Papa's Cranberry Relish

When I was a kid, my dad cooked a few things on special occasions.  The things he made were extra special for being done so rarely.  We'd have candied popcorn on a snowy evening.  He'd make peanut brittle for Christmas.  On very rare occasions we'd get some of his fudge.  It was like a chemistry lab with thermometers and boiling points and stirring just so.  What a treat.

The thing he made most often was cranberry relish.   We had it at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  His recipe is not a jello mold.  Nor is it a cooked chutney.  It is fresh cranberry relish.  There is nothing that tastes more like the holidays to me than that. 

He would get out the grinder.  When we were small, I believe he used a meat grinder of the sort that clamps on to the table top.  I don't really picture that.  By the late  sixties or early seventies he got an electric grinder or sausage maker.  To this day, it only ever gets used to make cranberry relish. 

As a kid it was fascinating to watch as the the berries went in the top and came out all chopped up.  It was amazing to see celery go into the mix.  Who would think that celery would add anything but yuck to a sweet tart treat like cranberry relish.  (For the record, once I started making it on my own, I tried it without the celery.  While you can't actually taste the celery in the mix it makes all the difference between meh and wow.) 

Now my dad was pretty clever and he made it seem that running the grinder was a job that only some one of superior talent, care and skill could do.  Not anyone would be able to push those berries down the tube and hear that satisfying pop.  You had to work up to it.  First you had to learn to sort the berries.  They need to be washed.  Then you need to pull out the good berries and leave behind the stems and mushy ones.  If you were lucky, you got to put the last few berries in the machine.  Pop! 

Of course, in pretty short order, one graduated to master relish maker.  After a few sessions of supervising, dad stopped making the relish all together.  He became the taster and I became the relish maker.  I told you my dad was a clever guy!  Now he did step in to make relish after I left home and he taught Spud 2 how to make it when he was small.  Spud 2 has become the relish maker in our house.  We use the grinder attachment for the Kitchenaid mixer.  But I know exactly where the electric grinder is on the shelf at mom's house when we visit at the holidays!

A big part of making cranberry relish is the tasting.  Cranberry relish varies with the type of apple, the sweetness of the oranges and the berries.  You absolutely have to taste it as you add the sugar.  You cannot simply add 1 cup sugar and be done.  You could end up with something so sour you can't talk or so sweet your teeth hurt.  You must taste, add and taste again.  It is part of the ritual.  But then rituals evolve and persist for good reason.  The very last thing to go into the mix is chopped walnuts. 
Dad loved it with walnuts.  The spuds, not so much.  It is up to you whether you add them in or not.  But whatever you do, don't run them through the grinder with the rest.  Chop them separately and add them just before serving.


1 package fresh cranberries, washed and picked over
1 orange cut up  with the peel on
1 orange peeled (plus about half of the zest)
1 1/2 stalks celery chopped
1 large sweet crispy apple chopped (such as gala)

Put all ingredients through a food grinder (food processor would likely work but I've never done it that way).  Stir in sugar to taste.  Depending upon the tartness of the apples, cranberries and orange you may need 3/4 - 1 1/2 cup sugar.  Add a little at a time and taste.

Refrigerate.  You may stir in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts just before serving it you like. 
Recipe can be doubled. 

*Crossposted at Recipes and Prayers.

Spud 3 Cooks: Tilapia, Green Beans and Potatoes

Spud three made dinner last night and it was fantastic!

I wend looking for something to cook and found tilapia fillets and green beans in the freezer. I went to the computer and searched for "tilapia green beans recipe". The first recipe to pop up was for Breaded Tilapia with Seasoned Potatoes and Garlic Green Beans.

I got busy so when Spud 3 came looking for dinner, I handed him the recipe. It is pretty complicated but he did it.

The startling thing about this recipe is that it 'fries' the breaded fish in foil packets. I was very skeptical but it worked.

A few notes about the recipe.

45 minutes is way too long to bake the fish. Next time we will stop and check after 30 minutes.
Oil the foil all the way around. The fish didn't stick to the bottom of the packet but it did stick to the top where it got flattened too much.

If you like potatoes you will want to increase the amount! They are yummy enough that doubling the recipe is probably a good idea.

Spud 3 has a strange (to me) dislike of frozen vegetables. He loves fresh and canned but not frozen. The recipe calls for fresh or frozen green beans. He insisted on using canned. It worked. Well it worked except for the confusion between teaspoons and tablespoons. The Tablespoon of minced garlic in the beans was a bit much, but it really wasn't as overwhelming as it might have been, particularly when the beans were mixed into the potatoes.

We will definitely be trying this again together and separately.

Grandma's Recipes: Lentil Loaf

From Grandma Waggoner's collection. First the recipe as written.

Serves 10 - 12

1 cup cooked lentils (Well done)
1 cup nuts - pecan, walnut, etc
1 egg well beaten
1 large can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup wesson salad oil
1 1/2 cups crushed corn flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 onion
1/2 teaspoon sugar

bake 45 minutes at 350 in 8" x 8" pan

Translation (in this case as best I can interpret). I'm not sure what sort of dish this is actually supposed to be.

The lentils would be standard issue green lentils. There would likely not have been any baby beluga's or red or other varieties, at least not on a regular basis.

Pecans or walnuts, pretty standard. These would most likely be chopped. They probably would have gone through the pretty red grinder-like chopper my father bought at the five and dime for her Christmas present when he was small. I would probably chop them to be roughly the same size as the lentils.

One egg... I would use a large or an extra large egg.

The large can of evaporated milk could be tricky. She seems to be pretty clear that she is using the unsweetened evaporated milk rather than the sweetened condensed version. This makes sense as the unsweetened version is more common in the German tradition. The tricky part is the size of the can. It is most likely that she would have been using the standard large 14 ounce can of milk. Today the can size is 12 ounces. Opening another can of condensed milk leaves plenty of leftovers in an odd quantity. If you have another recipe where you can use it great. If not there are a couple of things I would try. First, I'd mix the ingredients as written to see if it is too dry. If it needed more liquid, I might try adding another egg. A large egg is close to 2 ounces of liquid and might be sufficient to compensate for the difference in can size. Extra milk or fewer cornflakes might also be ways to address the problem.

Wesson oil. Grandma was pretty brand specific. This may have been due to some unique difference between brands available. Wesson oil was originally processed from cotton seed. However, it seems pretty likely that it would have been vegetable oil by the time Grandma was making her lentil cake. I am pretty sure that any good quality vegetable oil will work. Given the amount of oil used, I would stick to a quality oil because it could have an effect on the flavor of the final product.

Corn Flakes. Same old same old. Use what is on your shelf. I wouldn't try using frosted flakes unless you leave out the onion.

Salt and sugar. Salt and sugar are added in tiny amounts. I imagine the lentils can take a bit more salt. I am not sure of the value of a half tsp of sugar. There isn't any mention of yeast so it wouldn't be needed for that purpose. It could be mis-written and she is really using a half cup. However, with the addition of onion, I don't think more sugar is needed.

One onion. Up to this point the ingredients were going together in my head in the form of a dense dessert cake. Now, not so much. Strong yellow onions would have been more readily available (from the garden!). I would chop the onion, as with the nuts, to the same size as the lentils. I think the onion would soften up pretty well during the suggested baking time. It might be worthwhile to saute them in a bit of oil first. I can't fit onion into my impression of this dish so I am torn about what to suggest. I think I would try adding them raw the first time. They would add a different texture to it that way. But, if they ended up too strong, I would saute the next time. Given what I remember about the size of my Grandmother's kitchen, I think she would have put them in raw to save on dishes and space if nothing else.

The 8x8 inch size for the pan suggests a glass baking dish. She most likely used Pyrex. It might be wise to oil or use cooking spray on it before adding the lentil mixture. Bake at the suggested temperature and time but watch it. I have no information about texture or moisture. It will need to bake long enough for the eggs to set but it won't have to bake longer. Be wary of baking so long that the lentils dry out.

If you try it, let me know what you think. I'll do the same and let you know.

Black Bean Salad

It is picnic time. One of our favorite picnic/potluck foods is black bean salad. It is the right combination of flavor, crunch and nutritious beans. I've been making variations of this salad for years.


1 can black beans, drained and rinsed well.
about 1/4 cup carrots chopped
About 1/4 cup Salad dressing* (bottled Italian or vinaigrette style).
Mix in medium bowl or zip bag and marinate in fridge at least while you prep the rest of the veggies.

3-4 stalks chopped celery from the center of the bunch. Be sure to include the tender leaves.
1/4 cup chopped bell peppers. (red, green, yellow or a mixture)
2 - 3 small tomatoes chopped or 1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes.
1/4 cup chopped cucumber (if you like)
a few very thin slices of red onion (or a scant 1/4 cup chopped if you like onion)
1 can black olives sliced.

Toss whatever veggies you like with the marinated beans and carrots and serve. (I usually double the recipe.)

This can also be dressed up as a chopped salad for a more formal look. Marinate the carrots and beans separately. Use a rimmed platter and carefully line the veggies up in rows. Beans in the middle, alternating colors and textures toward each side. Scatter the onion slices on top. Pour on a bit more dressing and allow people to serve themselves whatever veggies they prefer.

I don't have any hard and fast measurements for this recipe. In fact beyond black beans and salad dressing, the options are only limited by your imagination and produce drawer. There are two secrets to making it a great salad and and empty potluck bowl. The first is to make sure that you cut up all your vegetables to be close in size to the black beans. This makes it easier to eat and easier to use as a bean 'dip'. The second rule is to mix up the colors of the veggies you choose. Colorful veggies make it pretty and appealing.

By now, you are reading my important rules, looking at the picture above and wondering about that whole do as I say not as I do thing. Well the picture points out the beauty of this recipe. I had guests over for a salad bar lunch. One of the fixin's was marinated beans. When it was time to put the leftovers away I just dumped all the veggies in with the beans and voila, a new and different side dish for dinner!

* One additional note. My first attempts were made using black eyed peas for New Year's day. In those early days, I blended my own dressing from flavored vinegars and oils. (I'll post that dressing when I root it out of the old recipe box.) Now I use my favorite bottled dressing: Garlic Expressions.

Grandma Recker's Baked Corn

This is a dish I remember from family gatherings as a child. Grandma Recker was my great grandmother and I have no real memory of her. But we still attend Recker Reunions every couple years. Perhaps I will have to make this to take to the next one.

Again, this recipe is a copy of a typed recipe card. It has a note in mom's handwriting on the side with the recipe for the medium white sauce which follows.

Baked Corn

2 c corn, drained
2 eggs
1 c medium white sauce
1 tsp sugar
salt
3 or 4 crackers broken in to pieces

Buttered crumbs on top.

Bake 425 about 30 minutes.

Medium White Sauce

1 c milk
2 Tbs flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs oleo

Translation...

Most likely the white sauce is made as a standard white sauce. Melt the oleo (currently known as margarine or use butter) in a skillet. Stir in the flour and cook a few minutes. Turn off the heat. Slowly stir in the milk. I mean slowly. A few tablespoons at a time until it gets thin enough to stop causing lumps. Add the salt. Cook it down until it becomes relatively thick. I am going to have to try this. Regulation white sauce is pretty thin. I don't think that thin sauce will cook down into the thick custard I recall.

I am guessing that you make the white sauce first and allow it to cool enough so that it won't cook the eggs. Then beat the eggs, sugar, salt and white sauce together.

Stir in the crackers. I believe the crackers serve as a thickener. I doubt you worry much about keeping the structural integrity of the cracker. The most likely cracker to have around would have been saltines. I know that my grandmother always had Keebler Club crackers. They are slightly sweeter and most likely what she used when she made this. Stir in the corn.

Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish. Mom always made this in a pyrex clear glass round baking dish. It was probably the flameware version about 8 inches in diameter and 2 or 3 inches deep.

Top with buttered crumbs. These would likely be fresh bread crumbs made from stale bread. I can't picture mom making them. I am guessing she let the bread dry slightly and then grated it on the box grater. They would then be mixed with melted butter or oleo. Again, I will have to experiment with the proportions and get back to you on it. I know that the crumbs were very buttery and became crisp and brown on the top of the dish.

Bake at 425 degrees F for about 30 minutes. I know this dish is custard-like so I would suggest baking until the crumbs are golden and the eggs are set.