It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my house!
I know I know, I’m a little bit early, but I’m traveling to see my family and friends for the holidays in Jersey mid-December, so I wanted to have a couple weeks to enjoy all of my decor. I put up decorations yesterday and decorated my tree tonight, so now I’m feeling all Christmasy.
Plus Harley hates loves to wear a bow as if she’s a holiday present. Can’t you tell by the snarled look on her face? 😉 After dying laughing at Harley Claus in Petco the other day, I couldn’t resist superimposing a Santa hat on her in the above picture. Something about how big her ears are with wearing a hat just cracks me up!
And speaking of the holidays, this week us Americans are celebrating Thanksgiving. I thought it’d be fitting to post a Thanksgiving-ish recipe.
I’ve never really eaten cranberry sauce. Let’s face it, cranberry sauce typically goes with turkey or ham or maybe even tofurky (not a fan), so I’ve never really had a good reason to eat it. And my hubby said he never eats it because cranberry sauce from a can isn’t appealing to him, so when I recently saw a recipe for port-sweetened cranberry sauce in Vegetarian Times, I was intrigued. Besides, everyone knows that I jump on any chance to cook with wine.
The recipe is really simple: combine port, fresh cranberries, dried cranberries, grated apple and fresh ginger in a saucepan, and let it simmer.
My only dilemma was deciding what to pair the cranberry sauce with. A light bulb went off when I saw cheddar cheese during my last grocery store trip, because I knew that making rice croquettes using a sharper cheese like cheddar would compliment the tartness of the cranberry sauce really well.
I spooned the warm cranberry sauce over the rice balls, and it made a great savory/slightly sweet combo.
If you’re looking for a homemade cranberry sauce recipe to eat with your Thanksgiving entree or as a compliment to a dish throughout the fall and winter, this fresh version is for you.
Port-Sweetened Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup tawny port
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup apple grated
- 1 TSP grated fresh ginger
Instructions
- Bring port, cranberries, apple, ginger, and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool a bit before serving.
Nutrition
Cheddar Rice Croquettes
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked brown Jasmine rice
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/4 onion minced
- 1 TBSP light butter
- 2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 oz cheddar cheese cut into small cubes
- 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 TSP pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion and sauté until lightly browned.
- Add rice and mix with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add in broth and parsley, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed.
- Remove from heat, and let cool for 30 minutes.
- Stir in slightly beaten egg, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, and pepper into rice mixture. Pour breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl.
- Moisten hands with water and shape into 14 balls, each about 1/4 cup of mixture. Roll each ball in bread crumbs. Moisten hands with water as needed, which will help prevent the rice from sticking to you.
- Heat 2 TBSP of the vegetable oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add half of the croquettes, and cook on each side until lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes each. Remove carefully with a slotted spoon, and place on a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat this process with the second half of rice balls. [The balls may fall apart a bit when you flip them over or remove from the pan, but just reshaping them with a spatula or spoon worked for me.]
- Place croquettes on a large plate and serve immediately.
Those look great, I was never a huge fan of the can cranberry sauce but never thought of actually trying to make my own! lol maybe that was the lazy in me
Thanks for reading! Well good news – making this cranberry sauce is perfectly conducive to laziness 😉 Just throw it all in a pot and let it cook!
Port cranberry sauce sounds good to me! Your holiday decorations look great.
Thank you, Paula!
This is a brilliant idea for cranberry sauce. Also, Harley looks adorable as Santa! 🙂
Ha, thanks girl!!
These look amazing Nicole! That cranberry sauce with apple and ginger sounds out of this world good. Then of course, cheese and rice. Yum!
I love the Santa hat on Harley! Too funny. I love the snarl. I would have to superimpose one on Coco too- she hates having anything on her head.
Thank you, Sarah! Well what’s wrong with our dogs that they hate clothes?! Oh wait, maybe because they are not meant to wear any haha not sure what you use for photo editing, but if you’re in the mood for a laugh, fool around with a picture of Coco on PicMonkey. You can add not only Santa hats, but elf hats and reindeer ears too. It’s too funny!
These look so good! I’ve never made my own cranberry sauce. I’ve always been so intimidated but you made it look easy! Harley is too cute 🙂
You? Intimidated in the kitchen? No way lady!! I’ve seen all of the amazing food & dessert creations you make!
I LOVE cheddar and cranberries together–OMG I wish I had plate of these in front of me right now! 🙂
Such a good combo right?!!