Manchester’s Holiday Parade will have a sweet theme this year
By John Fladd jfladd@hippopress.com
This year, Manchester’s annual Holiday Parade on Saturday, Dec. 6, will have a new route. According to a Nov. 3 press release from fire chief Peter Marr, “all parades moving forward … will start at Bridge Street and Elm Street continuing south on Elm Street and concluding at Elm Street and Central Street.” “This change improves security, traffic control, and allows for a stronger overall safety posture for events,” the release said.
For Sophia Koustas, chairperson of Manchester’s Parade Committee, this has an immediate practical impact: the need to dress in layers.
“We will be lining up on the [Notre Dame] bridge. and we want to make sure that everybody’s nice and warm,” she said. “I walked it on Veterans Day just to kind of see the route, and I had a windburn at the end of the day.”
Regardless of the weather, Koustas said the yearly parade is a tradition that showcases the pride Manchester has as a community.
“It’s an event that’s open to the [everyone] to participate,” she said. “Members of our community, businesses and organizations come together and bring the downtown area together. I live downtown, so being part of the parade gives me a different perspective of the sense of community that can exist here, and I really, really appreciate that.”
The Parade will be preceded by the Santa Claus Shuffle road race, where hundreds of participants will run a 3-mile course through downtown dressed in Santa suits, stopping to “enjoy samples from Santa’s four major food groups [cookies, maple, chocolate and candy] at four sweet stops along the route down Elm Street,” according to the event’s website. “Once the last runner from the Shuffle goes by the line, that’s when the parade gets started,” Koustas said.
The theme of this year’s Parade is “Candy Cane Lane.”
“That was not something that was just decided by a committee,” Koustas said. “We [the Parade Committee] shared about 10 different themes on social media for folks to vote on which theme they wanted, and Candy Cane Lane was the one that received the most votes. I know that there’s also another competition going on downtown with candy canes, and local businesses downtown will be decorating candy canes. So there will be competition with that also.” As always, Koustas said, this year’s parade will feature marching bands. “As of right now, we have the three [Manchester] high school bands joining us for sure. And I think we might have a couple more entries.”
Manchester’s traditional Grand Marshals for the Holiday Parade are Santa and Mrs. Claus, who will be on the final float in the parade.
“I’m looking forward to seeing people happy,” Koustas said. “We have been very fortunate that for all our participants that enter there’s a very positive spirit overall. It’s just nice to see people come together.”
Manchester Holiday Parade and Santa Claus Shuffle Saturday, Dec. 6 Santa Claus Shuffle will take place at 3 p.m., preceded by Lil Elf Runs for children at 2:30 p.m. Visit milleniumrunning.com/ santa. The parade will begin at approximately 4 p.m. at the corner of Bridge and Elm streets and will proceed south to Victory Park. Participants and spectators are encouraged to dress warmly
According to Jessica Martin, the executive director of Intown Concord, Midnight Merriment is like a block party for downtown Concord.
“It’s really a shop-local event designed to promote the downtown,” she said. “The Main Street businesses stay open, many of them until midnight. There are a lot of fun promotions happening. Gibson’s Bookstore, for example, will have progressive discounts throughout the evening — the closer it gets to midnight, the more money you save.”
Martin said Intown Concord has worked to make Midnight Merriment welcoming to people of all ages and interests, regardless of the weather.
“We’ll have free hot chocolate while supplies last in Bicentennial Square,” she said. “We’ll also have free s’mores. There will be food trucks on Capital Street [and] a warming station in City Plaza, which is the area right in front of the Statehouse, where the tree will be. We have Santa at Arts Alley from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., so people can come down and take their pictures. He’ll be outside, in the courtyard, so people should dress warm. The Concord Arts Market will be in the Eagle Square atrium from 5 to 11 p.m.” This is an indoor space across Main Street from the Statehouse, she said.
As always, music will play a big role in Midnight Merriment, Martin said.
“DJ Nazzy will be with Santa, so that will be fun,” she said, “and we also have holiday music that will be piped in throughout the downtown so people can hear the holiday music as they’re going in and out of the stores. There will also be performances throughout the evening with carollers, and there will be a variety of different local singing groups.”
DJ Nazzy has been providing music for Midnight Merriment for more than 20 years. He said one of the secrets of choosing the right holiday music is to take cues from the people attending an event.
“It’s really knowing your crowd,” he said. “Let’s say you have a group of kids, you want to play music that is tailored to the kids, music that they’re going to enjoy. If it’s a bunch of adults, you want to play classic Christmas music that they grew up enjoying, music that they love. People love nostalgia. People love to relive the good old days of when they were young and they woke up Christmas morning and they experienced the Christmas magic. And I love creating that nostalgia.”
“You see people smiling if you’re playing Bing Crosby,” Nazzy continued. “That’s the type of multi-generational Christmas music that’s just passed down from generation to generation. Gene Autry, all those fun classic Christmas songs that grandparents love, parents love, kids, everybody. That’s why I’ve been doing this for so long, man. I love creating that vibe.”
Midnight Merriment When: Friday, Dec. 5, beginning at 5 p.m. Where: downtown Concord More: Visit intownconcord.org and click on the “Events” tab.
The Winter Stroll is one of the biggest events of the year for Nashua.
“Actually, it’s the biggest,” said Alyssa O’Mara, executive director of Great American Downtown Nashua, the group responsible for organizing the Stroll. “It’s the biggest event that the city of Nashua hosts.”
The Winter Stroll, when Nashua’s Main Street is closed to traffic and attendees are encouraged to explore the downtown area, is one of the first big celebrations of the holiday season.
This year’s event will begin with a candle-lit procession.
“We’ll start our candle distribution for the actual stroll to the Christmas tree at the Center for the Arts this year, because Santa will be there during the day. We’ll stroll down to Water Street and then turn to go to the new pavilion stage right on the riverfront, where we have a 25-foot tree. After the tree is lit is when all of the other activities and vendors and attractions will open up to the public.”
A goal of this year’s Winter Stroll — the 30th one — is to engage everyone who attends, O’Mara said.
“One of the things that we requested this year is that any businesses that are set up on Main Street, if they’re not a craft-oriented, small retail booth, if they’re just a business, they have all been asked to have some kind of giveaway or children’s activity. Every booth will have something going on. So when people are waiting in lines for things they can be doing activities. Between businesses and sponsor tables and nonprofits and vendors we’ll have 40 to 50 booths in addition to the 20 or so food trucks and food vendors on the street. That’s in addition to the restaurants and stores that will be open.”
A new addition to this year’s festivities, O’Mara said, is a trackless train.
“There will be three train stops on Main Street, starting at the tree lighting stage, the pavilion stage there, and then halfway up Main Street will be a stop and then Center for the Arts for Santa will be a stop. It will just be looping all night long going up and down Main Street and it can fit 27 humans, adults and children, on it. Santa will be at the Center for the Arts all day, and we have the Mounted Police Unit on West Pearl Street this year at Santa’s Stables so people can go visit the horses. On the Center for the Arts side by Santander Bank, we’ll have one of our main attractions, a 40-foot tall, 100-foot long, three-lane snow tubing slide. And then on the opposite end of Main Street, just before the railroad tracks will be an artificial ice skating rink that has 60 pairs of skates that people can borrow for free.”
“And then, we have more than 50 performances happening.”
Nashua Winter Stroll The 30th Annual Nashua Winter Stroll will take place Saturday, Nov. 29, along Main Street in downtown Nashua. Photo opportunities with Santa will start at 2 p.m. outside the Nashua Center for the Arts. A candlelight procession will start at 5:15 p.m. After the ceremonial lighting of a tree, Main Street will be open to foot traffic until 9 p.m. Visit downtownnashua.org/winterholidaystroll.
Here are some additional seasonal shopping events.
Record Store Day Black Friday, a separate event from Record Store day in the spring, highlights Nov. 28 releases; see recordstoreday.com for details.
Great American Downtown holds a Plaid Friday celebration Friday, Nov. 28, starting at 10 a.m. with the Nashua organization’s team setting up at Fortin Gage Flowers and Gifts, 86 W. Pearl St. in Nashua, to hand out Plaid Friday tote bags to the first 100 shoppers, with the bags “filled with goodies and special offers from participating businesses, according to an email from Great American Downtown. “From there, grab a map and explore exclusive deals, seasonal treats, and festive experiences throughout downtown,” the email said. See downtownnashua.org.
The Greater Manchester Chamber celebrates Small Business Saturday on Saturday, Nov. 29, kicking it off at Bookery, 844 Elm St. in Manchester, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. with refreshments, “a handout detailing the day’s deals” and more, according to manchester-chamber.org, where you can see a list of participating businesses and their plans for the day.
The Goffstown Main Street Program will hold Shop Small Saturday on Saturday, Nov. 29, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with craft booths on Main Street, community raffles and more, according to the Goffstown Main Street Program’s Facebook page.
The shops at museums can offer great gifts — that is the idea behind Museum Store Sunday on Sunday, Nov. 30, according to museumstoresunday.org, which lists participating museums including the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, currier.org; the SEE Science Center in Manchester, see-sciencecenter.org; Canterbury Shaker Village in Canterbury, shakers.org; American Independence Museum in Exeter, independencemuseum.org; Portsmouth Historical Society in Portsmouth, portsmouthhistory.org, and more. — Compiled by Amy Diaz
For the parishioners at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Manchester, one of the food high points of the year is their annual Frozen Polish Food Sale, which event coordinator Karen Sobiechowski says is probably Holy Trinity’s most important fundraising event of the year.
“It’s the only fundraiser that we have for our church here during the year,” she said, “so it’s all-around a great thing for people to enjoy good food and fellowship and that sort of thing.”
“Our church is known for its delicious Polish food,” Sobiechowski said. “We make pierogi — both the potato and cheese pierogi and the cabbage pierogi. We make stuffed cabbage — they’re called golabki — and we also sell kapusta, which is a cabbage dish with some pork in it.”
To buy frozen food, customers order it ahead of time, either on the telephone or online, and pick it up on a given day — Dec. 6 this year. Sobiechowski said pierogi (Polish dumplings, a little like ravioli filled with potatoes or cheese) are the sale’s most popular items each year.
“I think that people appreciate the pierogi just because it’s a laborious process to make them,” she said. “You have to make all the dough, you prepare the filling, there’s multiple ingredients to put together and if one tries to do these things at home, their kitchen looks like a hurricane blew through, with a lot of flour everywhere. But we enjoy getting together. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a labor of love. We have parishioners and volunteers from the community. Some of them are just friends who like to eat Polish food but would like to learn how to make it.”
Sobiechowski said coordinating volunteers on the days when they cook some of the dishes can be challenging; there are a lot of moving parts in play at any given time.
“So, yeah, you have to prepare the ingredients before you can actually assemble the pierogi, for instance,” she said. “You have to cook potatoes, cook onions, [and] mix all these things together. The filling has to cool, and then different volunteers will come and portion things out into the individual servings you would use for an individual dumpling.” She said the filling-portioner uses a small disher like an ice cream scoop to measure out the pierogi filling. “We do that for the pierogi,” she said, “and we also do that for the stuffed cabbage when we make those, so that all of the products are similar and consistent.”
“And then people will come and make the dough in the evening,” Sobiechowski continued, ”and then the next day we’re putting everything together. You have a couple of people in the kitchen that are cooking and some people that are cooling the product and then there are others who are packing and putting those items in the freezer. So it’s a lot of different things happening all at once.”
By the time the frozen dishes are picked up, Sobiechowski admitted, even the most enthusiastic volunteers are a little golabki-ed out.
“We’re going to be doing the stuffed cabbage next week, and then the other volunteers will come and make the kapusta, which we sell by the pint. That will all be done before Thanksgiving, thankfully. We’re just looking forward to getting this good food out to the people that are nice enough to support our parish.”
Frozen Polish Food To order dishes from the Holy Trinity Cathedral Frozen Polish Food Sale, download an order from at holytrinitypncc.org/downloads or call the rectory during business hours at 622-4524.
Food pickup is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6, between 10 a.m. and noon. Holy Trinity Cathedral is at 166 Pearl St. in Manchester.
• Zonta holiday auction and dinner: The Zonta Club of Concord, NH (zontaclubofconcordnh.org) will hold its 33rd annual Holiday Auction and Dinner Thursday, Nov. 20, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Pembroke Pines Country Club (45 Whittemore Road, Pembroke, 210-1365, pembrokepinescc.com). This event will feature a hosted cocktail hour, a plated dinner, live music, and silent and live auctions. Tickets are $75 through the Zonta website.
• Dinner in the Emerald City: Defy gravity at Evening in Oz: a Wicked-Inspired Wine Dinner at LaBelle Winery Derry (14 Route 111, Derry, 672-9898, labellewinery.com/labelle-winery-derry) on Saturday, Nov. 22, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. This four-course meal will feature a curated dinner menu that pays homage to the Broadway production and the new films, with LaBelle wine pairings served alongside each course, and Oz-themed decor in the Vineyard Ballroom. Tickets are $85.
• The Soup Kitchen: To Share Brewing (720 Union St., Manchester, 836-6947, tosharebrewing.com) will host The Soup Kitchen: A Drag Show and Food Drive, described on To Share’s Facebook page as “a night of camp, glamour, and community giving,” Saturday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m. Featuring hostesses Glamme Chowdah and Sybill Disobedience, this event will help stock local free stores and food pantries before the holidays. Admission is at least one non-perishable food item or a cash donation of $10 to $20 at the door. All proceeds go directly to support local families in need.
For many of us, the question “cranberry sauce — whole berry, jellied from a can, or not at all?” is as much thought we invest in cranberries. But if you are looking for a seasonally festive way of using them other than on a Thanksgiving plate, here are some thoughts.
Cranberries in NH
While there are no commercial cranberry bogs in New Hampshire, cranberries do grow in the wild here.
Christine Gagnon is the owner and operator of the Uncanoonuc Foraging Co. (uncforaging.com). She finds wild foods for a living. Once she became aware of wild cranberries and knew what to look for, she says, she suddenly started finding them everywhere, especially low to the ground in marshy areas.
“A friend of mine and I were out duck hunting a couple weeks ago,” she gave as an example. “We were looking for ducks, not cranberries, but it so happens that one of the spots is where we were duck hunting and it was full of cranberries, which was nice. So we collected a bunch. I was really surprised to see that [the cranberry plants] were so small; I imagined it would be something like a bush or a shrub. The plants like growing low to the ground, even lower than blueberries. Someone had said to me, ‘Oh, you should leave them and collect them in the spring after they’ve overwintered.’ I guess there’s a process when they freeze that bursts the cells and releases the sugars and makes them sweeter. But I think all the animals would take them before that happened.”
Baking with cranberries
Because of their tartness and color, cranberries are a natural for baking. Trina Bird, head baker at Lighthouse Local in Bedford (lighthouse-local.com), is a fan.
“Cranberries are perfect for sweet bakery items,” she said. “They are amazing paired with orange and used in scones, muffins and quick breads. [Cranberry] lends itself to a sweet glaze courtesy of its tartness, so we use it for a cranberry glazed doughnut every year, and we sugar them as toppings.They work well fresh or frozen; they are very adaptable.”
Cranberry-Orange Muffins
As Chef Bird said, cranberry and orange are a classic combination. Both are slightly acidic, and orange brings sweetness to the party, which is balanced by the tartness of the cranberries.
Cranberry-Orange Muffins. Photo by John Fladd.
1¾ cups (220 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar
Zest from one large orange
2 eggs
½ cup (120 g) full-fat sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼ cup (60 g) orange juice – You’ve just zested a perfectly good orange. Cut it in half, jam your fingers into it, and confront your anger issues.
1 cup (99 g) fresh or frozen cranberries – If you’re using frozen, don’t thaw them. They’ll get mushy. If you use them frozen, the muffin batter will lock them in place.
1 cup (115 g) sweetened, dried cranberries
sanding sugar to top
Preheat your oven to 475°F.
Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. This might be one big muffin tin or two smaller ones.
In a medium bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
With your stand or hand mixer, beat the butter until it’s fluffy, then add the sugars and beat again. Lower the speed and mix in the eggs, one at a time, then the orange zest, then the vanilla and orange juice, then the sour cream. When it’s all combined, add the flour mixture, a large spoonful at a time (this is to prevent it from poofing up in your face). Mix until the batter just barely comes together, then stir in both types of cranberries by hand. Divide the mixture between the 12 muffin cups. Dust the tops with sanding sugar.
Quickly, because the sour cream and orange juice are acidic and are going to start interacting with the baking soda right away, move the muffin tin(s) to the middle rack of your oven, and bake for five minutes. Then, not opening the oven door, crash the oven temperature down to 350°F and bake for another 16 minutes or so. Remove them from the oven when a toothpick comes out clean.
There’s a question a lot of us have asked ourselves from time to time: What is the difference between a cupcake and a muffin? In technical terms, a cupcake is supposed to have a light, delicate texture, just like a cake. This is what bakers call a “fine crumb.” Muffins, on the other hand, are denser. In practical terms, they are both equally good with ice cream. These are very orangey, very cranberry-y muffins. The fresh cranberries give a pop of tart fruitiness, and the dried ones give a sweeter, chewier experience. The sanding sugar on top gives a really satisfying crunch.
Cranberry Cookies
Cranberry and orange are such a classic flavor combination that it often becomes a default base for baked goods. The truth is that cranberries go well with a host of other flavors — in this case, cornmeal, fresh mint, and almonds in the form of amaretto.
Cranberry cookies. Photo by John Fladd.
¾ cup (90 g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (120 g) yellow cornmeal
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon coarse salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter
¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon (4 to 5 g) finely chopped fresh mint leaves
In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
With a hand mixer or in a stand mixer, beat the butter until it is fluffy. Add the sugar and beat it again. You will probably have to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber or silicone spatula.
One at a time, mix in the mint, then the egg, then the amaretto. Add the flour mixture to the dough, a large spoonful at a time, to avoid getting poofed with it. Everything should mix together pretty well, but some cornmeal might remain at the bottom of the bowl, much like the sensible member of a group of friends who has doubts about the group’s plans. Finishing the batter by hand will resolve those doubts. Stir in the dried cranberries.
Roll tablespoonfuls of the cookie dough into balls, then roll them in sanding sugar. Place six balls on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, then flatten them to half their height with the bottom of a drinking glass.
Bake for eight to 10 minutes.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. Because they have less wheat flour than usual, there isn’t a lot of gluten to hold them together, so letting them sit will let them set up. Even so, it’s probably a good idea to remove them with a spatula, after which they will be able to stand proud and look the world in the eye like any other cookies.
In a mundane and predictable world, these cookies provide a pleasant surprise. The cornmeal gives them texture. The flavors of the mint and amaretto come seemingly out of nowhere, giving them a mouth-watering quality, and the coarse salt gives little pops of flavor each time you bite down on a grain of it. These are highly recommended and will buy you street cred at this year’s cookie swap.
Cranberry Bakewell Tart
The bakewell tart is a cornerstone of British baking. By tradition it consists of a buttery tart shell, a layer of raspberry jam, and a top layer of frangipane — a creamy filling made from ground almonds. It is usually frosted with a coat of royal icing.
This take on the bakewell substitutes homemade cranberry jam for the raspberry layer, omits the royal icing to keep it from being too sweet, and reduces any fussiness by making it in a springform pan.
Cranberry Bakewell Tart. Photo by John Fladd.
Crust
1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
4 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup (57 g) powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 Tablespoon water
Whisk the flour, cornstarch, powdered sugar and salt together. Add the melted butter and water, and stir to combine with a wooden spoon.
Press the dough into the bottom of a lined 9-inch springform pan and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F. Set it aside to take a breather while you work on the jam and frangipane.
Cranberry Jam
3 cups (283 g) frozen whole cranberries – this will work with unfrozen whole berries, but the freezing process pokes holes in the cell walls of the cranberries, something called “bletting,” which helps break them down
1 cup (198 g) sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Combine all three ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, until the juice is released from the berries and starts to boil. Mash the berries with a potato masher, then boil for another 10 minutes. Cranberries contain a lot of something called pectin, a natural fiber that helps jams and jellies set. Boiling this syrupy mixture will activate the pectin and reduce the amount of water. You will raise an eyebrow at how jammy this jam gets.
Frangipane
1/4 cup (half a stick) butter, melted
1 cup (198 g) sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (145 g) almond flour
1/4 cup (5 g) sliced almonds
Beat the sugar together with the melted butter. Add the eggs, one at a time. Then add the vanilla, and finally the almond flour and sliced almonds.
Layer the cooled jam on top of the crust you baked in the springform pan, then layer the frangipane on top of the jam.
Bake for 40 minutes at 350°F.
Let the tart cool in the springform pan. When you’re ready to depan it, run a sharp knife under hot water and then around the inside of the pan. Dust the top with powdered sugar.
The sweetness and the slight fruitiness of the almonds is offset by the slightly musky tartness of the cranberry jam. (Which, not for nothin’, is excellent to make on its own for various jam purposes.)
Cranberries and cheese
“The thing about cranberries,” said Emma Round, owner of Unwined Wine Bar in Milford (unwinednh.com), “is they’re tart. The three main words I would use to describe them are tart, tannic and astringent. The reason that so many people put cranberries and cheese together is that astringency and that kind of tartness — it cuts the flavor of the cheese’s creamy, fatty goodness that can weigh you down. They just make those fats so much easier to digest — depending on which cheeses you pair the cranberry with. I’m not a cheesemonger, but I’ve eaten my fair share of cheese.”
Baked Brie with Pickled Cranberries
1½ cups (340 g) apple cider vinegar
¾ cup (170 g) water
1½ cups (300 g) sugar
Baked Brie with Pickled Cranberries. Photo by John Fladd.
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
¼ cup (4 Tablespoons) honey
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced thin
Peel of a large orange – use a sharp vegetable peeler to take off the thin, orange part of the peel, but not the bitter white pith under it
Mix all ingredients but the cranberries and the brie together in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, and boil for a further 10 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat, and leave the ingredients to steep until the mixture cools. Strain the mixture, rinse out the pan, then return the liquid to the pan, with the dried cranberries. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a vigorous boil, then turn off the heat, and leave everything to sit for a couple of hours. During this time the cranberries will soak up most, but not all, of the liquid. Store the pickled cranberries in your refrigerator for up to two weeks, until you’re ready to use them.
Remove the brie from your refrigerator, unwrap it, and score the rind in a diamond pattern. Bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes, then transfer it to a serving plate or platter, or cheese board, and serve with slices of fresh fruit and a super-generous amount of the pickled cranberries.
The sweet, acidity of the pickled cranberries will contrast deliciously with the rich, slightly musky butteriness of the brie.
Savory cranberry applications
Because cranberries pair so well with herbs, nuts and grains, they are an excellent addition to savory dishes. While not native to the Middle East, for instance, dried cranberries can bring notes of raisins and pomegranates to Middle Eastern dishes.
Persian-style cranberry rice pilaf
2 cups (430 g) white or basmati rice
4 cups (900 g) water
1 teaspoon salt
1 small onion (approximately 115 g), sliced super-thin
3 Tablespoons ghee — This is an Indian clarified butter. Do not use regular butter, which will scorch. Coconut oil would be a good substitute, though; it has a high smoke-point (That means it won’t burn easily) and brings flavor to the proceedings.
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1½ teaspoons ground sumac — this is a Middle Eastern spice available from a spice market or online. It’s very sour, which will complement the cranberries and balance out some of the sweetness. Dehydrated lemon juice powder is a good substitute, but the sumac will give you a better depth of flavor.
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup (75 g) granulated sugar
1½ cups (200 g), about one 8-ounce package, sweetened dried cranberries
Persian-style Cranberry Rice Pilaf. Photo by John Fladd.
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
A large pinch of saffron soaked in 2 Tablespoons warm water
1/3 cup (50 g) chopped salted roasted pistachios
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
In a lidded baking or casserole dish, mix the rice, 2 cups of water, and teaspoon of salt. Cover and bake for 50 minutes. This will cook the rice to a very tender texture. If you prefer your rice to have distinct, independent grains, cook it on your stovetop. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a large skillet, melt the ghee and cook the onions until they are soft and translucent. Add the salt and spices and stir to combine. Let the spices get toasty for a minute or so — your kitchen will start to smell like a Middle Eastern restaurant — then stir in the sugar, cranberries and 2 tablespoons of water. Cook, stirring frequently, until the cranberries have plumped up and absorbed most of the liquid. There might be a little golden oil left; that’s OK.
Add the vegetable oil, rice and saffron water to a large, lidded pot. Stir to combine. Spoon the cranberry-onion mixture over the top of the rice, and top with the pistachios.
Cover the pot with a thin tea towel and the pot’s lid. This will help seal in the steam you need to finish this dish. Cook over medium-high heat for three minutes to sear the rice, then crash the temperature down to the lowest setting and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let it rest for five to 10 minutes.
This pilaf is one of those “Is this supposed to be sweet or savory?” dishes that is extremely appealing. It contrasts sweet and sour and salty and savory in the best possible way.
Anyone who grew up in a culture with rice that has a crispy layer stuck to the bottom of the pot will tell you that the crispy stuff is the best part. When you serve this, make sure you scrape the crispy part from the pan for your family to fight over.
Drinking cranberries
Cranberry Syrup
Cranberry syrup is similar in flavor and sweetness to grenadine, a pomegranate syrup used in cocktails to give color and a sweet/sour fruity taste. The two syrups can be used interchangeably.
Combine equal amounts of unsweetened cranberry juice and sugar in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cool and bottle. This should last at least a month in your refrigerator.
Captain Cranberry, a cranberry mocktail
¾ ounce cranberry syrup (see above)
4 ounces ginger beer – not ginger ale; this is ever so much better with the real stuff. I like anything labeled as Jamaican or Caribbean-style ginger beer. Goya makes a good one. It is very much more gingery than the ginger ale you use to settle your stomach on a long flight, and often spicy.
Plain seltzer to taste
In a mixing glass — you can use a glass measuring cup for this — stir the cranberry syrup and ginger beer together over ice. This is a case where you don’t want to shake the drink and risk losing the soda’s carbonation.
Strain over fresh ice in a Collins glass, then mix in seltzer until it is at your preferred level of sweetness and ginger-intensity. Garnish with fresh or frozen whole cranberries, or even pickled cranberries.
This will make a lovely drink to carry around with you at a holiday gathering if you don’t want to get grilled by your cousin’s husband about why you aren’t drinking. It looks and tastes sophisticated enough that you won’t get pegged as a lightweight even if you are.
Captain Cranberry (left) and District Manager (right). Photo by John Fladd.
District Manager
2 ounces cachaca or flavorful rum
1½ ounces grapefruit juice
½ teaspoon dehydrated grapefruit juice powder – optional
¾ ounce cranberry syrup
2 dashes bitters – Angostura or cardamom bitters are good for this. I used some homemade caraway bitters I had on hand and was pleased with the result.
Grapefruit twist to garnish – Use a vegetable peeler to remove a long strip of rind from a fresh grapefruit. You are looking to take just the outer layer and not the white, pithy part underneath. Roll the strip and skewer it with a toothpick.
In a cocktail shaker, add the rum or cachaca, the grapefruit juice, the cranberry syrup and the bitters. If you are using fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and aren’t happy with its intensity, you can add dehydrated grapefruit juice powder to bump up the grapefruitiness without throwing off the drink’s proportions.
Shake thoroughly, until you hear the ice start to break up in the shaker. Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass, and garnish with a grapefruit twist.
The use of fruit juice and a fruit syrup might give you the impression that this is a frivolous cocktail. This is a serious, grown-up drink that tastes almost whiskey-like. You can easily imagine high-level management elves drinking a few of these at the North Pole in a meeting looking over their quarterly production figures.
