Cranberry Salsa

 Cranberry salsa.  A bit tangy, kind of sweet with a kick of spiciness.  Sooo good.

And adorable with little Christmas tree chips made from spinach tortillas.

Another great thing about this recipe--it was a Christmas "treat" I could share with my friend who doesn't eat dairy, eggs or chocolate. 

Cranberry Salsa with "Tree" Chips

12 oz. bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, cut in eighths
1/2 large red pepper, cut in large chunks
1/2 medium red onion, cut in large chunks
3/4 C sugar
1/3 C apple juice
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp. chopped pickled jalapeno pepper
1 tsp. grated lime zest

1 pkg. spinach flour tortillas (green)

Put cranberries, apple, red pepper and onion in food processor; pulse until chopped. Transfer to a large glass bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Cover and refrigerate or spoon into crocks or jars and refrigerate. (I suggest dividing into two processor batches to avoid pureeing the ingredients too much. Can use a food chopper instead. Adjust amounts of onion and/or jalapeno according to your desire for spiciness and apple juice according to your desire for juiciness.)

For chips, heat oven to 375°. Use a 3" cookie cutter to cut out tree shapes. (Or just slice with a pizza cutter into abstract triangle trees.) Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Put in plastic bags; give with the salsa. Can be made up to 2 weeks ahead. Store chips airtight at room temperature.

Makes 4 C salsa; 36 chips

Cranberry Meringue Pie

 I made this cranberry meringue pie for Thanksgiving dinner.  I love this recipe because we are used to lemon meringue pies, so substituting the lemon for a different sour, tart fruit is a really clever idea that actually translated into a good thing.

 It's a Martha Stewart Recipe for mini pies that I modified into a full pie recipe.

 So delicious. . almost makes you want to eat more cranberries.  Yes, there will be more cranberries.

Cranberry Meringue Pie
(overnight for best results)

1 pie crust dough

3 1/4 cups fresh cranberries (12 ounces)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped blood orange zest, plus 1/4 cup blood orange juice (Can use any kind of orange)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
4 tablespoons cornstarch
3 large egg whites
Pinch of cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie dough to 1/8 inch thick. Place in a deep 9-inch pie plate. Pierce bottom with tines of a fork. Freeze 15 minutes.  Line shell with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 15 minutes. Remove weights and parchment. Return to oven; bake until bottom is just turning golden, 5 minutes more. Transfer to wire rack; let cool 5 minutes. Remove shells from tin; let cool completely.
 

Bring 2 cups cranberries, 1 cup sugar, and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, until cranberries have burst, about 5 minutes. Pour through a coarse sieve, then a fine sieve; discard solids. (You should have about 1 3/4 cups; if you have less, add water).

Bring strained cranberry juice, 1/4 cup sugar, the zests, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and remaining 1 1/4 cups cranberries to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries are soft but have not burst, about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir cornstarch, blood orange juice, and 1/4 cup water in a bowl; whisk into cranberry mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring, until translucent, about 1 minute. into pie shell. Refrigerate until set, a few hours to overnight.
 

Preheat broiler. Put egg whites and remaining 1/4 cup sugar into the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water; whisk until sugar has dissolved and mixture is hot to the touch. Attach to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium speed until foamy. Raise speed to high. Add cream of tartar; beat until medium, glossy peaks form. Spread meringue on pie.
Set pie under broiler until top is browned, 30 seconds to 1 minute.