Thompson - VeryCranberry

Copyright 2003 by Jennifer Trainer Thompson
Photographs copyright 2003 by Jonathan Chester

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Celestial Arts, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Celestial Arts and the Celestial Arts colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thompson, Jennifer Trainer.
Very cranberry / Jennifer Trainer Thompson.
p. cm.
1. Cookery (Cranberries) I. Title.
TX813.C7T48 2003
641.6476dc21 2003013312

eISBN: 978-0-307-78882-5

v3.1

A special thanks to Linda Stripp for her culinary contribution
to Jody Fijal (tester extraordinaire), and to Lynn Danahy,
who came up with the idea of a cranberry cookbook.

We have from the time called May until Michaelmas a great store of very good wild fruits as strawberries, cranberries and hurtleberries. The cranberries, much like cherries for color and bigness, may be kept until fruit comes in again. An excellent sauce is made of them for venison, turkeys and other great fowl and they are better to make tarts than either gooseberries or cherries. We have them brot to our homes by the Indians in great plenty.

N. J. Mahon Stacy of New Jersey,
to his brother in England, on April 26, 1680

Of all the books Ive written, this one is closest to my heart, or at least my history. I grew up in cranberry country. As my dad would put it, Im a bog-trotting swamp Yankee, which means a Yankee who grew up among the bogs and swamps of coastal southeastern Massachusetts. As a child, I skated with friends on the cranberry bogs in the winter. Our towns street signs werent regulation green: they were cranberry colored, in a nod to the cranberry growers in the region. Riding my bike to town, Id take shortcuts through the woods and along the sandy paths that ran between the square-cut bogs. It was a low-lying landscape of nineteenth-century lighthouses, tall white church steeples, the ospreys that gave Buzzards Bay its name, and bogs.

Nearby is Plymouth, where Native Americans introduced the Pilgrims to cranberries in the mid-1600s. Native Americans already knew about the cranberrys versatility; by the time colonists arrived, Native Americans were eating cranberries, dyeing blankets and other fabrics with them, and using them to create a poultice for arrow wounds (believing cranberries to have healing powers). To Native Americans, cranberries were also symbolic; when tribes gathered to feast, the berries were served as a gesture of friendship and peace. Indeed, this indigenous fruit, which grows on vines and thrives in the sandy wetlands of southeastern Massachusetts was served at the Pilgrims first Thanksgiving feast with Chief Massasoit. (Cranberry sauce first made its published appearance in The Pilgrims Cook Book of 1663.) Various tribes ascribed different names to the berry (the Cape Cod Pequots called it ibimi or bitter berry), while the Pilgrims dubbed the fruit cranberry; because the shape of its blossom reminded them of the head and bill of a sandhill crane.

With so much history and staying power, perhaps its not surprising that cranberries are also incredibly good for you, rich in fiber, vitamins, and phytochemicals that act as antioxidants and may promote good health. Early on, Native Americans taught New England colonists about the health benefits of this fruit; sailors took cranberries to sea with them, packing them in wooden barrels on the whaling expeditions of the 1800s and explorations to China to get a healthy dose of vitamin C and stave off scurvy (just as the English took limes and Spanish sailors took chiles for the same reason).

When you mention cranberries today, most people think of Thanksgiving, and the glistening ruby-colored sauce thats often served (ours always jiggled) in a cut-crystal bowl with a sterling silver spoon at Thanksgiving. And while I always look forward to the holiday and its traditional culinary trimmings, Ive also discovered that the cranberry is a versatile and delectable ingredient. Not only that, the color is amazing: a deep, impenetrable garnet jewel that adds a majestic brushstroke of color and suggestion to many dishes. Dont relegate cranberries to the fall harvest; serve them year-round. Throughout these pages cranberries create a startling counterpoint to other flavors (Chipotle Cranberry Cornbread), take center stage and enliven basic recipes (Cranberry Turnovers), make terrific house gifts (Cranberry Blueberry Jam) and create fantastic desserts (Drenched Cranberry Cake). Youll find recipes using fresh or frozen as well as dried cranberries; fresh berries are available in stores throughout the fall and early winter and can be frozen for another month or so, and dried cranberries are available year-round. So serve them up, as Native Americans did, as a gesture of peace and friendship.

O ruddier than the cherry,
O sweeter than the berry,
O Nymph more bright
Than moonshine night,
Like kidlings blithe and merry.

John Gay, Acis and Galatea

You can prepare these turnovers, then freeze and cook them later. If you do so, simply add a few minutes to the baking time.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

cup (1 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small dice

cup cold water

cup fresh or frozen cranberries

3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons canola oil

cup yellow onion, finely chopped

1 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast half, finely chopped

10 oil-cured black olives, pitted and finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

cup sliced almonds, toasted

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

To make the dough, combine the flour, salt, and butter in a food processor. Pulse to combine until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. With the machine running, gradually add the cold water until a dough forms. Remove the dough from the machine, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To make the filling, combine the cranberries, water, and honey in a small saucepan and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saut for 3 to 5 minutes, or until soft. Stir in the chicken, olives, cumin, chipotle, cilantro, almonds, butter, and cranberry mixture. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400F. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to a -inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter or bowl, cut out rounds approximately 5 inches in diameter. Brush the perimeter with the egg mixture. Place a scant cup filling in the center of a round. Fold in half and crimp the edges with a fork. Repeat the process to use the remaining pastry and filling. Brush the tops of the empanadas with egg mixture. Place the empanadas on a nonstick baking pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.