Monday, December 13, 2010

Christmas Cranberry Conserve + Blue Monday + Ruby Tuesday



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We had duck for dinner tonight, and, as is my habit when serving duck or goose, I made a fruit conserve to serve alongside it. I've found that a conserve or chutney helps clear the palate when rich or potentially fatty foods are eaten. A conserve is a fruit spread, much like a fruit preserve, save for the fact that it contains a mixture of fruits and no pectin is required to set it. Only a handful of ingredients are required to make conserves and they really are easy to prepare. I chose cranberries to make ours this evening. While they are seasonal and add great color to the table, the berries were selected more for their tartness than their seasonality. The cranberry is a perfect foil for potentially fatty fowl and the berries make a marvelous conserve. This spread is almost foolproof to make. The only thing you can do to spoil it is to cook it for too long a period of time. Overcooking produces too much juice and excess liquid will keep the conserve from setting. I added raisins and nuts to mine to make it a bit more festive. Here's the recipe.

Christmas Cranberry Conserve...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Mildred Banker and Taste of Home

Ingredients:
4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, halved or very coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
2 oranges, peeled, sliced and quartered
1 cup raisins
1-1/4 cup water
1 cup chopped pecans
2-1/2 cups sugar

Directions:
1) In a large saucepan, combine cranberries, orange zest, oranges, raisins and water. Cover and simmer over medium heat until cranberries are soft, about 5 minutes.
2) Add pecans and sugar; stir well. Simmer, uncovered, 10-15 minutes, stirring often. Cool. Spoon into covered containers. Refrigerate. Serve as a relish with poultry or pork, or spread on biscuits or rolls. Yield: 3 pints.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Fig Jam Preserves - My Man's Belly
Relish the Thought - Stacey Snacks
Cranberry Chutney - Closet Cooking
Brandied Apple Conserve - Foodista
Plum Conserve - Simply Recipes
Honey Pear Conserve - Mermaids Treasures

This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday

Work of the Poet: Ruby Tuesday

62 comments :

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

This would be the piece de resistance at any holiday meal Mary!!!

Dena E's Blog said...

Wow Sweetie,,YUMMY!!!
Thanks for the note you left me yesterday.. Sooooo thoughtful of you..
Sorry for the late reply. We were away at church happenings to day for our church and our G~Daughters too.
Blessings to you from our Sweet Lord in this beautiful season and those to come...Hugs Dena

Anne Fannie said...

Yum! That looks delicious! Thanks for sharing and Happy Blue Monday!
Ann

Amy said...

The Christmas Cranberry Conserve is so festive! :) I think they'll be good on some of those coffee cakes (from your previous post) along with butter! :P

Kerstin said...

Mmm, sounds so yummy and it's so versatile - you could serve it with any type of meat!

Elin Chia said...

Mary...thanks for sharing this. I have half a pkt of fresh cranberries in the freezer after baking your cranberry layered cake ( fantastic cake and keeper for sure ) Now I can make cranberry conserve for Xmas dinner ! Thank you so much. Love your blog :)

Have a great day,
Elin

bj said...

I'm still uncertain of the difference between conserve and preserves.
This sure looks good.
hugs, bj

bj said...

I'm still uncertain of the difference between conserve and preserves.
This sure looks good.
hugs, bj

Diann said...

Oh this looks so good! And I love the color of cranberries, always so festive!

Ginny Hartzler said...

I never knew what made it a conserve, and now I do! Hard to believe it's this easy!!

Unknown said...

wow, sounds like a yummy appetizer.

Anonymous said...

this would be a perfect christmas gift:)

Priya Suresh said...

Tongue tickling cranberry conserve...

kitchen flavours said...

Your cranberry conserve looks delicious! I love the lovely colour!

Shahz said...

Hmmmm YUmmmy... It really looks delicious and for sure taste good...
Happy blue Monday!!!:-)

From the Kitchen said...

I'm doing cranberry conserve today (while snowed in after the weekend "blizzard"). Mine is slightly different but your recipe sounds delicious. How can one go wrong with cranberries? I hope your day is good.

Best,
Bonnie

SmilingSally said...

Yum. With nuts and raisins added, it sounds good to me.

Happy Blue Monday, Mary!

Unknown said...

mmmmmmmmm...I'm a sucker for cranberries!! This sounds wonderful!

Kim said...

I think this conserve would be so great on the scones that I prepared yesterday! It's so lovely! Have a nice day, Mary!

Unknown said...

Cranberry conserve is perfect with duck! Offers a nice balance!

Thanks for the recipe, looks beautiful!

The Blonde Duck said...

Don't tell anyone, but I've only had the jellied kind of cranberry sauce.

CaSaundraLeigh said...

Yum! I am eating alot of cranberries this year!

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

That is the best part of the holiday meal!

Jeannie said...

That conserve looks so delicious!

cocoa and coconut said...

What a gorgeous Christmas condiment! Even the colour is perfect for Christmas.

Claudia said...

Those ingredients were created to be put together.I don't need the duck. I'll just have a bowl of your conserve.

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

Thanks for the true meaning of the word "conserve." You have such beautiful pictures. The conserve just twinkles!

LV said...

I do not know why I enjoy your post so much. I do not cook anymore. Guess I can dream of having all that good stuff you prepare is why. I dearly love cranberry sauce anyway you fix it.

Emily Z said...

This sounds quite delicious. I have never made duck but I can imagine what a combination this would be.

gengen said...

wow this is so delicious that will really make my sugar very high ehhehehe. Happy blue Monday.

Donnie said...

That looks delicious and I like how you tell us what can go wrong to. I don't cook much anymore but I sure love reading recipes and food blogs.

Sushma Mallya said...

looks very yum, love the colour..

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Sounds wonderful! Another winner! Hugs! ♥

StephenC said...

We're about to saute some duck leg/thigh combos. Fortunately we have some chutney on hand. I'll bookmark this, though, as I am very fond of cranberries. Happy holidays!

Pam said...

This sounds wonderful. I love the cranberry and orange combination.

annc999 said...

My husband would LOVE this!

Your site is one of my favorites! You inspire me.

Joanne said...

The tartness of the cranberries must pair so nicely with the fatty duck! How delicious.

Miz Helen said...

Hi Mary,
Thank you so much for stopping by The Country Cottage to have tea with me. I have really enjoyed my visit here with you. Your Christmas Cranberry Conserve looks so good. Thank you for sharing and come back to see me real soon and you have a great week!

Dorincard said...

Keywords about your world: cozy, yummy, heartwarming... :)

teresa said...

i just love things like this, it looks perfect for a rich savory meat, so delicious!

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

i can just taste it...so yummy with ornages and zest...looks decadent mary...few days back i made cranberry chutney..and ur conserve looks simply amzing

☆Mama Ko☆ said...

I always cravings every time i see some food post you have here Ms. Mary. You really do have great talent in cooking.

Dimple said...

That looks and sounds wonderful!

Rajesh said...

Nice preparation.
Yummmy

Angie's Recipes said...

This looks irresistible! I only wish the cranberries wouldn't have cost so much here...

Lynn said...

Mary,
Great recipe! I may have to try it...
Thank you for visiting my site the other day and for your nice comments. Have a great week!

Faith said...

What a lovely, flavorful conserve, Mary! Sounds like a fantastic accompaniment to duck. Hope you're having a wonderful Monday!

Kelly said...

For some reason a conserve has always sounded so fancy and intimidating to me, but I am shocked to hear how easy it actually sounds. I do agree with you that this sounds like it would be like heaven next to poultry.

Jan Hennings said...

NUM! This looks amazing!

Juliana said...

Wow Mary, what a nice cranberry conserve...like the idea of orange, raisin and pecans...beautifully done :-)

NatureFootstep said...

sounds delicious.

Rebecca said...

I think coming to this site is making me fat just looking at all this good food!!!! Wonderful!

Jeanne said...

Hi Mary, thank you so much for your comments on PS and today. I came by the other day but was distracted and didn't get back to comment. The fruit conserve is pretty and I know it will taste delicious. It certainly is easy enough. I love duck and I haven't had it in years. My friend used orange juice to pour over the duck very often while it roasted. Easy and so good.

I hope you are enjoying the holiday season with baking and cooking all the wonderful things to eat for a celebration of family and friends.

Happy cooking days ahead.
Hugs, Jeanne

genny said...

mmmmmm....looks really sweet. nice post. thanks for dropping by at my blog. cheers!

Biren @ Roti n Rice said...

This conserve will definitely go well with duck or even ham on the holiday table.

DrillerAA09 said...

Look at that. My mouth is watering just looking at the photo. I cannot imagine that in real life. Have a wonderful RT.

Shirl said...

Hello, I'm still making my Pink Saturday visits. Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving a sweet comment. Everything here looks delish!
Happy Holidays, Shirl
Shirls Rose Cottage

Sara's Sweet Surprise said...

Hello Mary~Perfect recipe...I appreciate any recipes that are easy to prepare, either for gift giving or serving.
I hope you're enjoying the holiday season.
We're making slow progress decking the halls at my home. Hubs cut our Christmas "TREEZILLA"!! down from the backyard this weekend. Turns out what grows outside really appears much smaller then you think, lol. With my college boy home it has put us in a festive mood.
Do you like playing Christmas music while decorating? For me the music welcomes a wonderful sentiment of the season to the air, as does the aromas of baking.

It's good to be back, I hope you get a chance to stop by for a visit.

Sweet wishes,
Sara

bunny The Paris House said...

Yummy this is a divine recipe! I love to cook and want to give this try.
xx

art is in the kitchen said...

Wow! This is home cooking at it's best! Cranberry conserve is such a welcome treat to quest this holiday season. I have all the ingredients and a bag of cranberries in the fridge. Got to make this before anything else. Thanks for sharing!

Maria said...

Sounds delicious!

Maria @ LSS

Maharlikah said...

It looks so delicious

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