Red Wine Braised Beef with Cranberry Reduction

I had leftover cranberry sauce.

(is it still considered leftover if you forget to serve it?!)

Why not turn that frown upside down, and make a beautifully impressive dinner?

This beef is seared in a cast iron skillet (or any hot skillet you may have), braised in red wine, and  finished in the oven for hours until ever-so-tender. 

Leftover cranberry sauce is added to the pan juices and reduced, making a sweet and savory sauce.  

Serve with mashed potatoes, Tomato Braised Kale, and Sage Popovers, and you've got a special meal.  

Red Wine Braised Beef with Cranberry Reduction

3 bone-in short ribs (~2 1/2 lbs)

2 carrots, peeled and chopped in 1/2 inch pieces

3 onions, chopped and cut in 1/2 inch pieces

2 stalks celery, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces

2 cups red wine (chianti works well, I had barbera on hand)

2 cups water, preferably boiling (or room temp will work)

3 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup cranberry sauce

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Optional step if time: generously coat the short ribs in salt and pepper and refrigerate for 4 hours and up to 1 day.  This step makes a moister meat, but can be skipped. 

1. Remove short ribs from fridge a half hour before cooking to bring to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Heat a few drizzles of olive oil in large oven-safe skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat.  Get the pan pretty hot (a drop of water should sizzle when hot enough).  Add the short ribs, in batches if necessary, and sear all sides until a nice brown crust forms.  Remove to a plate.

3. In same hot pan add the onion, carrot, and celery.  Cook for a few minutes without stirring.  Stir once, and cook another 5 minutes or so without disturbing, until vegetables will begin sticking to pan a bit.  Stir and cook another 5 minutes, until vegetables stick to bottom again.  

4.  Carefully pour in the red wine and stir, scraping up the brown buts from the beef and veggies.  Let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the water, thyme, rosemary, a couple shakes of salt and pepper, and bay leaf. If the meat is not covered with liquid, add more water until it is.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and transfer to the hot oven.  Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  

5. Remove from oven, and carefully remove the short ribs to a plate, draping the aluminum foil over them.  Place a colander in a large bowl, and drain the contents of the skillet into the bowl.  Reserve the beef stock and discard the carrot/onion/celery mirepoix.  Pour a spoonful of the beef stock over each short rib to keep it moist while you make the Cranberry Reduction.

6. Return the skillet to the stovetop, add 2 cups of the beef stock and the cranberry sauce, and heat over medium- medium high heat.  Bring to a simmer.  Once at a simmer, stir often, and cook about 10 minutes, until the sauce begins to reduce.  Taste and if too sweet add more broth.  Continue cooking until sauce reduces by half and slightly thickens. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Portion short ribs on serving plates and spoon the cranberry reduction over top. Enjoy!

Cranberry Swirl Muffins

This isn't a recipe you make just because you have leftover cranberry sauce.  

I mean, if you have some leftover, sure, make this recipe, it's freakin delish.

What I'm trying to say is this:  this recipe is so good that you may find yourself making cranberry sauce just to make this recipe. 

These are the perfect little rays of sunshine to the gloomy beginnings of winter.  They're perfect for breakfast or as a coffee-break snack.  They're just a bit tart from the cranberry, and just a bit sweet.  

A word of warning: This recipe is made based on the use of cranberry sauce, not just whole cranberries.  If you just add cranberries (or blueberries, or other fruit you may want to sub), these muffins will be a bit dry.  The added moisture from the cranberry sauce being swirled into the batter is what keeps these so moist.  

In fact, when experimenting, I made these muffins two ways: 

One- The Cranberry Stuffed Muffin.  I placed just a bit of cranberry sauce in the middle of the batter and covered it up for a cranberry surprise.  

Two- The Cranberry Swirl Muffin.  I placed a little bit more of cranberry sauce in the middle of the muffin, covered it, and used a toothpick to gently swirl it together.

The results?  The cranberry stuffed muffin was a bit dry, but the cranberry swirl was perfectly moist.  

So without further ado:

Cranberry Swirl Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

4 oz (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 tbsp orange zest

1 tbsp orange juice

1/2 cup cranberry sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a separate large bowl, whisk the egg.  Whisk in the sugar, and when combined, add the milk, vanilla extract, orange juice, and zest.  Add the butter (it should be melted completely but NOT hot or it will cook the egg!)

3.  Add the flour mixture gradually to the egg mixture, a bit at a time.  Stir only to combine the dry ingredients to the wet, do not overmix. 

4. Pour into paper-lined muffin pan (I made mini muffins).  Bake mini muffins for 10-12 minutes, and regular muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out dry.  Cool on wire rack. 

Wensleydale Apple Cranberry Tartlets with Thyme Shortbread Crust and Bourbon Glaze

Be the star of a holiday party- bring these delectable little tartlets.  

They're like little mini-apple pies, made with Wensleydale cheese with cranberries. 

Wensleydale is an English crumbly cheese that is supple and moist with a flavor of wild honey.

Wild Honey!

This Wensleydale has cranberries mixed in- adding just a bit of... tartness... to these tarts! 

An unexpected, but incredible herb-y thyme shortbread crust that balances out the sweetness of the apples. 

I found this Wensleydale with Cranberries at Whole Foods.  

It would be AMAZING on a leftover turkey sandwich after Thanksgiving.  

So as I'm baking these, The Boyfriend keeps asking me when he can have one.

Finally I give him one.  I turn around, turn back around, and it's gone.  GONE.  

He looks at me wide-eyed, like he doesn't know what happened. 

And takes another.   

Wensleydale Apple Cranberry Tartlets with Thyme Shortbread Crust and Bourbon Glaze

The Crust:

1 1/4 cup bread flour

3 tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup thyme, leaves only, chopped

1/2 cup butter

2 tbsp ice water

The Tart:

4 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and sliced

2 McIntosh Apples, peeled and sliced

1/4 lb Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries

3 cups sugar

1 cup plus 1 tbsp water

1 stick cinnamon

2 whole cloves

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp bourbon

*You'll also need some kind of little tart baking pans. I found mine at either Kitchen Kapers or ACMoore, I can't recall..

Make the Crust:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, vanilla, and thyme. Cut in the old butter using a pastry blender or a knife until dough is crumbly.

2. Sprinkle 1 tbsp cold water over dough.  Quickly form into a ball, adding a few more drops of water if you need more moisture to hold it together. Do as quickly as possible, you don't want to handle the dough to long or the warmth from your hands will melt the butter, resulting in a less flaky crust.

3. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour, or a day or two.

4. Remove from fridge and roll out to about 1/4' thickness.

5. Cut out approximate shape of your tart pan, and lay dough over top.  Press into pan gently.  Use a rolling pin to roll over the TOP of the tart pan, giving you a nice even crust.

6. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

Make the Tart:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, cinnamon stick, and cloves. Bring contents to just a boil.

2. Reduce heat immediately and add all apples.  Cook until tender but not falling apart.  If it looks like the liquid is evaporating to quickly, add a bit of water to keep it moist.

3. Remove the apples, and lay out on parchment paper in one layer to cool off.  Reserve the poaching liquid.

4. Slice the Wensleydale cheese thinly.  Don't worry if it crumbles. 

Assemble:

1. Remove the crust from fridge.  Add a few of the apple slices that did not keep their perfect shape (the unsightly ones).  Top with a few slices (or crumbles) or cheese.  Pour 1 tsp of heavy cream over, letting it sink down (this is how much I used for tarts that were 3 inches across.  If you are making larger tarts, you may need to add a tbsp or two of heavy cream.  The cream shouldn't reach the top of the tart, rather just cover the bottom layers of apples and beginning to seep into the cheese layer).

2. Add the pretty, intact sliced apples on top, fanning them out decoratively.  At the base of the 'fan' add a crumble of cheese with cranberry for contrast in color.

3. Repeat with remaining tarts.

4. Bake in the preheated oven about 10 minutes, until edges of apples begin to darken and shortbread crust begins to turn golden.

5. Cool on a wire rack.

Glaze:

1. When tarts are cool, remove the cinnamon stick and cloves from the reserved poaching liquid. Add the bourbon.  Head the liquid medium high heat, reducing by half.  Liquid will get a bit sticky.

2. Brush the glaze over the tarts immediately. Let dry, and brush another layer over.