Shredded Pork Tacos with Crunchy Slaw

This is an excellent recipe that I haven't made in a while. It was brought to mind while I was perusing my latest Taste & Create partner's website...she was lamenting her lack of coleslaw to put atop a BBQ sandwich--which also happens to be MY favorite (and almost only) way to consume coleslaw. I really don't enjoy BBQ without a healthy dollop of coleslaw...and the same goes for these pork tacos from Everyday Food magazine, if I remember correctly. They are delicious, and the slaw is crunchy and flavorful without being too...mayonnaisey. I remember making these tacos once when company was coming for lunch, and what a hit they were. I can't wait to make them again.

Also, stay tuned for T&C XVI to see what Southern Grace recipe I decide to make!

shredded pork tacos

SERVES 8 · PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES · TOTAL TIME: 3 HOURS 45 MINUTES

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
coarse salt and ground pepper
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 boneless pork shoulder (3 pounds), cut in half lengthwise
1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes in juice
1 large chipotle chile in adobo sauce (from a small can), minced (about 4 teaspoons)
16 toasted corn tortillas (6-inch) (see note)
1 cup crumbled queso fresco, feta or goat cheese
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (optional)
Crunchy Slaw with Radishes

1 In a large (5-quart) heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion, garlic, thyme, oregano, and bay leaves; season with salt and pepper. Cook until onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Add pork, tomatoes (breaking them up) and their juice, chipotle, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until meat is very tender, 2 to 2 ½ hours. Discard bay leaves.

2 Using tongs, transfer meat to a large bowl; shred with two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat or gristle. Return meat to pan, and simmer until sauce is thick, 30 to 45 minutes more. Season, if necessary, with salt and pepper. Proceed to next step, or cover and refrigerate, up to 1 day.

3 Spoon pork and sauce into toasted tortillas, using 2 tortillas for each serving; top with queso fresco and cilantro. Top or serve with Crunchy Slaw with Radishes, if desired.

NOTE: TOASTING TORTILLAS

Holding them with tongs, place tortillas directly on the grates of a gas burner, flipping frequently until beginning to brown and warm. Or warm them, one at a time, in a dry skillet over medium heat, 30 seconds. *(I just use my fingers instead of tongs, it’s easier for me, and we have a gas stove so that’s what I use).

Crunchy Slaw with Radishes

This slaw is the perfect, required accompaniment to Shredded Pork Tacos. I believe these recipes came from Everyday Food magazine. When I am sure of this, I will update the post.

crunchy slaw with radishes

SERVES 8 · PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES · TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES

1/3 cup light mayonnaise (I use regular)
3 tablespoons white-wine vinegar (couldn’t find this, red wine vinegar worked fine)
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes—I didn’t measure, 2 limes are great)
1 tablespoon sugar
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 small green cabbage (about 2 pounds), halved, cored, and thinly sliced
1 bunch radishes, ends trimmed, halved and thinly sliced (about 1 ½ cups)

In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar, lime juice, and sugar; season generously with salt and pepper. Add cabbage and radishes; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Zesty Braised Chicken with Lemon and Capers

In August, I ended up with a new cookbook. It came in the mail, and I had every intention of returning it. Then one thing after another put the cookbook in the bottom of a mail box, and it was too late. I think perhaps it was fate. You know, the subconscious kind of "fate" that makes you "forget." That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

The cookbook is Food & Wine Annual Cookbook, 2008. It contains the entire year of recipes from Food & Wine magazine, and is also the "Special 30th Anniversary Edition." I can't see any difference between this one and previous years (which were not the "special 30th anniversary editions") but whatever. I have not been able to put this cookbook down. There are some amazing recipes in here, along with gorgeous photography.

I plan to make this one day very soon. It contains simple ingredients (that don't require a trip to town) and it looks fantastic. I can't wait to show you a picture of this, it is beautiful!

**Update: which kind of grocery store doesn't have lemons today? The teeny-tiny, only-one-in-town kind at which I am forced to shop. This will have to wait until next weekend. =(

***Update II: So. "Next weekend" turned into four months later. At least I remembered! And, this chicken was worth every day of waiting! It was savory and delicious, with a hint of lemon in a complex, scrumptious sauce. Fairly easy to accomplish. We served it with wild rice.


Zesty Braised Chicken with Lemon and Capers

Active: 25 minutes; Total: 1 hour 30 minutes
4 servings
Wine: Lively, tart Sauvignon Blanc (we finished off the lovely bottle I opened to make the sauce)

8 bone-in chicken thighs with skin (6 ounces each)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dusting
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/2 cups Sauvignon Blanc
1 1/2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
Four 1-inch strips of lemon zest
4 thyme sprigs (I used 1 or 2 heaping teaspoons dried thyme leaves)
1 tablespoon capers, drained
1 bay leaf

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dust with flour. In a large ovenproof skillet, melt the butter in the oil. Add the chicken skin side down and cook over high heat, turning once, until browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a large plate and pour of all but 1 tablespoon of the fat.

2. Add the garlic to the skillet and cook over low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and boil over high heat until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, lemon zest, thyme sprigs, capers and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Return the chicken to the pan, skin side up. Transfer the skillet to the oven and braise for about 45 minutes, until the meat is tender.

3. Return the skillet to the stove and boil until the sauce is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Discard the thyme, bay leaf and lemon zest, if desired, before serving.
--Grace Parisi

Min's Fast, I mean FAST, Smothered Chicken

Lately I can't seem to get it together to have plans for dinner. I guess Bad Girls have off-days too. Could be the to-the-minute Thanksgiving planning (for more than a week ahead of time) that wore me out...anyway. This is what happened.

Tonight, I really wanted to make my beloved Pechugas de Pollo con Rajas. But I waited just a bit too long and ran out of time. The last-minute search was on. I have been looking at Shell's Smothered Chicken recipe for months now. Honestly, she posted it in June! You'd think I could have tried it by now.

Shell's recipe is for a slow cooker. Obviously, I didn't have that kind of time since it was already 5:15pm. But, I had everything for this recipe except mushrooms, so I went for it. We have a small family, so I just pulled 2 large chicken breasts out of the freezer and thawed them a bit in the microwave. I diced them to bite-sized pieces, and it was just the right amount. A batch of Minute Rice, and we had dinner.

It was fast, easy and delicious. And on the table by 6:pm. What more could you ask for? With mushrooms and/or zucchini it would have been perfect. Thanks Shell!

Now, if I could just figure out something for tomorrow...


Min's Fast, I mean FAST, Smothered Chicken
Adapted from Shell's Smothered Chicken
Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large or 2 small onions, sliced
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced (would have been ideal)
1 small zucchini, diced (optional, I think it would be good)
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 can baby corn, drained
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 can milk
salt and pepper to taste
thyme to taste

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions, mushrooms and zucchini, if using, and saute for about 5 minutes or so while you dice the chicken. Add chicken, and cook until done. Add baby corn, soup and milk, salt, pepper and thyme, and simmer gently for 5 or 10 minutes until heated through. Serve with rice. That's all.

Tortillas de Harina de Trigo (Flour Tortillas)

We love tortillas.

Number One has decided that we should make our own tortillas, instead of buying them at the store. He has fond memories of a Mexican babysitter he had when he was young, "Mama Tinas" who used to make stacks of the best tortillas whenever she came over. Except that Mama Tinas used her hands to form perfect circles, while Number One used a rolling pin to form imperfect circles...

One of my former roommates and I used to make tortillas, but not from scratch. We used a just-add-water "tortilla mix" from the Mexican section of the grocery store. They were easy and delicious, and we could make custom-sized tortillas. We made small (5-inch) tortillas to go along with the chorizo and eggs we took to a potluck Sunday brunch, and they were a hit. Whenever we went to the brunch, which was always hosted by the same people, it became a contest (if only in our heads) to see if we could make the best dish...and we always, always WON.

This recipe comes from Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, and I'm not quite sure why we've never tried it before. Number One's tortillas will get better and more uniform with practice, but for now they are so much better than any you can buy in the store. I believe our tortilla-purchasing days just might be over...






Tortillas de Harina de Trigo (Flour Tortillas)
Makes about 10 tortillas

[Diana has about a page of notes/anecdotes about this recipe, and while very interesting, I just don't want to type them out. Please buy the book--it's a classic.]

...The recipe they gave me was "a handful of lard to a kilo of flour, salt, and water. Hot water if the weather is cold; cold water if the weather is hot." Later on I had one toasted crisp with the biggest piece of meat, cooked over the wood fire, that I have ever seen on any plate. You can make the dough either by hand or with an electric mixer.

1 pound (450 g) bread flour (from hard winter wheat)--Number One used all-purpose flour
4 ounces (115 g) softened vegetable shortening (about 1/2 cup/125 ml)--Number One used lard, of course
1 scant teaspoon salt (we thought they could have used a bit more salt)
about 1 cup (250 ml) warm water

Put the flour onto a work surface or pastry board. Rub the fat into the flour with your fingertips. Dissolve the salt in the warm water and mix into the flour, a little at a time, so that you can see how much the flour will absorb. Using a plastic dough scraper, gather up all the flour around the periphery and work the dough into a cohesive mass--about 2 minutes with the mixer, 4 minutes by hand.

Divide the dough into 10 equal parts--about 3 ounces (85 g) each--and roll into very smooth balls about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. Cover with well-greased plastic wrap and set aside for at least 20 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Heat an ungreased comal or griddle over medium heat. (we use a flat cast iron tortilla pan)

Flatten one of the balls on a lightly floured work surface and roll it out, with a dowel for a rolling pin, to form a 6-inch (15-cm) circle. Now it is a matter of choice about thinness and size. You can stretch the dough like a pizza to about 15 inches (38 cm) in diameter.

Carefully lay the tortilla on the griddle; it should sizzle if the heat is correct.

The dough will become opaque and the bottom slightly browned in patches. Turn the tortilla over and cook on the second side; the whole process should take less than 1/2 minute. Do not overcook or the tortilla will become hard instead of soft and pliable.

As soon as each tortilla is cooked, stack inside a cloth.

These tortillas keep well and, although I hesitate to say so, can be prepared well ahead and reheated on a warm comal.

Blueberry Corn Bread

You know when you start looking through a cookbook, you notice all these really great-sounding recipes that you want to try? Whether it's the first time you've opened it, or if it's so well used it's falling apart, there are delicious recipes in there, just waiting to be made! That is what's happening with me and my Moosewood Cookbook right now. That's why so many posts are coming from that cookbook. I just can't put it down. It's been so long, I've had the book since roughly 1996, and I keep finding recipes to make. Either recipes that I've tried before and loved, or recipes that somehow have escaped my notice over the years...until now!

The other night, Shell was telling me about a corn bread recipe she'd tried. But it didn't turn out as well as her favorite corn bread recipe, which is why you haven't seen the recipe here. It got me to thinking, I bet Mollie has a recipe for corn bread! (Yes, I take the liberty of being on a first-name basis with those cookbook authors whom I love: Mollie, Martha, Bobby, Rick, etc.)

And yes, Mollie does indeed have a recipe for corn bread, three recipes in fact, and it was a tough decision which one to make. For now, I chose Blueberry Corn Bread. Later, I will also prepare and share the recipe for Mollie's Mexican Corn and Cheese Bread. Probably with a pot of my Rustic Chili. You can make the Basic Corn Bread recipe using this recipe, by decreasing the sugar or honey in the recipe below to 3 tablespoons and omitting the blueberries.

But for now, it's Blueberry. I meant to add a dash of vanilla, because my dad said he likes corn bread with vanilla, but I forgot. I also forgot to thaw the blueberries ahead of time, and in hindsight I believe that is a crucial step. I had to bake my cornbread 10 minutes more, and it really should have baked longer--the middle was still unbaked underneath the perfectly golden crust. Live and learn. Thaw your blueberries and drain them! I mean it!


Blueberry Corn Bread
10 minutes to assemble; 20 minutes to bake
Yield: 1 8-inch square panful

butter, for the pan
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt (I used yogurt)
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar or honey
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (you can also use frozen unsweetened blueberries. Defrost and drain before using)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square pan (or a 9- or 10-inch cast-iron skillet) with butter.

2. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Combine the wet ingredients (including sugar or honey) separately. Stir the wet mixture into the dry, mixing just enough to thoroughly combine. Gently stir in blueberries. Spread into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the center is firm to the touch. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

This is a recipe I've had for a long time...I can't remember where I got it. I love this. Number One loves this. If you make some, you'll love it too. Tonight, we ate ours with Fritos. (You can't buy pita bread in this town, much less pita chips. Ya gotta improvise).

A good, quick snack or a great appetizer to take to a party! I had a picture, but I can't find it right now...and honestly, I don't think it was very pretty. Just trust me, you want to make some of this!

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese (I just used 1/2 cup Parm, it's what I had)
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I didn't measure, just sprinkled it on top until it looked good. I probably used about 1/2 cup or more)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.


Transfer the mixture to a small (8x8") baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.


Serve with pita chips, tortilla chips, celery, carrot sticks, or anything you feel like dipping.

Shell's Vegetable Stew with Dumplings

Today was a chilly Saturday in Maryland and all I wanted was some comfort food, a fire in the fireplace and a hot beverage. It's snowing right now which is cool.

I love the IDEA of a nice, thick stew... it opitimizes "comfort food", but I really hate all the meat, especially beef. I can tolerate chicken. I've always wanted a good veggie stew but I've never liked any of the recipes I found. I totally made this recipe up... and surprisingly, it's fantastic! Please note, THIS IS NOT A VEGETARIAN RECIPE. There isn't any meat but it uses chicken broth. I have found using vegetable broth just doesn't have the same flavor but it's still good! If you're a vegetarian this is a fine option. For Vegans, just use olive oil to cook the onions and omit the dumplings since they have dairy. You could substitute soymilk and margarine for the milk and butter in the dumplings, but I haven't actually tried this.

I'm sure you could double the recipe and freeze half of it but I haven't actually tried this either.

The first dumpling recipe is more dense and drier. The second is a little more doughy. I prefer to the doughier one but the hubby prefers the dense one.

Here's what you'll need...

1 small/medium onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 1/2-2 cups of butternut squash peeled and cut into bite-size cubes

1 14-oz can of dark red kidney beans (rinse)

1 14-oz can of garbanzo beans (or chick peas... same thing... rinse)

1 1/2-cups of peas (fresh or frozen)

1 32-oz carton of chicken broth

salt & pepper

1 bay leaf

couple big pinches of thyme (maybe 1/2 tsp or less?)

couple big pinches of basil

pinch of dill

2 Tbs ( or so) of flour to thicken (you may need more)... I suppose corn starch would work as well but then Martha Stewart would cringe.

Dumplings:

2/3 cup of baking mix (like Bisquick)

1/3 cup of yellow corn meal

1/4 shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup milk

salt & pepper

• Heat up a little olive oil or butter in a soup pot and add the onion. Cook until translucent.
  
• Add the garlic and butternut squash and cook for a few minutes.
  
• Add the kidney beans, garbanzo beans, chicken broth and spices (not the flour). Bring to a boil.
• Ladle out a little liquid into a cup and and sprinkle the flour in it. Mix well until dissolved and pour back in the soup.
• Reduce and simmer for 10 minutes (or until you're done mixing up the dumplings).
• Mix all the ingredients for the dumplings until just moistened.
• Drop spoonfuls of dumpling mix into the stew... about 8. Cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
• Ladle soup into bowls with a couple dumplings per person.
• Serves 4-6 people.

If you prefer more "doughy" dumplings use this:

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 stick of butter (4 Tbs)

1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal

1 egg (beaten)

salt & pepper

• Heat the milk and butter in a small sauce pan until it boils. Remove from heat.
  
• Add the flour, salt and pepper and mix until it all starts to stick together.
• Add the egg and mix quickly.
• Drop spoonfuls of dough into the soup (you'll get about 6-8)
• Cover and simmer soup until they rise to the top (about 10-15 minutes or so)

Garlic- and Herb-Studded Turkey

And now, I am going to share with you my secret, extra-special turkey recipe. I have prepared it every year for quite some time now, and everyone loves it. (except for the one year I decided to use about 6 bulbs of garlic...but I don't want to talk about that right now). One of my former co-workers has prepared this recipe for all her family's holidays for many years now...it is always requested of her! (yes, Angelica, I'm talking about you!)

It really is delicious. Let me walk you through it.

Get a turkey that is big enough you'll have leftovers. You won't be sorry. The general rule is about 1 pound per adult, and 1/2 pound per child. So really, my 23-pounder this year was a bit excessive. But I'm not sorry, we have tons of leftovers! Generally, with 6 adults and 4 kids, we could have cooked a turkey that weighed about 10 pounds and it would have been fine. Of course we wouldn't have had the leftovers either....

Thaw your turkey well in advance of when you want to cook it. I mean, buy it about a week ahead, and depending on the size, you'll want it in the refrigerator (on a tray to catch the juice!) at least four days in advance.

This will be a messy process, so make sure you have some space cleared ahead of time. Clean out your sink so you can put the turkey right in there, and have paper towels on a tray right beside the sink so you can dry the turkey. You can then transfer the turkey to the rack and roasting pan.

The beauty of this recipe is it's versatility. You really can use whatever herbs you feel like using. This year, I used only rosemary. In the past, I have run across a fresh herb assortment for poultry, and have used that. I've used several different combinations. Additionally, you can remove the leaves from woody stems, or not. You can insert them whole, or chopped. Whatever you feel like doing is fine.

You can also use different cheeses. I have used blue cheese or gorgonzola or asiago. At the moment I can't think if I've used anything besides those cheeses. But mostly it's blue cheese because it's easier to find around these parts. I buy the pre-crumbled containers of blue cheese; the containers are 2" high and about 4 1/2" diameter.

For this recipe, you will need to gather:

• a 20-pound turkey (if your turkey is smaller, use less garlic and half the herbs and cheese. you'll use a bit less salt and pepper too, but be generous)
  
• roughly three bulbs of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
• fresh herbs (rosemary, Italian parsley, sage, thyme), leaves stripped or not, chopped or not I think one or almost two fresh herb containers (at our store they are .66 ounces) should do it, or just harvest an ample amount from your garden like I do
• 2 containers crumbled blue cheese or crumbled gorgonzola or grated asiago cheese
• ample Kosher salt (about 4 tablespoons +) in a small bowl, with a healthy layer (perhaps 1 tablespoon +) of freshly ground black pepper on top, then mixed in. (I don't measure the salt or the pepper. The best I can say is use a bit more than you would think.)

Get everything ready and in separate bowls. Start with one container of cheese, and have someone standing by to open the next one and pour half of it into the contaminated container so you don't have to wash your hands more than necessary and don't contaminate ALL the cheese if you don't end up using it.

Remove the turkey from the packaging, and make sure to remove the giblets package from inside the turkey. If the turkey has a timer insert, you can remove that too, if you'd like. Rinse the turkey inside and out, and dry with paper towels. Transfer the turkey to the rack in your roasting pan. (If you don't have a rack, that's okay. Just transfer the turkey to your roasting pan.) I toss the giblets in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Starting at one end of the turkey, carefully start loosening the skin from the flesh with your fingertips, without ripping the skin near the end. If you happen to rip some of the skin near the end, don't worry, it can be fixed. Loosen all the skin you can, reaching your hand/arm in there and loosening the connective tissues under the skin. Again, be careful not to rip the skin too much. But you want the skin to be loose so you can get all the good stuff under there--including up onto the legs and wings, the breast and the back. Loosen all the skin you can on the whole turkey.

(maybe one day I'll post a video demo)

Now. Grab some cheese with your fingertips, and distribute it under the turkey skin. Just shove it under there, everywhere you can reach. Don't worry if it clumps, just make sure it's sort of evenly spaced, and that there is cheese both on the back side and the breast side. Do the same with your herbs (front and back). Whole herbs are actually easier to place than chopped, but either way works. Just do the same thing with the herbs, making sure it looks even under there. I reserve one big herb, like a sprig of rosemary, and put it inside the turkey cavity.

Place one garlic clove at a time under the skin, you can slide and manipulate and move the garlic from both under the skin and on top of the skin. The garlic will stick out (hence the "studded" name), and you want these luscious little garlic lumps to be roughly 1 to 2 inches apart (again, front side and back side). And yes, you'll put a couple under the skin on the legs and wings too, wherever you've loosened it, there should be a clove of garlic or two.

Once you have the cheese, herbs and garlic under the skin, have someone grab you some toothpicks. You will use these to "sew" together any skin that may have ripped in the process. Remember where the toothpicks are so you can remove them later.

Grab your salt and pepper mixture and rub/sprinkle it all over the turkey, top and bottom. Use more than you would think you'd need, and don't think about it. It will work. Once your turkey is salted and peppered, turn it breast side up on the roasting rack. Fill your roasting pan with about 2 inches of water. And wash your hands thoroughly, up to the elbows. I'm not joking. You will understand once you make this.

Bake your turkey as directed on the package. I usually let it bake for about an hour, then loosely drape a sheet of aluminum foil over the turkey. I mean loosely. I just tear it off, and sort of balance it on top, I don't even mold it to the turkey too much--it's hot! Roast until a meat thermometer inserted in the biggest part of the thigh registers about 170 degrees, then remove from the oven. Keep the foil in place, loosely "tented" over the turkey, and let rest for 15 minutes or more.

You can use the juices in the bottom of the pan to make gravy, adding lots of unsalted butter and heavy cream, scraping up all the brown bits and boiling to reduce, and adding a bit of cornstarch if needed to thicken it. It might be a little salty, but it will still taste great.

Carefully transfer the turkey to a platter and make sure everyone gets to see that magnificent bird before you carve it up. (don't forget about the toothpicks!) The skin will be crispy and delicious, the meat delightfully herbed with whole roasted garlic cloves and savory cheese gently spicing it up.

Enjoy. And promise your family you will make this turkey for them every single year.

Grandmother's Famous Cranberry Bread

This recipe comes from a beloved children's book, Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin. When we were growing up, we had both Cranberry Thanksgiving and Cranberry Christmas, both books bright and artful. Lovely pictures, good stories, and...recipes in the back! I loved this cranberry bread so much. As soon as we figure out what's happened to our oven, I will be making some!

Maggie is a young girl living with her grandmother, and if memory serves, they make Grandmother's famous cranberry bread to share with their neighbor, Mr. Whiskers. Take it from me, this bread is delicious. And if you ever run across one or more of these books, please buy one to share with your children. Or send to me, until I can figure out what happened to our old copies!

Grandmother's Famous Cranberry Bread

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup butter

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

¾ cup orange juice

1 ½ cups light raisins

1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add egg, orange peel, and orange juice all at once; stir just until mixture is evenly moist. Fold in raisins and cranberries.

Spoon into a greased 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan; cook on a wire rack.

If you choose, you may substitute cranberries for the raisins to have an all cranberry bread. (I believe I always made all cranberry bread)