Tag Archive | Thanksgiving

Cranberry Tangerine Cookies

Nov26

Plated cookiesA very fond memory I have of growing up in Germany is of baking cookies during the holidays. A popular German tradition is holiday cookie baking, where families will spend several days or even weeks preparing for the holidays by baking dozens and dozens of cookies and lining them in prepared holiday tins. When visiting friends and family you bring a box of cookies as a present and often receive one back. German cookies tend to be less sweet than a typical American cookie and often filled with fruit and nuts. This recipe for Cranberry Tangerine Cookies is inspired by the German cookies you could expect in your tin. Filled with cranberries, almonds, and tangerine, they’re the perfect bit of sweet treat you want.

Cranberry Tangerine Cookies
Yields 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon grated tangerine zest
  • 2 tablespoons tangerine juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup toasted almonds, chopped (you can also use walnuts or pecans if you prefer)

Icing

  • 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 3 tablespoons tangerine juice
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

 Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, cream together butter and the brown and white sugar for several minutes.

sugar and butter creamed together

Add the egg, tangerine zest and juice, almond extract, and mix well. Gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt until well incorporated.

dough with flour

Stir in the cranberries and almonds.

dough with pecans and cranberries

2. Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, scoop rounded tablespoons of cookie dough on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes. Since every oven varies slightly, I always recommend you bake one cookie all by itself to see exactly how long you need. Better to accidentally ruin one cookie than an entire tray!

dough on cookie sheet

 

baked cookies

3. Transfer from cookie sheet to a cooling rack.

4. While cookies are cooling, mix together the ingredients for the icing.

ingredients for glaze

Using a fork or a whisk, drizzle icing over the cookies.

Iced cookies

Allow icing to set before transferring to cookie tins or eating. Enjoy!

Plated cookies

Cranberry Gobbler Sandwich

Aug11

Cranberry-GobblerI was in the mood for a really gourmet sandwich to make at home and this was the result. It’s pretty much the ultimate turkey sandwich and a great recipe to hold onto for after Thanksgiving. It features turkey, caramelized onions, melted brie, and cranberry mayo all squeezed between a buttery croissant. It’s a ridiculously tasty sandwich!

Cranberry Gobbler Sandwich
Number of Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, sliced into thin rings
Salt and pepper
¼ cup jellied cranberry
¼ cup mayonnaise
4 large bakery croissants, sliced in half lengthwise
12 ounces Wisconsin brie, sliced
8 ounces romaine lettuce
8 ounces honey baked turkey, thick-sliced

Directions:

1. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter. Add sliced onions to the melted butter, add salt and pepper, and sauté for several minutes until caramelized. Remove onions and set aside.

2. In a bowl, stir together jellied cranberry and mayonnaise. Smear each croissant half with 1 tablespoon of cranberry mayonnaise. Place 2 ounces of turkey on bottom of each croissant. Add 3 ounces of Wisconsin brie on top of the turkey and add a spoonful of caramelized onions on top.

3. Place croissant top halves onto each sandwich. Grill each sandwich in a lightly buttered pan for 2-3 minutes per side, until croissant is golden brown and brie is melted.

4. Remove sandwiches from the skillet and carefully remove tops of each sandwich. Add 2 ounces of lettuce and then replace the top and serve.

Honey-Glazed Ham

Jun16

I love a honey-glazed ham over the holidays so when I see hams go on special at my supermarket I’ll scoop one up and do a mini-holiday in between Easter and Thanksgiving. Why wait? I don’t go too crazy–honey-glazed ham, mashed potatoes, and a veggie and  scrumptious Sunday dinner is served. While a pre-glazed and pre-sliced ham is nice and easy, buying a whole ham saves a lot (I paid just $10 for a 7-lb ham) and means you can stud it with cloves and make your own simple and tasty glaze. The most time-consuming part of this ham recipe is definitely studding of the cloves so if you have little ones around then this is the perfect job for them.

Helpful Tip: Whole cloves can be pricey if you look for them in the regular spices section. Check out your Hispanic or International foods section in your grocery store and you should see they are much cheaper ($2 vs. $5)!

whole finished ham

Honey-Glazed Ham

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole, fully-cooked ham (Keep in mind that ham will cook 17 minutes per pound)
  • 1/3 cup whole cloves

Honey Glaze:

  • 2/3 cup butter
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Preparing the glaze:

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and add the remaining ingredients.

glaze

Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer while you prepare the ham.

Preparing the ham:

With a pairing knife, deeply score your ham with long criss-crossing stripes, at least an inch deep.

scored ham

Where the points meet, stud with a whole clove, until the entire ham is covered with cloves.

cloved ham

Remove glaze from heat and glaze ham liberally, reserving some to continue glazing while ham is cooking.

glazed ham

Bake in oven 17 minutes per pound, glazing every 25 minutes or so. Prior to removing the ham, turn on the broiler and broil for 3-5 minutes (keeping a very close eye!) to let the ham and glaze get nice and crispy.

whole finished ham

Remove ham from oven and rest about 10 minutes prior to serving.

Plated ham