Today it's a cold and overcast day here and it looks and feels like winter again at 48 degrees (compared to the mid-70s of the last couple of days). We did our Costco run this morning and ran a few other errands. I've been cooking and baking this afternoon (imagine that) and wanted to use the large bag of cranberries I had in the fridge...so I baked some more cranberry muffins and made another batch of cranberry sauce and changed it up a bit. I made Cranberry Orange Coconut Sauce and it turned out awesome! Rather than use orange juice, I just used water as my liquid and orange zest for the orange flavor (you could also use a little orange extract instead of the zest if you wanted to). I decided to add unsweetened shredded coconut for a bit of crunch and added texture instead of the walnuts this time. Since the unsweetened coconut is dry and a bit absorbent, I increased my water to 1/2 cup for 2 cups of fresh cranberries. I like to make sure all my cranberries have burst so I don't get any "sour squirt surprises" in my mouth by biting on a still intact cranberry (ewww)...so near the end of simmering my cranberry sauce, I use my handheld potato masher to gently press all the berries while they are still cooking to make sure they have all ruptured. I snapped a few photos below as well as the easy peasy recipe. Enjoy!
Cranberry Orange Coconut Sauce
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh whole cranberries, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (or 1/2 teaspoon pure orange extract)
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener or erythritol (preferably powdered)
Dash of cinnamon, optional
2 to 4 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut, optional
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, orange zest, water, sweetener and cinnamon; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer gently on low for approximately 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the cranberries have popped and sauce has begun to thicken. Lightly press (smash) cooked cranberries with back of spoon or potato masher; stir in coconut. Cool in pan for about 15 minutes; transfer to a bowl or serving dish, cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Serve garnished with additional coconut, if desired.
*Optional - Reduce coconut to 2 tablespoons and add 1/4 cup chopped pecans.
Forty-eight degrees? We are much colder here in the corner of Clallam County, WA.
ReplyDeleteNice-looking recipe ... it will warm our tummies and hearts when I prepare it. Thank you for sharing so much and all so deliciously displayed.
Season Blessings to you and loved ones.
Hi GGC,
ReplyDeleteThis does, indeed, look awesome! I have lots of cranberries in my fridge and freezer. I'm going to try this next!
It was cold today, but sunny. We've been having some crazy weather, too, but not like you have had. Sounds like the ice storms out west have ruined the avocado crop. I don't like the sound of that ... a day without avocado is like a day without sunshine!
Thanks in "Clallam County"...our weather has been all over the place here -- no matter what kind of clothes you wear, it seems like the wrong ones! It's hot and muggy one day and cold and freezing the next! Hope you enjoy the cranberry sauce and Seasons Blessings to you and yours, too! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi CyberSis! Oh no...not the avocado crops!!! I have 3 sitting on my counter right now! I was eating 1/2 every day and then took a hiatus and had just resumed...guess they will be quite pricey when we do find them now. Hope you enjoy the cranberries with coconut! Oh...I recreated my Golden Cream of Potato Soup -- have to finish writing it up and posting the pictures...will either post it late tonight or first thing in the morning -- it was awesome -- best part is hubby didn't know that it wasn't potatoes in it!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi GGC,
ReplyDeleteReally looking forward to the soup recipe. And it even passed the Husband Test with flying colors ... double awesome! :-)
Hi GGC,
ReplyDeleteIf this is a duplicate comment, please disregard it. When I went to "publish" it, I got kicked all the way out to the "Blogger" sign-in page. In case my comment got lost, here's what I said:
Really looking forward to the soup recipe. It even passed the Husband Test, too ... double awesome! :-)
Hi CyberSis -- it came through both times -- sometimes blogger acts weird -- I have lost entire posts before...and I can't tell you how frustrating THAT is! You will see that I actually had some cranberry sauce with my breakfast this morning -- loved it for breakfast (it's good in yogurt, too). I want to bring cranberries out of the "Thanksgiving closet" so to speak -- I enjoy them and think they deserve more attention than they get! :-)
ReplyDeleteI just made this sauce to take to a Thanksgiving family dinner. It's so delicious! I never knew the taste of cranberries could be so yummy without being loaded with sugar!! Thank you for this recipe.
ReplyDeleteWanted to come and tell you that I made this sauce and it was delicious. My brothers both said they didn't like cranberry sauce because we've always only had the canned versions but they agreed to taste it and they almost didn't leave enough for me! This will be a staple for my Thanksgiving meal for years to come. Thank you so much! You're a doll!
ReplyDeleteI just made these and got them out of the oven and had a bite. It was good and reminded me of cheese danish, but I'm saving it for breakfast tomorrow-too late at night for treats- But , I have a Q about the measurements though. It said 2 cups or 8 oz of mozzarella cheese. On the side of my glass measuring cup, it says 8 oz at the 1 cup measure. So 2 cup would be 16 oz. I wasn't sure which to do, so I did the half way mark between 2 cups and 8 oz which was 1 1/2 cups. I thought that was a safe middle ground. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteHi Olga,
DeleteCheese is measured by weight so I use a dry measuring cup (metal) like used to measure flour, sugar, etc. It sounds like you used a liquid measuring cup. I'm sure your measuring was close enough to work just fine though. I hope you enjoy them! :-)