Cranberry, Apple & Pumpkin

As a special request from my friend Adrija, I'm spending some time this week working with cranberries!

I love requests, so if you have them, send them on over!

Cranberries are not in the same family as strawberries and are not common as an allergy.
They are full of healthy goodness and lots of pectin which makes a great puree.

The catch is the tartness, I mean, wowza.

This puree still has a hint of tartness but the apple and pumpkin balance it out.
I felt like the apple alone just wasn't enough.

Besides, doesn't this cran-applekin puree just scream fall?

This recipe is easily halved as I do cook in large batches.

I forgot to take pictures of me baking the pumpkin so you'll have to visualize.

Homemade pumpkin puree:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Remove the stem from your pumpkin and cut it in half.
I recently read something that said you don't need to scrape the seeds before hand,
so I left them in.
Place the pumpkins face down and roast until easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes.
Allow to cool, scrape the seeds and stringy part out with a spoon.
This is so easy once it's cooked.
You can keep your seeds for roasting or toss them out.
Puree the soft flesh.

 

Cranberry, Apple & Pumpkin

2 cup pumpkin puree or about 1 roasted pie pumpkin

6 oz or 1 1/2 cup cranberries

4 sweet apples*, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

1/2 cup + 1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

*Sweet apples as opposed to tart apples include Red or Golden Delicious,

Pink Lady, Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp & Ambrosia

Place your cranberries and 1/2 cup apple juice in a medium saucepan over high heat.

Once it comes to a boil reduce to a simmer.

Continue to cook until all the cranberries burst.

As this happens the mixture will begin to thicken,

make sure to stir occasionally to avoid burning the bottom.

Place your cranberries in the food processor to cool.

Rinse your saucepan and add your apples and the remaining 1/4 cup apple juice.

Simmer with the lid on, stirring occasionally until the apples are fork tender.

Add the apples, pumpkin puree and cinnamon and blend to desired consistency.

If you need to, add apple juice to thin your puree.

If you want a chunkier consistency I suggest blending the cranberries and 

mashing the apple and or pumpkin.

Enjoy!

*Variations

-Substitue pears or add them to the puree

-Try this with butternut squash, acorn squash or other winter squash

-Add chicken, pork or turkey

-Use pumpkin pie spice, ginger or curry

-Mince fresh herbs like mint or rosemary

*Storage

Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months

*Benefits

Cranberries are an incredible source of antioxidants as well as fiber, vitamin C, manganese and are great for the urinary tract as it prevent bacteria from sticking to lining.

Apples have lots of fiber, vitamin C, beta-carotene, riboflavin,

thiamin, potassium, phosphorus and calcium.

Pumpkin is packed with potassium (3 times a banana), beta-carotene, riboflavin, thiamin,

potassium, phosphorus & calcium.