Sugar-Free Orange Spiced Cranberry Applesauce

 

(phone photo)

I saw that apples were on sale this week so I wanted to use up some of my older apples.
Warning: I don't use recipes often... I normally wing everything, so the recipe below is my best guess of the quantities I used.

First off, there are many easier ways to make applesauce, and one of them includes preparing it in the microwave.  I love being hands-on in the kitchen, so I made it in a large saucepan, pulling out all the stops.

Ingredients:
5 apples (I used a combination of granny smith and fuji because that's what I had), diced large
2 tbs raisins
1/4 cup cranberries (or just use your favorite cranberry sauce)
1/2 fresh vanilla bean
orange
2 cinnamon sticks
2 green cardamom pods
3 star anise
5 whole cloves
1/2 tsp allspice (use 1 tsp whole allspice cloves if you have them)
10 tsp sugar substitute
lemon juice
1" finger of ginger, peeled
water
1 tsp flax seeds (optional... they don't add flavor, just nutrients and texture)

Step 1:
Use vegetable peeler to peel off 3 slices of rind and zest remaining orange. Squeeze the juice of one half into a large saucepan (it wouldn't hurt to squeeze the whole thing, but I ended up only using half). Add 1/4 cup water to pan and turn to medium heat.

Step 2:
Make bouquet garni of: cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods (crushed), star anise, cloves, allspice (only if you used whole cloves), ginger (peeled and cut a couple times), orange peel. Tie with kitchen twine and toss into covered saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes to let the spices do their thing.

Step 3:
Add the fresh cranberries.  Once cranberries have burst, add diced apples, raisins, vanilla bean (split and scraped), orange zest, flax seeds, sugar substitute and 1 tsp lemon juice.  Simmer until raisins are plump and apples are medium tender. Mash with potato masher until desired consistency.  If there is not enough liquid for you, add more and maybe use a cornstarch slurry to thicken if desired.  Use sugar substitute and lemon juice to taste. I had less Granny Smiths than Fuji's, so I used more lemon juice to keep the tart balance.

If you use ground spices instead of whole, add them in with the apples. Adjust any seasonings to taste with ground spices.  Discard bouquet garni and cool.  I actually think this recipe tastes better cold than hot.

Yields approximately 30 oz.


What else to do with it?

• Jar it and give away as gifts
• Add your favorite extract for a new flavor
• Add in other berries (cherries, blueberries, etc)
• Heat and serve with pork topped with toasted chopped walnuts or almonds
• Heat and top with vanilla ice cream and cookie crumbles!

Authentic Tandoori Chicken

Joe's birthday dinner turned out great!  The recipe I used was from Aarti Sequeira and the recipe is located here, but if you don't want to click over, I will copy it below with a couple added points.

Note: it is beyond difficult to find all the Eastern spices in stores, but it's well worth not leaving out anything.  I used one website to find all the spices I did not have in my pantry.  It only set me back $20, and I didn't realize I ordered a spice I already had, so that's $2.75 more than I needed. Whoops.  I purchased 1 oz bags of the spices and 5 chiles.  The spices will last me a long time, and I have 1.5 more recipes worth of chiles, so it's a great investment.  I like this site because it allows you to choose the weight of your spices, and because they sent me free vanilla beans and 1 oz of a free sample of my choice. I was smart and chose something I needed for the recipe. The website is My Spice Sage. It did take nearly 2 weeks for me to receive the spices from New York, but hey, I do not live in the most convenient area anymore.

Ingredients

• To Grind:
• 5 cloves
• 2 dried guajillo chiles (if you can't find these, then use 2 chiles de arbol, and more paprika for color)
• 2 green cardamom, husks discarded, seeds retained
• 1 black cardamom, husk discarded, seeds retained
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• For Marinade:
• 1 cup whole fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup peanut or canola oil
• 2 tablespoons malt vinegar or lime juice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-inch thumb ginger, peeled and minced
• The Rest:
• 1 packet boneless skinless chicken thighs (1 1/2 pounds usually) 
•     *I used skinless breasts and tenders, around 2 lbs
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Couple of extra limes, for garnish

Directions

To make the marinade, toast the cloves, whole chiles, both types of cardamom seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds in a cast-iron skillet until fragrant, 3 minutes or so, shaking the pan. Then, pour the spices into a spice grinder and grind them until you get a fine powder.

In large bowl, whisk together the spice mixture you just made with the yogurt, oil, malt vinegar, salt, ground cinnamon, paprika, turmeric, cayenne pepper, garlic and ginger until well combined. It should smell amazing! Taste and adjust with more salt if it needs it.

Reserve 1/3 cup of the marinade and set aside; you're going to make a sauce out of this reserved marinade.

Prick the chicken with a fork. *I pounded the chicken slightly, to about 1/2 inch thick.  Add the chicken to the rest of the marinade, and toss to coat. Marinate at least 1 hour in the fridge, and at most overnight.

When you're ready to cook, line a baking sheet with foil, and turn your broiler on. Place chicken on the baking sheet, making sure each one is coated with the marinade, but isn't swimming in it. Cook the chicken under the broiler until starting to blacken, about 5 minutes. Then turn the oven to 350, and cook until a meat thermometer inserted in the meatiest part of the thigh registers 160 degrees F, another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.

While the chicken is cooking, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan, along with 1/2 cup water and the honey. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-low heat, whisking all the time. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl or gravy boat for serving.

Serve the chicken on a platter with a fresh squeeze of lime and a drizzle of the sauce.

My Notes:

I had to use more salt than the recipe called for.

I used more chicken than the recipe called for. I found that after making the yogurt sauce, there was a lot of it, and because I didn't want to waste it, I just threw in more chicken.

I served the chicken on top of parmesan couscous with green beans sauteed in garlic oil. I was considering parsley and butter rice or coconut rice, but I decided on couscous and the texture was really nice with the chicken. Next time I will go a little crazier with the couscous, adding mint, toasted slivered almonds, and raisins or currants or dried cranberries. YUM!

I did not get limes, but I definitely would have loved a squeeze of lime over the chicken.

Next time I make this, we plan to make garlic naan to eat it with.

I found that my electric oven does not get as hot under the broiler as my old gas stove, so I had to broil it for 10 minutes. Next time, I may actually grill it over charcoal. I think that would be closest to the tandoor flavor and texture- crispier on the outside. 

I hope you try this recipe. It was delicious! It was so much fun to make and is authentic. The prep takes 20 minutes but once it's in the fridge overnight, the next day is a breeze. Let me know how it turns out!