Janeane's Cranberry - Orange Compote

I never liked cranberry relish/sauce, whatever it is... too bitter.   But this is SO GOOD!

It's AMAZINGLY good!

12-16 ounces of cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 orange or 1 tsp. orange extract (Optional)

Mix the juice, sugar, and zest together in a sauce pan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolved.  Add cranberries and simmer until they burst open.  Try not to let it boil.

I had a 12 ounce bag of cranberries, and there was plenty of liquid, so you could use up to 1 pound (16 ounces).   For 8 ounces, cut the other amounts in half.

So... I have a problem with zest.  Beside the ick factor, I just can't manage to zest a orange properly.  So, I use orange extract.   1/2 teaspoon is equal to a tablespoon of zest.

This is what I planned to do, but when I mixed this up on Christmas day, my bottle of orange extract was EMPTY!!!!  OMG!!!

But it was really good without, so I'd say taste it (after it's cooked) and add some extract if it's not orangey enough for you.   I bought orange juice with pulp, which is extra orangey, so maybe that's why it was OK with out the zest...

Server warm or chilled, it's good either way.

From my late sister-in-law Janeane Cannon, who could always make yummy stuff!

Waffles - Plain or Bacon

Waffles for Two

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar*
1 ½  teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt*
1 cup s milk
2 ½ tablespoons oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla*

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl or glass measuring cup, stir milk, egg, oil, and vanilla together.

Add to dry ingredients, mix until smooth.

Let batter rest for 5 minutes.  Use a scant ½ cup per waffle.

Makes 3-4 waffles.

NOTES: 

* These are optional ingredients.  The sugar gives the outside a little bit more browning, and the salt and vanilla are just to enhance the flavor.   If you use a lot of butter and syrup you might not notice their absence.

INSTRUCTIONS WITH PHOTOS:

Stir the dry ingredients together.   I like to use a whisk, it breaks up any lumps and stirs it up nice and evenly.

Now, here's a trick I learned from my mom...

Measure the milk into a glass measuring cup.
Like the  Pyrex Prepware Measuring Cup

Add the egg, oil, vanilla (or any other liquid you're mixing in) and stir it up with a fork. 

 

There... you just saved yourself from washing another mixing bowl. 

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, and beat until smooth.   A rotary egg beater works great here, and I'd use one if I knew where mine was... 

 

Let the batter rest for five (5) minutes.

Use about ½ cup per waffle.  A scant half cup.  Pour it out the cup but don't scrape the cup...

Better yet, follow the recommendations for your waffle maker.  There's no shame in reading the instructions, after all, it's not a computer...

OPTION:

Sprinkle some bacon bits on top before closing the lid.  Those are Bacon Crumbles from Costco, highly recommended...

The syrup can hardly wait...

This assumes non-fat milk, no bacon, and a total of four waffles made from the recipe.   

It also assumes you only ate one waffle!
Nutrition information from www.caloriecount.com

Gritty Waffles

Waffles in Spaaaaaace!!!!!   

You can eat them in the air, you can eat them anywhere!

OK, not really.... but as I've mentioned before, my counter tops are icky and don't make a good background.  I didn't think to put down a towel or a placemat before taking the picture, and I ate the waffle already... so, Photoshop.

I finally found a decent waffle maker.  Thin, classic waffles, not Belgian waffles.  It's a Cuisinart Round Classic Waffle Maker (Duh!)  

"Gritty Waffles" have corn meal in them.  They are really good, with just a touch of gritty corn flavor.  Serve with butter and syrup.  This recipe is for two, and makes 3-4 waffles.   You can double the amounts for a full batch.   

Be sure to smooth the batter around a little with the back of a spoon or a rubber scraper, to prevent SKIMPY WAFFLES like this one.  I did that to the first waffle of the batch, and it was lovely and round... but I didn't take a photo, and Mr. Giddy ate it, so there we all over again.

GRITTY WAFFLES FOR TWO 

½  cup all-purpose flour

½  cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

½  teaspoon baking soda

¼  teaspoon salt

2½  Tablespoons vegetable oil*

1 egg

1 cup low-fat buttermilk**

Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. 

In a separate bowl***, mix buttermilk, egg, and oil together.  Pour into the dry mixture, and stir until combined. 

Pour ½ cup batter onto the hot waffle maker.  Smooth the batter out evenly before closing the lid.    

Serve with butter and syrup. Makes 4 waffles.

NOTES:

*   The actual amount for this recipe is 2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons, but you can eyeball it.  If doubling, use 1/3 cup oil. 

**  I tried this with a milk+vinegar substitution, but the batter was pretty thin.  It tasted OK, but try it with regular buttermilk. 

*** To save washing another bowl, I used my mom's trick of the two-cup Pyrex measuring cup.   Measure out 1 cup of buttermilk, add the egg and oil, and mix up with a fork. 

I set my waffle maker to "high", your mileage may vary.

This assumes low-fat buttermilk and a total of four waffles made from the recipe.   

It also assumes you only ate one waffle!
Nutrition information from www.caloriecount.com

 

Custom Muffins (with Variations)

This recipe started its life as Blueberry Muffins.  Then I tried some variations.  And then I came to realize you can do a lot with the basic muffin batter, so I'm calling it "Custom Muffins" now.

Hopefully, that's not too pretentious.

No, pretentious would be something like, "Completely Awesome Customizable Muffins with {insert trendy ingredient}."

And.... back to the beginning:

So... blueberries were 99 cents for a six ounce container.

What the heck do you do with blueberries? I've always been a blackberry person.  But I can read recipes online as well as the next person...actually, I can do that better than the some people.... but wow, try finding a quick and easy recipe that doesn't involve using a mixer or making 24 muffins.  Next thing you know you'd be out picking the blueberries...

I had to adapt, I used two different recipes and came up with these:

I put down a towel so you wouldn't have to see my icky counter tops.

CUSTOM MUFFINS

1/2 cup milk
1 egg white
2 Tablespoons and 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon extract*
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup fruit*

Topping*


Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  (350 if you're using a dark non-stick pan)
If they don't get nice and golden brown on top the first time, try 400 the next time.

Why do recipes always say to "preheat your oven", you're not heating before you're heating it...  and not you're not going to heat someone else's oven...

Grease a 6 cup muffin tin.  Not 6 cups in volume, but a pan with six wells in it.  Like this one, but take the label off.  

This is Baker's Secret Basics Premium Nonstick 6-Cup Muffin Pan It's pretty good, and was less than $8.  Amazon or at the grocery store. "Non-stick" isn't really, but they are easier to wash.  Wilton makes a decent one, too, and it costs less.  Wilton Recipe Right 6 Cup Regular Muffin Pan


I saw one for a toaster oven, too, but I don't have the link.   Any pan that will fit in your toaster oven will work, there's nothing magical about the one that says it's for toaster ovens. 

This is my pan when using the homemade Pan Coating.  Brush it on lightly. 

In a medium bowl, stir together dry ingredients.   If you are using dried fruit (like raisins), stir them into the flour mixture.  Make sure they separate and get coated with flour.

In a small bowl, or better yet, use a glass measuring cup and save washing another bowl. Measure the milk, then add the egg white, extract, and oil.    Mix up with a fork.

Add to dry mixture and gently mix the batter with only a few strokes.

If you're using fresh (or frozen and thawed) fruit, toss it with a tablespoon of flour, in a zip lock bag is easiest.  Fish them out of the flour (don't dump the whole bag in) and add to batter, stir gently.

Coating the fruiut with flour helps to suspend the pieces in the batter so they don't sink to the bottom.  

Spoon batter into cups.  Fill them almost to the top.  Sprinkle with topping.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, serve warm with butter.

*NOTES AND HINTS:

This can be doubled to make 12 muffins.  Use 1 whole egg if doubling.

The oil is actually 1/2 of 1/3 cup, which is 2 & 2/3 tablespoon.  I use a tablespoon to measure and eyeball it.  It's not chemistry class, it doesn't have to be exact.


As you can see in the picture, I used paper cupcake liners... but the muffins stuck to the paper.  So, either oil the paper cups a little, or grease and flour the muffin cups, or use Baker's Joy or pan coating.


NOTES ON CUSTOMIZING AND VARIATIONS:

1.  Vanilla extract and raisins.  (Add 1/2 tsp cinnamon to the dry mix)  Top with cinnamon sugar mix.
2.  Orange extract and dried cranberries. Top with plain or decorator's sugar.
3.  Lemon extract and blueberries or raspberries.  Top with decorator's sugar.
4.  Vanilla extract and blueberries, top with cinnamon-sugar.
5.  Vanilla extract and dried cherries, top with plain or decorator's sugar.


The usual ratio of cinnamon to sugar is 1 Tablespoon cinnamon to 1/2 cup sugar.  I keep some in a shaker to make cinnamon toast.  Adjust this to suit your taste.

When using fresh berries,  Rinse and dry the berries.   They don't have to be bones-in-the-desert dry, but dry enough to not make paste when you toss them with the 1 tablespoon flour.  I usually use a zip lock sandwich bag to shake them up. 


Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries freeze pretty well.  Which is good, because $3 for 6 ounces is too much, get them while they're in season and cheap.  Spread them out on a cookie sheet and freeze.   Then put into freezer bags, 1/2 cup at a time if you like.  They get a little juicy when they thaw out, but not a lot.   Just pat them dry with a paper towel and you're good to go.

Here's a new hint about berries! Frozen Berries and how to use them in muffins.

There are a lot of fancy sugars out there, but I got this at the supermarket:

Or use plain sugar,  or none at all.

Baking Pan Coating

Pan Coating

This is so easy... and cheap.   I keep repeating over and over.... never, ever use cooking spray (Pam) on your baking pans.  Especially non-stick pans, it takes a nuclear explosion to remove it.

If you really want to spray and go, use Baker's Joy, but any spray tends to pool up in the bottom if you're spraying a muffin/cupcake pan.

This coating is so easy to use, and the last muffins I made slid out of the pan with no effort at all.

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/3 cup flour

Mix well, use a mixer or a food processor.  Store in a container in the fridge.   Brush it on the pan with a pastry brush.  When you take out of the fridge, stir it a little.  When it's all gone, throw the container away and start over!   (I use a cheap store brand plastic container with a snap on lid.)

This makes a full cup (duh) which is enough to last a year, and it probably won't keep that long, unless you're making dozens of muffins every day.   You can make a smaller amount, just be sure to use equal portions of oil, shortening, and flour, and you'll be fine.

HINT: Get a silicone pastry brush.  One of the best things I ever bought. The bristles don't get out of shape, you can use it on a hot skillet, and it washes up like new in the dishwasher.



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