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Carondelet Kitchen Cranberry Conserve

12/27/2021

Ingredients:

12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup of Calvados (*)
1 ¾ cups of sugar
1 granny smith apple
1 zest and juice of a lemon
1 zest and juice of an orange
¾ raisins
¾ pecans

(*) If you wish a non-alcoholic version, you can use water or apple cider.

Putting it Together:

Cook the cranberries over low heat with the Calvados and sugar. The mixture will bubble once the cranberries start to burst and release their fruit. Cut and dice the apple and zest and juice the lemon and orange while the mixture is cooking.
Once the cranberries start to burst, add the apple and zest and juice. Cook and stir occasionally for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the raisins and pecans. Let cool and place into an air-tight container. Cool the mixture overnight for most flavor.

Lessons Learned:
Our attempt to can this conserve was met with mixed reviews since the mix gels in the cooling process. If you won’t need an entire batch, I would recommend you half the recipe.

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Carondelet Kitchen Vezeau-Compton Family Rustic French Meat Pie

12/27/2021

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Ingredients:

2 deep dish pie shells (*)
2 pounds ground sirloin
4 pounds ground sausage
3 cans Swanson Beef Broth
2 onions
2 celery stalks
2 carrots
4 bay leaves
3 tablespoons Herbes de Provence
½ cup Kitchen Bouquet
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter

(*) Use the frozen pie shells if necessary. We prefer to make our own savory pie shell. The recipe can be found separately.

Putting it Together:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Rough cut the onions, celery, and carrots and place into a large Dutch oven. Add the ground sirloin and sausage along with the bay leaves and Herbes de Provence. Mix the ingredients to break down the large pieces of meat. Cover with the beef broth and place in the oven for 90 minutes. As the mixture cools, remove the bay leaves and add the Kitchen Bouquet. You can certainly add more or less of this ingredient as it will darken the mixture. Place the entire pot in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Skim off any excess fat from the top of the mixture and discard. Cook the mixture for one hour.

Once the mixture is cooler, use an immersion blender to blend the meat and vegetables. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a food processer. Strain the mixture into another bowl and place any leftover liquid into a measuring cup and set aside. Use the same Dutch oven to make a rue with your flour and butter. You want the mixture to thicken, but if too dry, add some of the liquid.

Increase the temperature on your oven to 425 degrees. Pour the mixture into the 2 prepared pie pans with shells. If you made your own crust, try to save a little bit to put a decorative item in the middle of the meat pie. Bake the 2 pies for 40 to 60 minutes checking it throughout the baking process. If the edges of the pie crust brown too quickly, cover them with foil to avoid burning them.

Lessons Learned:

The original family recipe has been passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, the ingredients have been changed and no two recipes are now alike. This recipe is a 2.0 version honoring what we believe is the essence of the original recipe.

The pies are meant to be served with a cranberry relish. We prefer to use a cranberry conserve whose recipe is also on our website. Or, if you wish to follow family tradition, ketchup makes a great enhancement to the pie as well.

The original recipe did not “double” the meat so you can certainly half the portion if you don’t wish to spend the money on it. However, we find the added layer of filling makes it worth the cost.

We decided to try to keep the cooking liquid after straining as a good, rich stock. Not sure how that will turn out but it’s beautiful and we’re looking forward to trying it out.

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Carondelet Kitchen Signature Meat Loaf

12/26/2021

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Ingredients:

1 pound ground sirloin
1 large yellow onion or 2 small onions
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 slices of bacon
1 egg
1 sleeve saltine crackers
½ cup parmesan cheese

Putting it Together:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Chop up your onions and place in a pan with your olive oil. Dice and add the bacon. Cook the two ingredients together until your bacon starts to crisp up and the onions are translucent.
Once the bacon and onions cool, mix them with your bacon, egg, saltines, and parmesan cheese. Form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased pan. Cook for 45 minutes to one hour depending on your oven.

Lessons Learned:

I created this recipe to address my love of bacon without it being undercooked as a wrapping to the meat. It also helps keep the meat moist as it cooks.

You serve this meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy. As it makes a large loaf, you should have leftovers for sandwiches the next day.

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Carondelet Kitchen Chicken noodle Soup

12/20/2021

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Ingredients:
2 skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons of olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 yellow or sweet onions
4 carrot sticks
4 stalks of celery
6 cans of Swanson chicken broth
2 bags of Reames frozen egg noodles

Putting it Together:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place your chicken breasts on a sheet pan with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast the chicken breasts for 45 minutes to an hour depending on your oven. Once finished, but the chicken into bite size pieces to be added to the soup.

In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, sauté your onions in 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Once the onions soften, add your carrots and celery. Once the vegetables are cooked, add your chicken, chicken broth and egg noodles. If using your Dutch oven, place the pot into the oven at 350 degrees for two hours. You can also use the stove top, but it will need to be stirred to avoid burning the bottom of the pot.

Lessons Learned:
This soup makes a lot for a single meal. It will freeze well but keep an extra can of chicken broth and noodles on hand to add when reheating the mixture. The noodles tend to blend into the broth making it a rich and hearty soup.

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Grandma Mueller's Caramel Popcorn

12/20/2021

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Ingredients:

2/3 cup popcorn
5 tablespoons oil (peanut oil is best)
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
4 tablespoons Dark Karo Syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
Salt to preferred taste
¾ teaspoon of baking soda

Putting it Together:
Pop the Popcorn:

2/3 cup popcorn
5 tablespoons oil (peanut oil is best)

Use a sturdy pot with a lid. Once popped, place the popcorn into a roaster.

Make the Caramel Sauce:

1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
4 tablespoons Dark Karo Syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
Salt to preferred taste

Stir until all ingredients are well blended. As the ingredients melt together, the mixture will start to bubble and rise in the pot. Just before pouring the mixture over the popcorn, add ¾ teaspoon of baking soda. This will cause the mixture to rise quickly and change the color of the mix.

Pour the sauce over the popcorn and do your best to mix it well. (NOTE: I have usually doubled my sauce recipe to make sure the popcorn is will covered.) Bake the mixed popcorn at 200 degrees for one hour. You will need to stir the popcorn every 15 minutes to continue making sure the sauce is well mixed with the popcorn. Once you are finished with the baking, pull the popcorn out and give it another mix. As the sauce cools, it will harden and you will need to break it up as you put your popcorn into a storage container.

Lessons Learned:
I tend to add salt to the popcorn and the caramel mix. If you don’t like too much salt I would only add it to the mix.
Don’t rush the cooking of the caramel mix. You can let it bubble for a while but do make sure to stir it often. For those who wish to use a candy thermometer, the ideal temperature is 220 degrees.

I tend to make this in a large batch. If you wish to do two roasters at a time, increase the ingredients list to: