Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce is one of my very favorite holiday foods. Of course, in America we usually serve it at Thanksgiving... but since there's no Thanksgiving in Britain (and thus no Thanksgiving at Hogwarts), it is served at Christmastime:

"Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce-- and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table" (Sorcerer's Stone 203).

A year or so ago I found the most glorious recipe for cranberry sauce in a magazine, but I can't for the life of me recall which magazine it was. But regardless, today we shall make the very simple and very tasty Cranberry Pear Sauce.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup sugar

12oz fresh cranberries

3 Bosc pears, peeled, cored, and diced

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 cup water

1/4tsp salt

1. In a large saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil and stir well, dissolving all the sugar.

2. Add the (washed) cranberries, pears, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir well to combine. 

3. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the cranberries have burst and the mixture is slightly syrupy.

4. Remove from the heat. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

(Makes eight 1/3cup servings)

This cranberry sauce is SOOOOO delicious. The perfect combination of sweet and tart, and it has way less sugar (and preservatives) than its canned companion. I highly recommend you give it a try this holiday season!

Chipolatas

We have already prepared most of the dishes served at Harry's first Hogwarts Christmas feast, so we jump to the next new item:

"Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fa, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas, tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce-- and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table" (Sorcerer's Stone 203).

For some reason, while reading about the lovely Hogwarts Christmas feasts, I always envisioned Chipolatas as kind of like Churros....

They're not like churros.

They're sausages.

Often wrapped in bacon.

Eww.

According to Wikapedia (the ultimate in blogger research of course), chipolatas are very thin, French- or Italian-inspired sausages, generally grilled or poached instead of fried. British friends tell me that they are also often wrapped in bacon, depending on your family's traditions. 

Here's the thing: we have already prepared vegetarian sausage and vegetarian bacon. And I don't fancy eating them together. So I am sorry my friends, you will have to find your own way to make chipolatas. Let me know if they turn out delicious. 

Roast Turkey

It's just not the holidays without the smell of roasting turkey pervading the air. It's no different for the students at Hogwarts:

"Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mounains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce-- and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table" 

(Sorcerer's Stone 203).

Most vegetarians (myself included) opt for a store-bought tofurkey for their holiday feast. There are several excellent brands out there, available at most health food stores and well-stocked supermarkets. My usual choice is Tofurkey, but Quorn and VeganStore (which I've never tried) also have "roast turkey" options.

But today, I have discovered a recipe at A Veg*n For Dinner for homemade "turkey." So today we'll give it a try!

You Will Need:

5 oz silken tofu

1cup water

1tsp salt

3/4tsp black pepper

1.5 bsp Vegan Chicken Boulion

Scant 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (which I couldn't find, so I didn't use it)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion salt (or onion powder, which is what I used)

1/2 tsp thyme

pinch celery seed

1/3cup soy flour

1.5 cups gluten flour/vital wheat gluten

1 Tbs rolled oats

For the broth, You Will Need:

1 cup water

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp glaric powder

1/4 tsp onion salt/powder

1/4 tsp poultry seasoning

1/4 tp thyme

1-2 Tbs Vegan Chicken Boullion

1. Combine the last 3 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Combine the rest of the ingredients (tofu through celery seed in the list above) in a blender or food processor and combine.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together. Knead together into a firm ball. Keep some extra gluten flour on hand in case the dough is too sticky (mine wasn't). Let the ball sit for 1 hour.

4a. At this point, if you'd like, you should prepare a lovely stuffing, roll out your dough, and wrap it around the stuffing for a more traditional turkey roast. However, I didn't think ahead about making stuffing... so my "bird" will be unstuffed. 

4b. If you have no stuffing, knead the dough for 1 more minute and form into a ball again. A Veg*n for Dinner recommends cooking your "turkey" in a juice can. I didn't have one (and I can't imagine how a juice can could accommodate the dough expansion!), so I wrapped my dough up tight in cheesecloth and placed it in a small dutch oven. Mix your broth ingredients together and pour your broth over the dough.

5. Cover your chosen cooking receptacle (with foil if you're using a juice can) and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the "turkey" in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 250 degrees. Cook for 3 hours.

6. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool enough for you to handle. Remove from the can/cheesecloth, slice, and serve.

While I do prefer my store-bought Tofurkey, this is pretty tasty! I definitely recommend using poultry seasoning if you have it. Pair with some gravy and mashed potatoes and enjoy!

Fudge

I have learned that fudge is one of the most difficult things to make. The temperatures must be perfect, and crystallization is a dangerous possibility. But it's not surprising at all that expert cook Mrs. Weasley makes delicious fudge at Christmas to send to Harry and her sons:

"Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge" (Sorcerer's Stone 200).

I have attempted to make the fudge featured in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook once before. I failed miserably. But today we must make Mrs. Weasley's fudge! So I shall try again.

You Will Need:

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups whole milk

2 Tbs golden Treacle or light corn syrup

2 Tbs butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla

1. Grease an 8" square pan and line it with parchment paper.

2. Combine the sugar, milk, Treacle/corn syrup, butter, heavy cream, salt, and cream of tartar in a large saucepan. As you cook, it will expand like crazy, so be sure to use at least a 4qt pot!

3. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted and the ingredients are combined. If sugar crystals form on the sides of the pan, wash them down with a pastry brush dipped in hot water.

4. Use a candy thermometer and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees. This could take 30 minutes, so be patient, and DO NOT turn up the heat!

5. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 238 degrees. This could take another 15-20 minutes. Be patient, and KEEP STIRRING!

6. Remove the pan from the heat and wait until the mixture cools back down to 115 degrees. This will take awhile (Note: I would recommend going with 220 degrees or so. At 115, it ended up really solid at the end, and kind of in a giant ball).

7. Remove the thermometer, add the vanilla, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture loses its gloss and is very thick 5-10 minutes (Don't over-beat it though, or it will get too hard too fast!).

8. Scrape the fudge into the prepared pan and smooth the top (mine was way too hard to "smooth," I had to press it down into the pan because it was a giant fudge ball...).

9. Cool completely before cutting into 1" squares.

Yummy! This fudge is delicious! Even if I didn't make it quite as perfectly as Mrs. Weasley does... Enjoy!

Marshmallows

While toasting a marshmallow over a fire, waiting for it to reach the perfect level of golden brown and gooey, or while assembling the perfect s'more, one doesn't usually think about where marshmallows come from. But marshmallows are the next thing on our list, which means we need to make them!

"They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork-- bread, English muffins, marshmallows-- and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work" (Sorcerer's Stone).

The recipe for marshmallows in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook is very easy, but really really messy. So heads up on that. Here we go.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (plus more as needed)

1 cup water

3 Tbs (3 packets) unflavored gelatin

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbs vanilla extract

Note: I halved the recipe, so my process pictures will be different from yours!

1. Spray a 9 x 13" pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper (or wax paper) to come up the two ends for easy removal later. Thickly coat the parchment paper with 1/4 cup of the confectioner's sugar, using a sifter or sieve to dust the sugar over the paper.

2. Place 1/2 cup of the water and the gelatin in a large mixing bowl to soften.

3. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and the remaining 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly (use a pastry brush dipped in hot water to brush down any sugar crystals that form). Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often (constantly is also good), until a candy thermometer reads 238 degrees.

4. With an electric mixer on low speed, slowly pour half the sugar syrup into the softened gelatin. Increase the speed to medium and slowly pour in the rest of the syrup. You'll want to do this relatively quickly, as the longer the syrup is off the heat, the stiffer it will get.

5. Increase the speed to high and continue beating. The recipe says beat for 10-15 minutes... but that's almost impossible. Beat until the mixture is thick and creamy, probably not more than 8 minutes.

that's not a drip. that's solid marshmallow stickiness.

6. Beat in the vanilla. Mixing it in with a spatula might be easier.

7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it to the edges. Smooth the top as well as you can. Thickly coat the top with the remaining 1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar.

8. Leave the pan set out uncovered overnight to dry out.

9. To cut the marshmallows, pull out the marshmallow sheet with the overhanging parchment and place it on a cutting board. Using a chef's knife or a large, non-serrated knife, press down with one motion to make a single cut through the center. Continue doing this, making even cuts along the length and width. Dip the sides of the newly cut marshmallows into the confectioner's sugar to prevent sticking, and brush off the excess sugar.

Yay homemade marshmallows! Yes, you have to think a day ahead in order to make them, but how great to have delicious sticky sugary squares with no preservatives? Take that, Jet Puffs! 

Enjoy!

English Muffins

It's funny to me that English muffins are English... for some reason that always perplexed me when eating them as a child in America. Regardless of my feelings about their British origin, Harry and Ron do enjoy them over their Christmas holidays at Hogwarts (in Britain, of course!):

"They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork-- bread, English muffins, marshmallows-- and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work" (Sorcerer's Stone 199).

There is a fairly simple recipe for this breakfast bread in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, so that is the recipe we shall use today.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 stick (4 Tbs) butter

1 cup warm water

1 Tbs (1 packet) active dry yeast

1 Tbs granulated sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted. Set it aside to cool.

2. Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and let it stand until the yeast dissolves and the mixture puffs up.

3. Mix together the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the milk and yeast mixtures and stir to combine.

4. Knead the dough until it cleans the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic (5-10 minutes)

5. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turning to coat the dough on all sides with the oil. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours, until doubled in size.

if by 'doubled' you mean tripled...

6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/2" thick.
7. Stamp out circles with a 3" cookie cutter (I use a glass and a knife).

8. Lightly spray a large skillet with cooking spray. Cook the muffins over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes on each side, or until light brown on each side.

9. Serve immediately while hot or allow them to cool and then split open and toast before eating.

Slather these with some butter or jam and enjoy! They are quite a delicious breakfast! (Even if you're not lucky enough to be eating them by a fire in the common room of your wizarding boarding school in Britain at Christmastime :)

Bread

Not surprisingly, bread appears often throughout the Harry Potter series. Often it is accompanied by cheese, or thickly sliced and topped with butter at the Weasley table. But its first appearance is at the beginning of Harry and Ron's first Christmas holidays at Hogwarts:

"They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork-- bread, English muffins, marshmallows-- and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work" (Sorcerer's Stone 199).

This is also one of those rare opportunities I love so much because J.K.Rowling has not specified what kind of bread our young wizards enjoy by the common room fire. So I get to choose! Today we shall make Tomato and Rosemary Focaccia. I have wanted to try this recipe for quite some time. It comes from an excellent British cookbook called Vegetarian Bible, from the earth to the table, edited by Micola Grimes and Fionna Biggs. If you're looking for a good staple vegetarian cookbook, this is a good one!

Heads up, I apologize in advance for any less-than-focused photos... while making pumpkin soup the other day, my camera decided it just couldn't take it anymore... and jumped into a sink full of water. Of its own free will, of course. Yes, I tried the rice thing, and that did allow me to access my photos, but the lens refuses to funcion :( This means I'm taking photos with my phone. Thank goodness for crazy technology! 

Moving on!

You Will Need:

4.5 cups flour, plus extra for dusting (the book recommends Strong White Bread Flour, but I only had all-purpose, so that's what I used)

1.5 tsp salt

1.5 tsp active dry yeast (that's less than 1 envelope)

2 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary, plus extra sprigs for garnish

6 Tbs extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing

1.25 cups lukewarm water

6 oven-dried or sun-blush tomato halves

1 tsp coarse sea salt

Firstly, oven-dry your tomatoes: cut grape or cherry tomatoes in half and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes until shriveled.

1. Sift together the salt and flour in a bowl and stir in the yeast and chopped rosemary.

2. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in 4 Tbs of the olive oil, and mix quickly with a wooden spoon. 

3. Gradually stir in the lukewarm water but do not overmix. (I had to add an extra splash of water).

4. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes. The dough may be quite wet (mine wasn't), but don't add more flour.

5. Brush a bowl with oil. Shape the dough into a ball and place into the bowl. Cover with a damp dish towel and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, until doubled in size.

6. Brush a cookie sheet with oil. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured counter and punch down, then knead for 1 minute.

7. Place the dough onto the cookie sheet and press out into an even layer. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled(ish) again.

8. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Whisk the remaining oil with a little water in a bowl. Dip your fingers in the oil mixture and press them into the dough, making dimples all over.

9. Sprinkle with the sea salt (I used less than recommended). Press the tomato halves into the dimples, drizzle with the remaining (some of the remaining) oil mixture, and sprinkle with rosemary sprigs.

10. Lower the oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a plate or wire rack to cool slightly. Always Serve warm. 

This is absolutely, no questions asked, positively, the Best. Bread. Ever. I highly recommend that you make some. Everyday. And enjoy it. Wow.