You know how I love meat and fish. If you didnt already know that, I am telling you now… I love meat and fish and all things in between. Often times I love having a little chutney on the side to eat with the meat or fish of choice. I was inspired on Sunday when I was over at Nanny zesty’s and had some oven roasted pork loin with a homemade cranberry sauce/chutney.

I remember I had made this chutney a while ago and never featured it on zesty for some odd reason. As I was looking through all my folders of images I stumbled upon this one and knew I had to share. Now before you get too excited or grossed out – depending on your taste buds you have to give this a try.

Whether it be roasted turkey, halibut, pork, on top of your hamburger this will add a dimension of flavor and texture that you will be craving for.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. fresh cranberries
• 2 Cups fresh cherries, pitted
• 1 Cup sugar
• 1/2 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup golden raisins
• 2 Tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 Tsp. ground ginger
• 1 1/2 Tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 Tsp. ground allspice
• 1 Cup water
• 1 Cup chopped onion
• 1 Cup chopped cooking apple
• 1/2 Cup chopped celery

Method

1. Combine first 10 ingredients in a Dutch oven.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until juice is released from cranberries, about 15 minutes.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients.
4. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about 15 minutes or until thickened; stirring occasionally.
5. Chill before serving or serve hot.
6. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Chutney will keep in refrigerator in airtight container for up to 2 weeks. This goes great on sandwiches as well in place of mayo or mustard.

One other thing that I forgot to mention.  If you love a little spice, red pepper flakes or chili powder work very well in this to give it a punch of heat.  I am heading to the office so have a great Wednesday and I will talk to you on Friday.

I just checked the long range forecast and I see two days of sunshine for the weekend.  I almost fell off the chair!!

Take care

zesty

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Is it raining where you are?  Holy jeepers, All I have seen for the past 5 days is RAIN.  Not that I am opposed to rain but after a while it gets pretty old.  OK, enough of me whining and complaining about the weather – let’s get on with a really tasty dish that was totally driven by a sale of “CRANBERRIES”.  Funny, I know!  I was walking in the produce aisle where I noticed they had cranberries on sale.  Normally I would just make cranberry sauce and call it a day but today I wanted to treat them a little differently.

How about a roasted pork tenderloin crusted with peppercorns and cooked with baby potatoes and carrots and topped with a cranberry wine sauce?  It sounded good to me and after the results – it tasted excellent!

Ingredients

• 2 Pork Tenderloins
• 1/2 Cup White whine
• 1 Cup Cranberries
• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• Baby Potatoes
• Carrots ( cut length wise)
• 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Prepared mustard
• 2 Tbsp. Water
• Crushed Peppercorns
• Salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
2. In a oven safe dutch oven, preheat over high heat on the stove top.  Add olive oil, season the pork with salt and crushed pepper.  Sear on all sides until golden brown and a crust has formed.
3. Add wine and cranberries and start the de-glazing process.  Let cook down for 3 minutes
4. Add carrots and potatoes and cover for another 5 minutes.
5. In a bowl mix brown sugar, mustard and stir together.  Add water once mustard and brown sugar is blended.
6. Pour sauce over the pork, cover and place in the oven for 2 hours ( or until carrots and potatoes are fork tender )



7. Baste every 30 minutes with sauce.
8. Let Stand for about 10 minutes and then slice



9. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: To ensure the pork is super tender and flavorful, I continued to baste the pork in the sauce both prior to the oven as well as during.

Wow!  The pork was so tender I had a hard time to cut it.  Now I realize not everyone has 2 hours to roast supper during the week but it really is worth the wait.  I hope you have a super Monday.  I am not sure what is in store for me today but no doubt it will be exciting.  I am home all week and pretty sure there is a Holiday thrown in the mix.  WOOOOO HOOOO.

Take care

zesty

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Ever just go off the wall and try to create a different side dish that you never tried before?  Enter spinach and cabbage saute. I was unsure what this would turn out like but was willing to give it a whirl as cabbage was on special and I had some spinach to use up before expiring.

Pretty simple to make as I used “real” cranberry juice as the sauce and let accompanied with some red pepper flakes and garlic for flavor.  A fun twist on a combination that I never had before but I would make it again.

The details are here if you want to give it a spin.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp.  Olive oil
• 2 Cups Cabbage ( chopped )
• 2 Cups Spinach
• 1/2 Tsp. Red Pepper flakes
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1/4 Cup Cranberry Juice
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt

Method

1. Heat up a saute pan over medium heat.  Add olive oil, garlic and red peppers and extract the aroma.
2. Add cabbage and cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Toss in the spinach and salt – let wilt down for 2 minutes – stirring constantly
4. Add cranberry juice and let cook down until it becomes a sauce and thickens.
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Make sure the cabbage is cooked through so it is not tough.  Normally cabbage is poached and becomes very tender or consumed raw in slaw ( but cut very thin) – so just ensure you give the cabbage enough time to soften up.

The weekend is upon us.  The weather is looking somewhat dismal for tonight and tomorrow but hopefully it will clear up for another great fall weekend.  I hope you have a fun weekend with whatever plans you may have and I will be back in action on Monday for hopefully something sweet…. I need to bake!

Take care

zesty

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Happy Friday!  With Thanksgiving fast approaching in the US (I forgot to do this post for the Canadian Thanksgiving), I thought this would be a great time to quickly go through my favorite eats at Thanksgiving.

First off I will start with saying that it was really hard to limit this post to 5 items because I truly love everything about thanksgiving.  But here goes:

1. Turkey

This really does have to be one of my favorite meats to eat. I love turkey with all the fixings and even in sandwiches, soups and casseroles.

2.  Fig and Maple Brussel Sprouts

Recently introduced to me this year, this dish was a knockout! I mean the combination of flavors and textures were over the moon.

3. Homemade Cranberry Sauce

A classic yet one of my favorite side dishes with turkey. You can find out how to make this easy delicious dish.

4. Turkey Dressing/Stuffing

A true family favorite for sure.  You have to be quick to this bowl to ensure you get some.  A little turkey, a little dressing and a touch of cranberry.  What a bite!  This is also great on a turkey sandwich.  Not the most healthy of choices but… can you really worry about that around this time of year?

5. Sticky Date Pudding

I great dessert after a big dinner. I love the combination of warm caramel sauce coupled with the cool ice cream sitting a top a super moist cake. I sometimes classify this as heaven! This sticky date pudding is delicious.

Now Tell Me Yours!

This is where I want everyone that reads this post to come out of the wood work and mention at least one of your favorite foods around Thanksgiving. I think it will be fun and I just realized that I left my favorite sweet potato dish out of the top 5. Very shocking but that just goes to show how much I like food! Ok I better run to the flooring store and pick out grout. I will talk to you on Monday. Have a great weekend.

I am doing a big food demonstration tomorrow morning for a large group of people so I will be sure to let you know how it goes. The topic I am focusing on is – Not so traditional Christmas foods and ways to prepare them.

Talk to you Monday.

Take care

zesty

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Welcome to Tuesday!  I hope you had a great start to your week.  Today I want to share with you some exciting news and a super simple recipe for a fall preserve. Before we get started, I want to say thank you for all the nice comments in yesterday’s post regarding the marathon.

On to the Food

If you are like me, then you love cranberry sauce, jelly or for that matter cranberry anything.  One of the main reasons why I love Turkey Day is because of the cranberry.  For today’s recipe it doesn’t get any easier than Cranberry Jelly.  Three ingredients, one pot, a sieve and some jars. That’s it.

This yummy side treat takes all of 20 minutes to make so next time cranberries are on sale give this a try.

Ingredients

• 4 Cups Cranberries
• 2 Cups Water
• 2 Cups Sugar

Method

1. Boil Cranberries in water until berries are soft.
2. Put through a sieve.
3. Add sugar and return to heat.
4. Let boil until thick (about 10 minutes).
5. Pour into Jars and let cool.
6. ENJOY!!

Zesty Tip: Be sure to sterilize your jars before using them.  You can re-use your jars  but I suggest purchasing new lids especially if you are using mason jars to ensure a tight seal.

On with the News

Zesty Opens a New Store

About 6 weeks ago, I was contacted by the folks at OpenSky Project.  They had shown interest in myself and zestycook.com to be a part of the Open Sky Project as a store keeper.   The company’s concept is “expert-powered e-commerce, connecting consumers to experts and the products they love and use.”

The ultimate idea is a space where blog readers can go to learn more about an item and purchase it on the same page, if they so choose. Open Sky has all the customer service you’d find at any other online store – everything is guaranteed.   Their goal and mission is to connect consumers to experts and the products they love and use.

So with that said, I would like to officially announce the opening of the zestycook store!  In the upcoming days, I will be adding more products, pictures and videos but for now browse around and tell me what you think.

Have a great Tuesday and contact me if you have an questions or concerns.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers out there.  This past weekend was action packed to say the least.  Saturday included some work at the house site, taking a load to the dump, and a super Thanksgiving Dinner.  It didn’t end there, to close out the night  Mrs. Zesty and I hit the dance floor during a wedding reception we were invited to.

That was only Saturday which I know is likely hard to imagine…. but Sunday was equally as exciting.  We were invited to a family picnic by our house builders.  It was really nice of them to do that and we had a great time.  The weather was very nice for a change and the kids had a great time running around and playing. The food looked amazing and I did have a sample of the seafood chowder.  I didn’t want to pig out too much because we had plans to have another turkey dinner with my Family.

I kind of have a hodge podge post for you today because I was unsure how to structure it (the whole week for that matter).  What I thought would be a great idea is to have a “Turkey Feast Week“.  This week will include fantastic turkey creations from kicked up vegetable dishes, homemade cranberry, mustard pickles, amazing dressing, melt in your mouth turkey and of course a couple of killer desserts.

With that said, I am going to start the week of with a glimpse at the full meal deal and some random shots throughout the cooking process.

As I mentioned on Friday, we were going to attempt to go apple picking on Saturday if the weather was fine – the weather was not fine!  Poured rain all day on Saturday so we are attempting to go today.  I will keep you posted and may intervene with an apple post.

Before I start off this fun post I need to announce the three lucky winners of the POM Tea Giveaway.

Winners

Comment 36: Tiffany

I have always want to try these…I told some co-workers about the giveaway.

Comment 16: Melissa
I just told 10 of my co-workers about the giveaway and your site! Will be linking back next…

Comment 30: Low
Hey Zesty! I just gave you a tweet out! Is that proper Twitter lingo? Something tells me it’s not, but you know what I mean.

For all the winners, contact me with your mailing address and I will get your coupon delivered.

Turkey Day

Without giving away some great recipes today, I am going to share with you some shots I took throughout the day on Saturday.  I will get into the details and recipe specifics later this week.  I am so excited about the line-up I am finding it hard not to post them all at once.

I hope you have a super Monday and if it is a holiday for you – please enjoy it.  I am heading out to the house today to hang with the builders and maybe help them if I can.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Monday to you!  I hope you had a great weekend as I can honestly say I did!  It was nice to spend some time away form the computer and be outside for a change.  The weather, believe it or not, was quite nice.  The sun was shining and the temperature made it above freezing – Whooo Hoooo!

Today I wanted to feature another breakfast smoothie item I have been having as of late which includes a great combination of flavors.

What I have been trying to do lately is too cut down on the bad carbs throughout the day.  It would be nothing for me to eat 6-8 slices of bread per day.  Even though I usually pick whole wheat, it’s still a lot of bread.

So having a protein smoothie reduces my normal 4 slices of whole wheat bread breakfast to zero.  It is a work in progress but I’m attempting to focus on eating cleaner and cutting out such things as chocolate cake, banana walnut bread, and crispy peanut butter cookies.  But have no fear,  I will still bake!   Hopefully, however, I’ll refrain from eating the whole batch like I did with the Butterscotch blondies.  That was crazy (but so goood).

To help with the smoothies I  have been using my magic bullet – it is the perfect appliance for the job.  It’s so fast and easy to clean – highly recommended.

Ingredients

• 6 Fresh strawberries
• 1/2 Cup frozen raspberries
• 1 1/2 Scoops of protein powder
• 1/4 Cup cranberry juice

Method

1. Toss all ingredients in the magic bullet; blend until smooth.
2. Pour into a glass and add a strawberry for looks.



3. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: A smoothie is best enjoyed in the first few minutes after it’s made as it will give the best possible flavor and texture.  If you must make them ahead, you’ll notice that some smoothies begin to separate.  If that happens, simply stir it or put the smoothie back into the blender for a minute to bring it back to its original consistency.

Have a great Monday!  I look forward to sharing with you some interesting recipes that I have planned as well as a slight cry for help later in the week.  I will keep you in suspense for now – see you tomorrow!.

Take care

zesty

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Hi readers! It is already Thursday – I keep asking myself where did this week go.  Only one day left to enter the giveaway for $100 Amazon Gift Card.  Everybody is so busy and the holidays are fast approaching. I am heading to my son’s Christmas concert this morning, it should be exciting as he is going to be singing a couple of songs. He is 3 1/2 and loves to sing just like his Dad.

On to the food of choice today. I prepared this tart as I had a hankering for cranberry.  When I was getting into the tart preparation I was matching flavors and noticed we had a couple of over ripe plums hanging out in the bottom of the fridge. I thought they would be a good combination in this tart. So ultimately, before you go on thinking I am a tart mastermind – this is basically a kicked up butter tart with some fruit in it and topped off with some seeds….. Pumpkin Seeds!!!

Let me know if you would like a slice, maybe topped with a dollop of your favorite ice cream or even some homemade whipped cream.

Ingredients

Pastry

• 1 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tsp.salt
• 1 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 1/2 Cup unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces
• 1/8 to 1/4 Cup ice water

Tart Filling

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. Molasses
• 1/4 Cup light cream (half-and-half) (10% butterfat)
• 1/2 Cup dried cranberries
• 2 Plums (seeded, sliced and cooked down in 1 Tbsp. of white sugar over medium heat for 7 minutes)
• 1/4 Cup Pumpkin Seeds

Method

Crust

1. In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds).
2. Pour 1/8 cup water in a slowly until the dough just holds together when pinched.  If necessary, add more water.
3. Do not process more than 30 seconds.
4. Throw the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten , cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using.
5. Place on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and then press into your tart dish/pan pushing up the sides and then crimping with a fork.

Filling

1. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla extract. Stir in the cream.
2. Add plums and cranberries and mix thoroughly.
3. Pour filling into crust and top with pumpkin seeds.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 15 – 20 minutes or until the pastry has nicely browned and the filling is set.
5. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
6. Serve at room temperature or chilled.



7. ENJOY!

ZestyTip: To rehydrate dried fruit, simply soak it in boiling water for about 60 seconds.  This will plump up the fruit and have a fresher texture.

Well I really hope you enjoy the tart and I’ll leave you with a question.  Name your favorite holiday cookie. I am going to do some cookie baking this weekend and I need some inspiration.  Have a great Thursday!

Take care

zesty

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