Thanksgiving Breakfast with KBJ’s Cranberries and Cottage Cream
22 November 2008 by Jean Johnson
Thanksgiving Breakfast complete with Cottage Cream and KBJ’s Cranberries is such gorgeous food–as delicious as it is healthy and affordable.
Indeed, that’s what measure free cooking is all about. But a cookbook without measurements and prescriptive rote directions is so unprecedented that people tend can get wrapped up in the novelty, forgetting the point.
That Thanksgiving Breakfast is delicious, is clear from the photo. So let’s talk health and wealth. The yam that I shined with oil, baked and sliced into rounds didn’t lose any nutrients by being boiled and packed into cans. It also costs pennies–since there’s no extra 10 to 50 percent added to cover processing and packaging.
Ditto for KBJ’s Cranberries, an uncooked compote of fresh crans, sweet oranges, and pomegranate seeds. Not only do we get all the nutrition that fresh seasonal produce offers, the lovely flavors tantalize so much that we didn’t even consider inviting sugar to the party. Oranges are affordable right now, and we’ve already saved by not buying canned yams or cranberry sauce, so we can splurge a little on the small amount of cranberries needed and a pomegranate that will have all who enjoy it feeling very festive indeed.
Thanksgiving Breakfast
Cooking Beyond Measure, p. 34
There was a reason they didn’t name me Patience, but I suspect I’m not the only one who finds food often tastes better when it’s enjoyed ahead of the fact and out of the limelight.
Recipe Note
Onto half a baked sweet potato spoon KBJ’s Cranberries (p. 44). Top with unsweetened whipped cream and nutmeg.
Details
~I’ve always liked baked potato skins, so it wasn’t a stretch to consider the jackets on sweet potatoes as edible. Especially when oiled prior to baking, sweet potato skins are soft and contrast wonderfully with the smooth orange flesh.
~If you get a late start, run a metal skewer through the length of a tuber to shorten the baking time.
KBJ’s Cranberries
Cooking Beyond Measure, p. 36
Recipe Note
Smash some cranberries in a mortar with some orange segments. When you have a chunky pulp, fold in pomegranate seeds and a splash of the best brandy you can find.
On a Roll with Cranberries
Not wanting to bother with the mortar and pestle the next morning when I wanted more relish, I simply stirred up a compote of whole cranberries, small Clementine orange
segments, diced apple, and pomegranate seeds.
It was especially interesting to get acquainted with the taste and texture of whole
cranberries. They were much better than I’d expected, their sour tones playing off the sweet fruits. Quite nicely, as Donovan once sang.
Cottage Cream, as well, which is just a carton of cottage whizzed up in the blender, is high-protein, yummy, and easy on the food bill. No need to pay a premium for those spendy little cottage cheese and fruit thingies that have appeared in the stores the last few years. It’s easy, gratifying, and fast to make your own.
So, rock and roll during the holidays. There’s no need to break the bank–or eat food that’s not good for us. Just cling to the perimeter of the store, spend extra time fingering the seasonal produce, and then get ready to be enticed in the privacy of your own kitchen.
The beauty and feel of fresh food: the leathery pomegranates, the solid tubers. The sounds and smells of things when they’re freshly chopped–cranberries that pop, zesty fragrant oranges. The empowerment that comes leaving off following rote instructions and taking command. The secret joy & knowledge that you are practicing thrift even as you are offering high quality food to those gathered together.
Cottage Cream
Cooking Beyond Measure, p. 20
This concoction is as smooth and splendid as its name. Spooned on cereal,
cottage cream supplies more protein than milk or yogurt.
Recipe Note
In the blender add enough milk or water to a carton of cottage cheese to get things whirling. That’s it except for flavorings if you want. Vanilla, lemon juice, almond extract. Most anything, even plain, is nice.
Details
~The trick to making cottage cream is getting it thick enough, a process helped by a blender with some oomph. Most household blenders have three hundred fifty watts, enough power for smoothies and such, but too flabby for thicker blends. I upgraded to five hundred watts without having to go a specialty store.
~Another approach is to work unplugged and use a spoon to force the cheese through a large sieve.
2 Responses to “Thanksgiving Breakfast with KBJ’s Cranberries and Cottage Cream”
Happy! This is going to be the first dish I create from your book which I recd’just a few daze ago.
I’ll come later after I give it a whirl to share my expeience.
By Janice on Nov 14, 2010
We’re waiting with bated breath, Janice. Glad you’re finding an entry point into my work. Another idea after Thanksgiving are the fruit desserts in the Endings chapter. You can put together gorgeous holiday plates without a speck of refined sugar.
By Jean Johnson on Nov 17, 2010