From the Bangor Daily News
When artist Eric Zelz came to me with the idea for this column — to create an illustrated food feature every week — I immediately fell in love with the concept. And since summer 2014, we’ve created dozens and dozens of recipe and illustration pairings.
Last week, when we were talking about this week’s piece, I decided to do something a little different. Instead of just deciding on a recipe and mulling over concepts together, I challenged Eric to choose an ingredient that I would craft a recipe around.
His response? “How about cranberries?!”
Being so close to the holidays, I immediately thought about appetizers and pictured sugared cranberries, which I have seen everywhere lately. I’ve cooked with fresh cranberries dozens of times — not just making a variety of cranberry-based sauces, but baking them into desserts of all kinds and even whirling them with fresh ingredients for a tart, spicy salsa. Too tart to be eaten alone, I wasn’t sure they’d taste very good even covered in sugar.
But, hey, how would I know if I didn’t try? Those sparkly little balls intrigued me.
After reading up on them a bit, I discovered that they are shockingly easy to make. You start by making a simple syrup — just sugar, water and vanilla, in this case. Then you soak the berries in it overnight. It tempers the tartness while also giving the sugar for the outside something to cling. The next day, you drain, toss with sugar and use them however you like.
When I tried them, I discovered that they’re sweet-tart balls of fruity goodness. And absolutely perfect for pairing with a savory spread with a hint of sweetness, which is exactly what the Sage Ricotta Spread is.
Consider making this crostini for your holiday celebration. It’s easy, but no one needs to know that.
Earthy sage-flavored ricotta cheese is spread on thin crostini toasts and topped with those craveable sweet-tart sugared cranberries. It’s a symphony of flavors, so easy and looks impressive to boot. You just can’t go wrong.
While, yes, these are something that takes a little planning and requires two days of work, the actual process itself couldn’t be simpler.
That’s also how I feel about this column and its illustration. When Eric suggested it, my only concern was finding the time — both myself and him — to work on this each week. Could we really create something so special each week, and find time in our schedules for it?
No comments:
Post a Comment