Morning-After Cranberry Sauce Muffins

This is the first year I ever made fresh cranberry sauce.  The reason I made the sauce this year is that we were having 25 people over.  I did not want my guests to think that we eat canned sauce.  I did have to buy a few cans of the "jellied" kind of sauce because that is what my son and husband eat.  I tried to keep the cans hidden but I did not succeed.  I doubled the sauce recipe that I got out of my All*You magazine so I had lots of extra sauce. I will give you the recipe I used at the end of this post. The recipe for the muffins comes from http://www.seriouseats.com/. The post about the muffins credits the recipe to chef Michael Harr of Butterfield 9 restaurant in Washington, D.C.  I did not make these muffins the morning after Thanksgiving but since cranberry sauce does not spoil quickly it should be fine to use for a week or two after the holiday.  The muffins taste great.  I can't really imagine throwing out three cups of perfectly good cranberry sauce so this is a great way to use it up.  I almost forgot to mention that I don't actually eat cranberry sauce with my Thanksgiving turkey dinner. 

When I started mixing the batter for the muffins, I realized that there is no mention of cinnamon in the ingredient list but it is mentioned in the body of the recipe.  I also added a teaspoon of vanilla just for fun.  Oh, did I mention that I put the oatmeal into the food processor and "powdered" it first.  I found that the recipe makes about 18 cranberry sauce muffins.  The recipe on serious eats website did not say how many muffins the recipe would make.  I guess it depends on what size muffin tins you use.

Morning-After Cranberry Sauce Muffins
by Chef Michael Harr

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oats (powdered)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/2 cups of left over cranberry sauce (fresh or canned whole berry)
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line muffin tin with paper baking cups.

2.  Put oatmeal into food processor until it is powdered.

3.  In a large bowl, combine regular flour, whole-grain flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; mix well.  In a medium bowl combine milk, oil, cranberry sauce and egg; blend well.  Fold into dry ingredients all at once; stir until dry ingredients are moistened.

4.  Fill muffin cups about three-quarters full.

5.  Bake for about 20 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.  Break off that seductive muffin top, then inhale the rest!

Cranberry Apple Cider Sauce
from All*You Magazine

Ingredients:

3 cups apple cider
12 oz. fresh cranberries
(about 2 cups)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Pinch of salt
1 medium Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch dice

Directions:

1.  In a large saucepan, bring cider to boil and cook until reduced to 1 cup, about 40 minutes.

2.  Combine reduced cider, cranberries, sugar, spices, salt and apple in medium saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Simmer sauce until thickened and cranberries have popped, stirring occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes. (Sauce will thicken more when cool.)

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Left Over Pot Pie

It seems that this is my year for posting about how to deal with leftovers. I found this interesting leftover recipe in an email. This Leftover Pot Pie looks like a nice way to use up leftovers from any holiday meal.  The original recipe says you can substitute any type of leftover meat for the turkey.  So, I'm thinking that you could even use up some leftover Christmas ham in this recipe if you so desire.  I haven't tried making this pie myself yet but it looks like a yummy and economical way to forget you're eating your holiday meal for the 3rd or 4th time. You may want to make this into a deep-dish pie by adding a bit more meat, gravy and vegetables.  

Leftover Pot Pie

Ingredients:

2 cups leftover turkey, chopped or shredded
2 cups turkey gravy (or turkey stock)
2 cups mixed vegetables
2 (9-inch) unbaked pie shells
2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)
1/4 cup cold water (optional)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C);

2.  If you are using stock, bring the stock to a boil.  Add cornstarch to cold water, and blend until smooth, whisk into stock to thicken;

3.  Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry.  Mix turkey and vegetables together and place into pie crust.  Pour gravy or thickened stock over turkey and vegetables.  Cover with remaining pie crust.  Cut slits into the top of the crust to release steam.

4.  Place pot pie on a cookie sheet to prevent stock from overflowing into your oven.  Cook in center of oven until crust is golden brown, approximately 1 hour.  Slice and serve hot.

Enjoy!