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I figured that the season was right to buy fresh cranberries, so I did ($2 for one 12oz bag of Ocean Spray at Key Foods in Park Slope). The first recipe I made was Carrot-Cranberry Gratin from Food & Wine Magazine. As you can see in the photo, the recipe involves a lot of shredding (I attempted the food processor before resorting to the manual method) of carrots and apples. You toss those with the cranberries, some apple juice, and some butter, and bake it for 40 minutes.
At the end of baking, my gratin looked suspiciously similar to how it had looked 40 minutes prior, before baking. The composition of the dish had changed very little. The taste was pretty bland, though in a "wow-I'm-really-healthy-for-eating-this" kind of way. Next time I would add some spice (cinnamon, cloves perhaps) to give it some kick.
Instead of testing out those adjustments, however, I quickly moved on to a different, spicier recipe: Cranberry Chutney.
I found this recipe online, and while I wasn't necessarily looking for a sugar-free, it sounded good and I already had all of the ingredients. I'm sure you could just use regular sugar, too.
Unlike the Gratin recipe, you can see that the chutney changed the cranberries (as well as the other ingredients) a lot from start to finish. It's a sensory dish to make due to the popping and hissing of the foods as they cook down and because of the aromatic spices. I ate my chutney with a salad as well as with some pork. A little goes a long way, and I still have some left.
I'm starting this blog for several reasons. I love fruit. I love cooking. I love exotic ingredients. I love hunting down ingredients. I love using diverse cookbooks. I love sharing ideas and recipes with others. I love lists. I especially love checking items off of a list.
Recently I've tried to add more variety to my diet. I feel I ought to take advantage of the amazing methods of transport that make so many foods accessible, especially since I live in New York City. Fruits specifically interest me because of their vibrant color, attractive shapes, and pure variety. When I did an Internet search for a comprehensive list of fruits, it was none other than Wikipedia that answered my quest (click the link for the exact list I'm referring to).
I calculate 193 fruits from my quick count of the fruits listed, minus the "inedible fruits" sub-section, but including some of the other sub-sections if they appeared to be items that are distinct on the shelves of a supermarket or food stand.
As you can see looking at the list, fruit is not as simple as one may think or hope! Like many things, the more one attempts to concretely categorize, the more ambiguous the search becomes. The legendary debate of "Tomato: fruit or vegetable?" now encompasses numerous other species as well.
You will notice, however, that my first paragraph says nothing about loving scientific reproductive theories or complicated debates. So now on to my adventures with finding and flourishing flavorful fruits....
