Leftover Cranberry Sauce? You Might Need More
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Eileen Clarke - Rifles and Recipes
Author: Rifles and Recipes |
Leftover Cranberry Sauce? You Might Need More
Eileen Clarke
Rifles and Recipes
As I was walking through Bob’s Thriftway on Christmas Eve, I was checking out what was on the shelves, and what wasn’t. (It’s a sign of what’s important to cook and share during the holidays.) First aisle I visited was baking: the brown, powdered and white sugars, flour and nut shelves had been hard hit. Cookies! Probably a variation of the ones my mom always made this time of year. She called them ‘crescent cookies’ but most of us know them as Mexican Christmas cookies. You know, round and covered in powdered sugar. And incredibly easy to throw together.
Then there was the cranberry sauce; not a lot left there either. I grabbed two cans. One whole berry, one jellied. Then, thinking ahead to New Year’s Day, I headed straight for the black-eyed peas. Despite being raised by Northerners, I, long ago, learned the South’s good luck dish—Hoppin’ John. I make it every January 1, every year. Share it with my best friends. And, apparently, I’m not the only one. Bob’s black-eyed peas’ shelf gets pretty empty the closer the new year comes. (Even had to make a quick trip to Helena one late December afternoon.)
But, you may ask, why two cans of cranberry sauce? I’m not feeding a crowd. There’s just the two of us, our families are scattered all over the US and, truth is, neither of us are really wild about the stuff. But it keeps forever in the fridge, the holidays will soon be behind us, and cranberry sauce adds a delightfully bright flavor to venison soups.
Maybe I should have picked up three cans. Give this recipe a try and see what you think. (PS: The jellied stuff works better here.)
Better Burger Soup
Makes about 8 cups/2 quarts; for the ground red meat, use any big game animal you have: deer, elk, antelope, caribou…bear… just don’t use your big rank, gamy buck.
Ingredients
½ pound bacon, chopped
1 pound ground red meat
½ yellow onion, chopped
6 mini sweet bell peppers
3 tablespoons BTB reduced sodium beef base
3 cups water
½ cup jellied cranberry sauce (the stuff in the can, no whole berries)
1 medium potato, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon dried leaf marjoram
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
Cooking
1. In a large skillet, over medium heat, lightly brown the bacon. As it starts to release its fat, add the ground meat and lightly brown it too. Spoon the meat out of the pan and sauté the onions and peppers in the remaining bacon grease.
2. Start a 3-quart Dutch oven or soup pot on another burner, over high heat with the beef bouillon paste, water, cranberry sauce, potatoes, marjoram, salt and pepper. As the meat and veggies brown, add them to the soup.
3. Bring the soup to a low boil, then turn down to a simmer and cover it. Simmer 40 minutes or so until the potatoes are fork-tender. Serve with toast or crackers.
Eileen Clarke was game cooking columnist for Field & Stream and Successful Hunter magazines for many years, and has written a dozen game cookbooks, including two wild bird cookbooks for Ducks Unlimited. This recipe is from The Wild Bowl: 100 wild game soups, stews & chilies available at https://www.riflesandrecipes.com/406-521-0273. They’re all on sale now, 40% off through January 15th.
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PhotoCredit: Eileen Clarke Photo
Image 1 Caption: A successful hunt
Eileen Clarke Photo
