Toxin-less Turkey Day III

SO we have the bird, the potatoes, the stuffing, the green bean casserole and the gravy worked out so what do we have left?  Cranberry sauce, rolls, and other sides that Aunt Jinny never served.

Let's start with cranberry sauce. The stuff from the can is loaded with crap you shouldn't eat and good cranberry sauce is easy to make. You can really play with it as well. You can go from a straight forward one to some really interesting stuff.

Basic Cranberry Sauce.

1 Bag Organic Cranberries
1 Organic Orange - Zested and then juiced
1/4 cup agave nectar or honey
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Add the cranberries and orange juice to a saucepan and cook until cranberries break down. Add the vinegar and sweetener and cook until well blended. Allow to cool. Done!

Now for some fun. If you like things spicier try 1 tsp of fresh grated ginger. Not spicy enough? Add a diced jalapeno while the berries are cooking down. Want a more complex flavor? Add both of the above plus 1 clove of garlic minced along with 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and a dash of clove with 1/3 cup of dried apricots dices finely.

You can see that the possibilities are just about endless.

Rolls. These are always gone quickly so they must be good.

Multigrain rolls

yield: Makes 18 rolls

 

Ingredients

• 3 cups (or more) whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup Organic cornmeal
• 1/3 cup wheat bran
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Honey or Agave nectar
• 2 teaspoons quick-rising dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup rice milk
• 1 tablespoon Olive oil

         Combine 3 cups flour, cornmeal and bran in bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Warm 1 cup water and rice milk in small saucepan over low heat just until instant-read thermometer inserted into mixture registers 100-110°F. Add the yeast and allow to bloom for 10 minutes. Add the milk mixture, oil, and honey to flour mixture; mix on low speed until dough forms coarse ball, about 2 minutes. Let dough rest in bowl 5 minutes (dough will be sticky). Replace paddle attachment on mixer with dough hook. Mix on medium speed until dough is smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky but not sticky, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls as needed, about 4 minutes.

·         Lightly oil large bowl. Shape dough into ball; place in bowl, turning to coat with oil. Allow to rise until double in bulk. 1 to 2 hours.

      Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls and put 3 into greased muffin tin.

·         Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 350°F. . Bake 10 minutes. Reverse sheets and continue to bake until rolls are lightly browned and firm to touch, 10 to 12 minutes longer. Cool rolls completely on rack.

Okay, we have the cranberry sauce and rolls handled. I'll get after some cool sides next.

 

Be very well and more soon....