Maple + Olive Oil Granola (plus some life news...)

It’s been a long couple of months, food-wise, in Gouda land.

First, I lost my appetite.

Then, I was very nauseous.

Next, I was ravenous. No matter what I did, I could not eat enough food.

Recently, the hunger remained but I was no longer interested in what I was eating.

Yep, I’m having a baby! And while food is on my mind more than ever, it’s been really tough for me to write about it here.  Both because I wanted to keep our happy news somewhat private for the first few months, and also because this whole pregnancy thing has really affected the way we eat. Oh, and I’m really tired and seem to have a hard time getting much of anything done outside of my day job.  (Turns out naps trump blog writing every time.)

A few weeks in, I realized that I had been hit hard with that first trimester ickiness thing. The only things that interested me were toast, mashed potatoes (Whole Foods makes a really nice pre-made version, by the way), mac & cheese, and scrambled eggs. I was so worried about not eating my vegetables, but the books, doctors, nurses and other moms told me not to worry – just to get something in my belly whenever possible. I was finally able to stomach broccoli and peas – thankfully, two things that my non-cook husband was able to make well.

Just as everyone said I would, I recovered early in my second trimester, and was excited to get back to cooking and eating more than the same three meals over and over again. But I must have still been playing it safe,  because all the sudden I am NOT INTERSTED IN ANYTHING. Last week, I thought hard, and the only thing that I could garner any enthusiasm for was a big plate of nachos. I resisted that night, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to hold off next time.

So I’m trying to mix it up a bit. This week, we had two nights of dinners that were awesome – and they were sandwiches. Seriously, I am so excited about these sandwiches, and they basically took about 3 minutes to make and then about 5 minutes of toasting in a hot oven.  I’m thinking that sandwiches for dinner is going to be a new thing around here. It makes everyone happy, is very fast and requires little clean up. Score.  {For the record, the sandwich was a riff on a muffaletta – tapenade, a spicy mayonnaise (1 part minced hot peppers + 2 parts mayo), ham, turkey, salami and provolone – delicious – and all Mike’s idea.} The night before that, we devoured these chicken enchiladas that I recently rediscovered on my blog. I can see them becoming a mainstay in the repertoire in the coming weeks.  I have plans to put together an “interesting pasta dish” tonight, using some new flavors and ingredients that hopefully will perk up my tastebuds.

The one thing that has carried me through the last few months, though, was the combination of yogurt, granola and fruit. It stood in for many meals, has become my favorite workplace snack, and fills me up while still delivering some much-needed nutrients. I know that I have shared many granola recipes on this site before, but I have been holding onto this one for months now. It became my preferred recipe sometime last year, when I needed a break from my last go-to granola (which is still very delicious). This maple + olive oil granola is something else entirely. It’s nutty, slightly sweet, and has a lot of great crunch. I have eaten it nearly every day for the past 6 months, and I still like it. A miracle food, in my book.  I thought it was time that I share it with you all here.

Maple + Olive Oil Granola

Adapted from Made by Mike and Orangette

This is the combination of nuts and seeds that I typically use (you can see it’s almond-heavy, I love them) – but feel free to adjust to your own taste. Sunflower seeds, walnuts – really anything goes. Just stick with the dry to wet ingredient ratio included here. Also – I realized a few months ago that this is a very nice thing to give to new moms. The granola keeps well, can be eaten one-handed, and provides a nice hit of energy. I bet a batch of this, plus some yogurt and a carton of berries, will be a welcome sight to a tired momma.

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raw, hulled pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup raw, slivered almonds
• 1 cup raw, sliced almonds
• 1 1/4 cup raw pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup olive oil

1.     Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.     In a large bowl, combine the oats, seeds, nuts, brown sugar and salt. Add olive oil and maple syrup and stir until well combined.

3.     Spread the mixture in an even layer onto the lined baking sheets. Bake, stirring every 15 minutes until golden brown, about 45 minutes. 

4.     Remove granola from oven. Cool completely on rack, then store in a well-sealed container for up to a month. (Though it won’t last that long – way too tasty.)

And now – a question for those of you who have been pregnant: what did you love to eat? What was your go-to snack? Simple dinner? I need some inspiration in a bad way, or else I’ll be heading out for plates of nachos several times a week.

Asparagus and Pea Pasta, or, My Go-To Spring Dinner

Though it remains a bit quiet in these parts, we are still eating. Mostly, I am throwing together quick weeknight meals that I can dream up on my way home from work and can cook with my eyes shut. It isn’t the most exciting stuff, but it’s comforting and gets the job done. At least once a week, I seem to make some variation of this big one-pot meal that produces enough for the two of us, plus lunches for the next day. It goes something like this: pasta + green vegetables + a bit of meat + some sort of dairy (either cheese or a splash of cream) to pull it all together. Most likely, it will also include garlic and lemon, because most things I cook do.  The meat will vary from bacon or sausage; the cheese might be goat cheese, ricotta or parmesan.

When I have done a good job at the grocery store, this meal will include things like asparagus or broccoli rabe. When things are a bit more dire, the dish will feature frozen peas or a few handfuls of spinach.  It still tastes really good, no matter the state of my crisper.

It’s funny – this is such a formula-type of recipe to me now, I didn’t realize that I once learned it from a magazine. My cousin Beth texted me tonight to tell me she was planning to make springtime vegetable fettuccine that she found on this site - so I went looking, and sure enough, I posted something very similar in April of 2010.  Guess it has become part of my cooking repertoire now! And that’s what cooking is allll about.

Asparagus and Pea Pasta

Ingredients

1 pound pasta (anything works – fettucine, rotini, penne, etc)

2 slices bacon, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

pinch of red pepper flakes

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces

1 cup peas (frozen is fine)

4 ounces goat cheese, softened (about ¼ cup) *

juice of 1 lemon

Directions

Bring pot of salted water to a boil. Add cut asparagus to the boiling water and cook until bright green, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, remove blanched asparagus from water. Add the pasta and cook until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot and put aside.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 teaspoon drippings from skillet. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, cook until just fragrant, about 1 minute, taking care not to burn. Add blanched asparagus to drippings in skillet; sauté 2 minutes. Add peas and sauté until vegetables are just tender, about 2 minutes more.

TO the pasta, add softened goat cheese and 2-3 tablespoons of hot pasta water. Mix together well so that the pasta becomes creamy and well-coated. Add the asparagus and peas to the pasta and stir to combine. Add the lemon juice, and season generously with salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix well, adding more pasta water as needed to create a creamy sauce. Serve in individual bowls and sprinkle each with crispy bacon bits. Enjoy!

* to soften goat cheese, take it out of the fridge to come to room temperature for about an hour – or simply place it in a dish and microwave it at 10 or 15 second increments to gently soften it. This makes it much easier to stir into pasta. 

P.S. After ignoring the spam/pop-up issue (that was at times, um, a bit porn-like) for weeks - I think I finally just figured out what was going on with Lady Gouda. In case this happens to you, you just need to remove the "socialable" gadget from your layout. Apparently it had a bug and was wreaking havoc on many blogs. I feel like a tech GENIUS right now. 

Cinnamon Banana Bread Mini Muffins

Oh hello there! It’s been awhile, huh?  Well, after hosting my sweet cousin’s bridal shower over the weekend, and I decided that I really must tell you about a new baking discovery: the banana bread muffin. I adore banana bread – but when entertaining, I find that the mini-muffin is the ideal size. One or two bites is enough to give guests a little bit of sweet and spice, but without ruining their appetites for what’s to come.

One of the best things about this little breakfast treat (besides how delicious it was, of course) was how it made my entire apartment smell like cinnamon-sugar baked-good heaven right before guests arrived. {Extra party bonus: a few days after the big party, my home is still filled with the fresh scent the daffodils, freesia, tulips and Easter lily that we used to “decorate” my apartment. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me each night when I return home from work to a room filled with color and life.}

I especially wanted to share these muffins and other items from the brunch with you all because so much of what we made would work perfectly for an Easter meal. (For more ideas - check out my post on this very subject from last April.) I found the recipe from one of my all-time favorite blogs, Orangette. There is something very comforting about going to one of the blogs you trust the most, especially when you are trying a new recipe while baking for a crowd. Molly presents this as a traditional banana bread loaf, but it had that crackly cinnamon-sugar top that I was seeking. After reading through the comments, I saw that someone had made these as mini-muffins, and so with a few adjustments, I was able to bake these off the morning of the bridal shower so that they were fresh and delicious for the ladies. I know someone is going to ask me how these would work as regular-sized muffins, and the truth is, I don’t know. I’m sure they’d be very good, but I don’t know the baking time. I’d start checking them out around 25 minutes to gauge their process.

Besides the muffins, we also served two different stratas (sausage & cheddar and ham & gruyere), a berry-centered fruit salad (recipe to coming soon to this blog!), roasted asparagus and blood orange mimosas. My mom made little boxes of Jordan almonds, which are absolutely my new favorite treat – especially because of their pretty pastel shells.

Cinnamon Banana Bread Muffins

Adapted from Orangette, who adapted from Bakesale Betty and Bon Appétit, September 2008

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium bananas)
2 large eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup honey
¼ cup water

2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 ½ Tbsp. packed dark brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter or spray a mini-muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the banana, eggs, oil, honey, and water. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir well. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon and brown sugar. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter (reserving some for the second batch).

Bake the muffins until they are lightly golden, about 25 minutes. Cool the muffins on a wire rack for a few minutes before removing from the muffin tin. Repeat with remaining batter (if you only have one tin – otherwise, it’s fine to bake both batches at the same time). Serve warm or room temperature.

Yield: 36 mini muffins

Soft Pretzels + Beer Cheese Fondue

This post was originally published on Eat Boutique. I thought it might inspire some of you to think about pretzels for this weekend's Superbowl - salty, chewy, cheesy, beer-y. Yes, I think it would work very well indeed. For more Superbowl recipe ideas, check out last year's Chili for a Crowd and these mini calzones.

 

A few years ago, I decided I was going to throw my first “grown-up” party – meaning that we would be serving food and beverages that raised the bar a bit higher than our typical cheap beer plus chips and salsa spread.  I dove right into planning the menu, sifting through food magazines and my favorite blogs. Several hours later, I barely had enough time to wash the flour out of my hair as our first guests arrived. I had committed the novice entertainer’s classic mistake and gone seriously overboard. And while I remember it as a successful (and fun!) foray into entertaining, I don’t remember a single thing I served that night – except these soft pretzels.

People went wild for these chewy wonders, and, despite my exhaustion, I was thrilled to confirm that yes, I HAD made these myself. It was my first taste of the excitement of making something with my own two hands that most would not fathom that they could make at home. (Which might explain why I delight at cookbooks such as Alana Chernila’s The Homemade Pantry.)  I found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen, and have returned to if often over the past few years. I’ve tried others since, but none have matched the ease and pure pretzel taste as this solid recipe.

But, as it goes, I sort of forgot about them. Until recently, when I bellied up to one of my favorite bars and ordered soft pretzels with an accompanying beer and cheese fondue. When it arrived, I practically fell of my barstool – I knew this beer and cheese dipping sauce had to be mine, and that I needed to revisit the art of making pretzels at home once again.

The opportunity came this fall, when I was asked to bring an autumnal appetizer to a dinner party. I quickly jumped into pretzel making and then concocted the fondue of my dreams – one that included dark beer, nutty Gruyere and rich, caramelized shallots.

After twisting some of the dough into the classic pretzel shape, I decided enough was enough and decided to go straight for the pretzel nugget. They puffed up perfectly and baked up even better – and were the perfect thing to dip into the beer and cheese fondue. While I love a nice twist, I think the nugget shortcut might be the best bet for dipping and entertaining a crowd.

Soft Pretzels
Adapted (barely) from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 16 full-sized, 32 miniature, or many, many, many pretzel nuggets (they were eaten too fast to be counted!)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon + 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons canola or other neutral oil
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg
• Coarse or pretzel salt

Equipment: cooking spray or parchment paper; baking sheets

Directions:

1. Pour warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar into bowl of electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and stir to combine. Sprinkle with yeast, and let sit 10 minutes; yeast should be foamy.
2. Add 1 cup flour to yeast, and mix on low until combined. Add salt and 4 cups more flour, and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat on medium-low until dough pulls away from sides of bowl, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add another 1/2 cup flour, and knead on low 1 minute more. If dough is still wet and sticky, add 1/2 cup more flour (this will depend on weather conditions-I only needed 5 cups total); knead until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a lightly floured board, and knead about ten times, or until smooth.
3. Pour oil into a large bowl; swirl to coat sides. Transfer dough to bowl, turning dough to completely cover all sides. Cover with a kitchen towel, and leave in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.
4. Heat oven to 450°F. Lightly spray two baking sheets with cooking spray (parchment paper, ungreased, also works). Set aside. Punch down dough to remove bubbles. Transfer to a lightly floured board. Knead once or twice, divide into 16 pieces; 32 if making miniature pretzels. Wrap in plastic to keep dough from drying out.
5. Roll one piece of dough at a time into an 18-inch-long strip. Twist into pretzel shape – or cut into ½ inch sections for nuggets. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel. Continue to form pretzels and place onto baking sheet. Let pretzels rest until they rise slightly, about 15 minutes.
6. While they rest, fill a large, shallow pot with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Add baking soda and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Reduce to a simmer; transfer three to four pretzels to water. Poach 1 minute on each side. Use slotted spoon to transfer pretzels to baking sheet. Continue until all pretzels are poached.
7. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush pretzels with egg glaze and then sprinkle with salt. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack, or eat warm. Pretzels are best when eaten the same day, but will keep at room temperature, uncovered, for two days. Do not store in covered container or they will become soggy.
8. Serve with assorted mustards and/or the following beer and cheese fondue.

Caramelized Shallot, Beer, and Cheese Fondue

Adapted from this New York Times recipe

Ingredients:

• 3-4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small garlic clove, halved
• 1 cup dark beer  (I used Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre) *
• 6 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated
• 6 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a pan over low heat. Add shallots and stir so that they mix into the melted butter. Let shallots caramelize over low heat for at least 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. The longer they cook, the richer they taste.
2. Meanwhile, rub cut side of garlic on inside of large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed saucepan, rubbing the bottom and halfway up the sides. Add beer and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
3. In a large bowl, toss shredded cheeses with cornstarch. Add a handful at a time to simmering beer, stirring until first handful melts before adding next. Reduce heat to medium and stir constantly until cheese is completely melted.  Heat until bubbling, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the caramelized shallots and season with salt and pepper.
4. * If serving fondue a bit later (say, at a dinner party), keep the rest of the beer on hand and use it to thin out the fondue before serving. My fondue thickened in the pot as it cooled, I warmed it over low heat for about 10 minutes and then stirred in the remaining beer to get it back to the consistency that I preferred and that was the best for dipping and dunking.

The Best Thing I’ve Eaten in 2013: Indian Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas and Spinach

So – this is not an original recipe, I have barely changed a thing, and my photographs of the subject are medium to poor in quality. And yet, I feel beyond compelled to share it with you here (and to document how much I loved it, so I can revisit it myself here, which I often do when I am at a loss for what to cook some nights)

While, it’s only mid-January, I am ready to announce that this is the best thing I’ve eaten (at least, the best that I have cooked for myself – I had some awfully good ramen at Pan Mei Miyake in Portland, ME, on New Year’s Day).  

Warning: this recipe makes a ton of food. If you are only cooking for a small household, prepare yourself for a great deal of leftovers. We ate it for lunch for the next two days, making lunchtime at the office something I looked forward to much more than usual.  

Fragrant, warming and oh so very delicious, this recipe will be in constant rotation in this house all winter long.

Indian Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas and Spinach

Recipe by Molly Stevens, Bon Appetit (January 2013)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

6 bone-in chicken legs (thigh and drumstick), skin removed

Kosher salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 large onions, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 ½ tablespoons grated peeled ginger

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons turmeric

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

5 ounces baby spinach (about 8 cups loosely packed)

¼ cup Greek yogurt

¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves with tender stems

Directions

Place a rack in the lower third of oven and preheat to 325˚. Heat oil in large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt. Working in batches, cook chicken, reducing heat as needed to prevent over-browning, until golden brown on all sides, 8-10 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate.

Add butter and onions to drippings in the pot and season with salt. Cook, stirring often, until onions are soft and golden brown, 10-15 minutes.

Stir in garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne. Cook, stirring constantly, until spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in chickpeas and 2 cups broth. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. And more broth if needed to cover chicken about three-fourths of the way up. Bring to a summer. Cover pot and transfer to oven. Braise chicken until fork-tender, 45-55 minutes.

Using tongs and a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm Add spinach to pot, cover and remove from heat. Let stand until spinach is wilted, 5-7 minutes.

Stir yogurt into cooking liquid. Season with salt. Return chicken to pot. Warm over low heat (do not boil or yogurt may curdle).

Transfer chicken to large deep platter. Pour spinach and chickpea sauce over top. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with couscous or basmati rice.

2013 Bits & Bobs

We’re taking down the Christmas tree tonight. I first attempted to do so last week, riding high on a bit of post-holiday adrenaline and New Year’s urgency of needing a clean house. But then those bright lights and colorful ornaments charmed me into keeping them around a few more days, despite my first-weekend-of-December tree’s constant dumping of needles onto the floor.

 

I am okay with January. I’m fine with saying goodbye to the holidays, packing them away in my disorganized “miscellaneous” closet until next December. But I will miss seeing that pretty glow of the tree though the window when I get home from work each night.

I’m not so good at resolutions, though. If I were forced to list them, they’d be pretty much the same self-improvement items that I’d say on March 1, July 1, September 1. 

It would look something like:

Clean the house more.

Go to the gym more.

Eat more vegetables.

Post on your blog more.

What I really should do is to resolve to:

See your friends more.

Relax more.

Take more naps.

Read more books.

Go for more walks, hikes, and snowshoe treks. 

I’m sad that Lady Gouda is on the “lame” list! Especially because this little blog graduated into a new world last week: my friend Don helped lose the blogspot.com and change me into ladygouda.com. I am now a DOT COM! That feels very legit to me.  I’ve been writing Lady Gouda for more than three years now. I kind of can’t believe that. While I am feeling like I am in a bit of a blog-rut right now, I do have some very fun ideas of what I’d like to share here over the next few months. Now I just need to find some time on the weekends when I’m not hanging with my friends, relaxing napping, reading, walking, hiking or snowshoeing to shoot some of those recipes. I need to make this blog more fun for me again so that I can move it from the lame resolution list to the cool resolution list.  I think I know how to get there.

In the meantime, here are a few things I have made recently that I would love to share:

Black Pepper Popovers from Bon Appetit (I skipped the nutmeg)

Winter Greens Gratin from Bon Appetit (still trying to convince my mom that kale is delicious.)

Sausage, Apple, Cheddar Strata from the Apple Lover's Cookbook 

Molly's version of the Waffle of Insane Greatness on Orangette

Also: in 2012, these baked eggs in crispy ham cups were by FAR the most popular post on Lady Gouda. By a long shot.  Isn't that interesting?  I'm very intrigued about your collective love for baked eggs (but I don't blame you, I love them too). 

Hope to see you all here on ladygouda.COM in 2013!

Champagne Cheddar and Cranberry-Pear Mostarda

So, a funny thing happened last spring when I traveled to Austin, Texas with a few of my very best lady friends.  I arrived a few hours ahead of everyone else, so I decided to have lunch at the flagship Whole Foods Market that I had heard so much about. It was as wonderful as everyone had said, with different restaurants, a really nice wine bar, and an amazing cheese section. I tweeted that I was there, and the next thing I knew, I was invited (via twitter) to chat with a Whole Foods PR representative at the cheese counter (it helps when your twitter/blog name is Lady Gouda, I think…). I had a really nice time talking with Lindsay, sampled some great cheese, and went on my way. End of story—or so I thought.

To my surprise, Lindsay reached out to me last month, and asked if I might be interested in tasting a new cheese that Whole Foods would be selling this winter. I answered with an enthusiastic “YES PLEASE!” and soon received a very fun package in the mail, filled with a gigantic wheel of Somerdale Champagne Cheddar and a gorgeous bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Champagne. I knew right away that this was a special treat that required a special occasion – I wasn’t about to crack into a massive wheel of special English cheddar and really nice champagne on a random Tuesday night. Nope, the cheddar and bubbly came up to Maine with us on Christmas day, and was presented to my dad (along with some new champagne glasses and homemade cranberry mostarda), whose birthday was a few days before.  Best gift ever. 

We have been carving off hunks of cheese for two days now, and we’ve barely made a dent. It’s both strong and delicate in flavor, with a hint of fruit from the infusion of champagne. It paired perfectly with the bubbly, which was pleasantly dry and much nicer than I’m accustomed to drinking. While the champagne did NOT last long, I am thrilled that the cheese will make it through New Year’s Eve, because I can’t imagine a more delicious thing to nibble on while we are saying goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013. I’ll be sure to buy a new bottle of the good stuff so that we can continue to enjoy this fantastic pairing.

The cranberry mostarda was a somewhat last-minute idea I had over the weekend when I decided that this little cheese and bubbly party would need a homemade element too. I decided to try my hand at making chutney, and found a very appealing cranberry/pear/ginger version in one of my new favorite cookbooks, Homemade Winter, by Yvette van Boven. I tinkered it a bit and decided to make it a “mostarda” by adding mustard seeds, and was very happy with the results. I think I have found a great new homemade, edible gift for Christmases (and December birthdays) to come. We’ve been eating with cheese, on sandwiches, and straight from the jar all week. 

Cranberry-Pear Mostarda

Adapted from HomemadeWinter by Yvette von Bovan

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds

3 onions, peeled and diced

2 inches of grated fresh ginger

1 cinnamon stick

grated zest of 1 lemon

grated zest of 1 orange

½ teaspoon red crushed pepper flakes

12 oz fresh cranberries (1 package for us here in New England)

¾ cup golden raisins

2 pears, peeled, cored and cubed

½ cup plus 2 tbsp packed brown sugar

In a medium saucepan over high heat, boil vinegar, mustard seeds, onion, ginger, cinnamon stick, lemon and orange zests, and red pepper flakes for about 10 minutes. Add the cranberries, raisins, pears, and sugar; reduce heat to low and simmer for about half an hour.

Spoon the mostarda into clean canning jars and refrigerate. The mostarda tastes the best after a day or two in the refrigerator, so ideally you will be making it a few days ahead of gifting/eating it. Even if you only have a day, it will better if you make the mostarda in the morning, and give it a few hours to rest in the fridge. It will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.

This recipe will fill two 12-ounce jelly jars.