Super Easy Cranberry Crumble

I impulse bought a bag of cranberries at the grocery store a few days ago because it was marked down from $3 to $1.29, I wanted to make something more creative with them then cranberry sauce. I was thinking about possibily making pickled cranberries but then Smitten Kitchen's recipe yesterday for a Pear and Cranberry Crumble inspired me to make this variation on Heidi Swanson's Tutti Frutti Crumble.
It was super easy, not even really a recipe so much as throwing a few ingredients into a pan and baking them. If you don't have brandy you could certainly use another liquor or juice in its place. Next time I make it I will probably reduce the sugar slightly, but I like the tartness of cranberries, some people might prefer more sugar.

Ingredients:
1 bag cranberries, rinsed
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
5 tbsp. cold unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1/2 cup raw sugar + 1 Tbsp. raw sugar
1/4 cup brandy
1 tbsp. (or less) cold water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Butter a 9" pie plate. In a bowl mix together flour, oats, salt 1 tbsp. sugar and butter until well combined. Add as much cold water as is needed to form a dough. You want the dough to stick together well enough to shape it into a disk, but you do not want it to be sticky. Form the dough into a flattened disk shape and place on a plate in the freezer, about 15 minutes or until completely solid.

Pour the cranberries into the pie plate and cover with brandy and sugar. Stir to combine. When the dough is solid from the freezer break it into pieces over the fruit.
Bake for about 1/2 hour or until the berries are juicy and crumble on top is browned.

Two Favorite Local Shops

Alder & Co.
Sw 12th and Alder, next to Gruner

I used to walk by this amazing shop every day on my way to Whole Foods from my old work.  Now I rarely get the chance to go there since I never really make it downtown. I do, however follow their blog to keep up on all the cute things they carry.



Jobu Pot Holder




Donut Coffee Dripper





Fog Linen Tea Towel

 Una
NE 20th and Ankeny

Another shop that I used to pass by daily before I switched jobs and stopped going downtown so often. This teeny store is on the corner of Ankeny across the street from Crema bakery. I admired their window displays for years before finally going in last spring when I found out they carry MCMC perfumes.  Most things in the store are out of my price range so I don't find myself in there too often, but the clothes they carry are unique and beautiful so I follow their blog as well.

Some Design Sponge Projects I Want to Make



Repurposed fencing riddling rack

  Riddling Rack project can be found 'here'


Side Table

 The side table project can be found 'here'

Fall Knitting

Etsy Picks

I haven't done this in a while.




Reclaimed Maple Board by Ecohardwoods

 


Little Grey Herringbone Coat, Larime Loom





 


Moose Ring, Touch the Dutch





Bark Edged Wood Bowl, JL Woodturning




Mid Maple Thong, Mohop





Orange Ikat Skirt, The Vintage Trove

 

Some Fall Cooking

Rain Cover for Brooks Saddle

I love my Brooks Saddle, what I don't love is that I have to cover it up with a garbage bag everyday when lock it up while I am at work.   Leather and unpredictable fall weather in Portland definitely don't mix.
 I had some boat vinyl scrapes from a bag I made a while back and I decided I could put it to use and make a vinyl slip-cover to use in bad weather.

It was pretty simple to put together, I traced around the edges of the top of the saddle with a piece of paper as a pattern, and then made a pattern of the sides of the saddle out of paper as well. I cut out the pieces of vinyl and sewed them together, making adjustments to the seams to make it fit snuggly.
Once all the seams were sewn I trimmed the excess vinyl and stitched over all the seams with a zig zag stitch a few times over just to keep it all together nicely.

Green Tomato Stew with Pan Fried Catfish

Ingredients:
1 catfish fillet
corn flour
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. butter
1 cup chopped celery
2 seeded and diced poblano peppers
8 green plum tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup rice flour
3 cups chicken stock
cajun seasoning mix
salt to taste
Bob's Red Mill corn flour for dredging


Melt butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan, add rice flour and stir to combine. With heat on low, allow roux to cook down until caramel colored. Add garlic, celery and peppers and allow to cook a few minutes. Add tomatoes and chicken broth. Allow to simmer about an hour or until vegetables are well done. Thin with more chicken broth as needed.
Prepare the catfish by dredging in corn flour and a few pinches of salt, heat a few tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and fry catfish until browned on both sides and cooked through.

Shredded Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing, Anchovies and Hazelnuts

Ingredients: 

1/2 head Russian kale, shredded

1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

2 anchovy fillets, chopped

for dressing:

1/4 cup tahini

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

juice of 1/2 a lemon

salt to taste

This salad is inspired by a shredded kale salad that I had when we were visiting New York City last May and met our a friend for lunch at Five Leaves in Greenpoint.  

Wash, dry and finely shred kale using a very sharp knife. I prefer the purplish Russian kale for this recipe but you could definitely use regular or Lacinto  if you prefer it.  In a small bowl or cup mix together ingredients for dressing. Thin with a tiny bit of water if it is too thick, you don't want it runny but you want it a bit thinner than mayonnaise. Pour dressing over kale, mixing in anchovies and hazelnuts, toss to thoroughly combine. 

More Bird Cards

Decided to make these for wedding thank you notes. I ended up blowing off a work happy hour and spending about 6 hours making them and then writing them out while watching episodes of Freaks and Geeks.

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Roasted Yellow Tomato Soup

Savory Sweet Potato & Ricotta Pie

I am have been having a great time putting all my wedding gifts to use, in this recipe I got to use my Cuisinart food processor and my Le Creuset pie plate.

Its a good idea to roast the sweet potatoes the day before and refridgerate them overnight, they are easier to peel when cold.

Ingredients:

3 small organic sweet potatoes, roasted in the skin, cooled

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 Large eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

1/4 teaspoon thyme

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 cup homemade chicken stock

I made a quick crust for this using 4 Tablespoons of Kerry Gold butter and 1/2 cup of millet flour, pressing it into the bottom of the pan and then putting the freezer for 20 minutes, baked it for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven until browned before filling.  You can use whichever crust recipe you like most.

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into chunks, puree with ricotta, herbs, eggs, and chicken stock in food processor until completely smooth, adding a bit more stock if mixture is too thick.

Pour mixture into pan on top of crust and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the center of the pie is just set.

Bird Notes