.

Cranberry Angel Food Cake

For the cake:

• 1 -1/2 cups  egg whites — (from about 1 dozen eggs) at room temperature
•  1- 1/4 teaspoons  cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon  salt
•  1 -1/2  cups  sugar
•  1-1/8   cup  sifted cake flour  (or substitute regular flour)
•  1  teaspoon  vanilla extract 
• 1 tangerine — or orange, zested 
• 1 cup  fresh cranberries –or thawed frozen

For the glaze: 

• 2  tablespoons  tangerine juice — or orange 
• 2  tablespoons  cranberry juice 
• 1  tablespoon  egg whites 
• 1-1/2  cups  confectioner’s sugar

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or using an electric  hand mixer), whip the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt and continue whipping until soft peaks form. With the mixer running, gradually add 1 cup of the sugar and continue whipping until stiff and the sugar has dissolved, about 30 seconds.

2.  Sift the remaining 1/2-cup sugar with the pre-sifted cake flour 3 times, to aerate the mixture. Sprinkle this over the egg whites, then fold it in. Fold in the vanilla, zest, and cranberries.

3.  Spoon the batter into an ungreased tube pan. Bake until light golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool by hanging the cake (in the pan) upside down around the neck of a glass bottle (wine bottle, soda etc.) until it cools to room temperature. Run a long, sharp knife blade around the cake to loosen, then knock the cake out onto a plate. The outside of the cake will remain in the pan.  

Glaze: Stir the ingredients together until smooth. Pour glaze over the top of the cake and spread with a spatula, letting it trickle down the sides. Let set for at least 30 minutes before serving, or until the icing is hard. Cut with a serrated knife, using a sawing motion.

An oldie-but-goodie recipe from Sunset Magazine, originally published in the Nov. 1992 issue (“Sunset’s Kitchen Cabinet,” by Dorothy Rosenthal). Use any type of roast that is good for braising, like  bottom round. If you prefer, you can start this dish on top of the stove: sear the roast on all sides in a large, ovenproof pot, add the broth and port, cover with the lid and transfer it to the oven.

Cranberry-Port Pot Roast

• 1 beef eye of the round or rump roast (3-1/2 to 4 lb.)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 can (14-1/2 oz.) regular-strength beef broth
• 1 3/4 cups port wine
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 packages (10 oz. each) frozen petite onions
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 6 cups hot cooked egg noodles
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
•  Parsley sprigs
• Salt and pepper

1.  Rinse meat, pat dry, and rub with oil. Place in a 10- by 14-inch roasting pan. Bake in a 450 degrees~ oven until meat is well browned, about 45 minutes; turn often. Add broth and port. Cover tightly; reduce oven to 400 degrees and bake 1-1/2 hours.

2.  Mix sugar and onions into pan; cover and bake 1 hour. Add cranberries; cover and bake until meat is tender when pierced, about 30 minutes longer.

3.  Put meat and noodles on a platter. With a slotted spoon, ladle onions and berries onto noodles; keep warm. Skim fat from pan juices. Mix cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water. Bring pan juices to boiling over high heat. Stirring, add cornstarch mixture until sauce is as thick as you like. Pour sauce into a small bowl; serve with meat and noodles. Garnish with parsley sprigs. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serves 10 to 12.

Per serving: 363 cal. (20 percent from fat); 33 g protein; 8.0 g fat (2.3 g sat.); 38 g carbo.; 87 mg sodium; 98 mg chol.