Four seasonal cranberry recipes for November

Goose breast
1 goose breast, from a 7kg bird
1 star anise
Salt

Pickled cranberries

100g of cranberries
50g of water
50g of white wine vinegar
50g of sugar

Goose sauce

1kg goose bones
1 carrot, cut into 2cm dice
1 celery stick, cut into 2cm dice
1/2 onion, cut into 2cm dice
2 garlic cloves
20 cranberries
10g of chestnut honey
300ml of red wine
2l brown chicken stock

Date purée

260g of medjool dates, pitted

Celeriac purée

1 celeriac, peeled and roughly diced
250ml of double cream
250ml of milk

Bacon-wrapped dates

10 slices of smoked streaky bacon
10 medjool dates, pitted

For the pickled cranberries

Add the water, vinegar and sugar to a pan and bring to the boil, mixing until well-blended. Remove from the heat and allow to cool​. Add the cranberries to the mixture and allow them to pickle for 6 hours​. Preheat the oven to 180C.

For the sauce

Roast the goose bones in the oven until dark brown but not singed. Add the vegetables and cranberries to the pan and continue to cook until golden brown​. Place the roasting tray onto the hob, add the honey and stir well. Deglaze with the red wine and reduce to a syrup​. Add the brown chicken stock and bring to the boil. Transfer to a saucepan and simmer for 90 minutes. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve and reduce by half. Set in the fridge until solid and remove any fat that surfaces. Store in the fridge until ready to reheat and serve.

For the date purée

Cover the remaining dates with water in a pan. Simmer over a very low heat for 45 minutes until dates are soft and the water has almost evaporated. Blend to a paste and reserve for later​.

To make the celeriac purée, combine the milk and double cream in a saucepan and add the celeriac. Cover with parchment paper.

Bring to the boil and simmer until the celeriac is soft. Allow to cool, then transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth. Season to taste.

To prepare: the goose

Blend the star anise with the salt and rub the mixture onto the goose breast. Add the breast fat-side down to a cold pan and gradually increase the heat, slowly rendering the fat 15-20 minutes until the skin is golden and crispy.

The dates and bacon

Wrap 10 of the dates in slices of streaky bacon. Place under a warm grill to cook for 6 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy. Meanwhile, reheat the goose sauce in a saucepan.

To serve, cut the goose breasts into 5 slices and add a slice to each plate on top of a spoonful of date purée. Add 1 spoonful of celeriac purée, and 2 of the bacon-wrapped dates to the side. Add a spoonful of the pickled cranberries over the top to finish.

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4 endive
125g of roquefort cheese
50g of butter, soft
50g of cream
2 tbsp of chives, chopped
3 tbsp of walnuts, chopped, plus extra for garnish
2 tbsp of cranberry sauce
48 cranberries, fresh
Celery cress
Ground black pepper

To begin, place the roquefort and butter in the food processor and blitz until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the cream, chopped chives and walnuts. Season with ground pepper and place in a piping bag. Set aside to set in the fridge for at least 1 hour​.

Heat the cranberry sauce in a frying pan, add the fresh cranberries and cook lightly until they just begin to pop. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

To serve, remove 24 leaves from the endives, trim off and neaten the edges, and wash well. Pipe the cheese mixture into each leaf, top with 2 cranberries and a few chopped walnuts. Finish with some celery cress and serve.

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8 partridge breasts, cut into 1cm pieces
300g of sausage meat, good quality
50g of cranberries, semi-dried
1/2 tsp juniper berries, crushed
400g of puff pastry, good quality, all butter
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp of sesame seeds
Salt and pepper

Add the diced partridge meat, sausage meat, cranberries and juniper to a bowl. Season well and mix together with your hands until evenly combined. Leave to chill in the fridge while you roll out the pastry. Place the pastry on a floured work surface and roll out into a 30cm long by 15cm wide rectangle. Remove the sausage mix from the fridge and form into an even sausage shape, approximately 30cm in length​. Preheat the oven to 190C.

Place the sausage in the middle of the pastry, so the ends are touching the edges of the pastry. Brush the pastry with the egg yolk, then wrap the pastry around the sausage. Carefully transfer to a baking tray, brush evenly with some more egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden, then remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. While still warm, slice into portions and, if preferred, serve warm with some cranberry relish.

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Basmati pilaf

450g of basmati rice
10g of butter
2 shallots, finely diced
600ml of chicken stock
10g of pistachio nuts, peeled
20g of dried cranberries
5g of fresh thyme, picked
Salt

To serve

6 turkey breast steaks, each weighing 200g
rapeseed oil
1 knob of butter
parsley cress

Begin by washing the rice for the pilaf. Soak the basmati in cold water for 5 minutes, then carefully drain the water away. Add more water and swirl the rice around the bowl to rinse, then drain and repeat a further few times​. Preheat the oven to 200C.

For the pilaf, melt the butter in an oven-proof pan and gently sweat the shallots until tender. Add the pistachios, dried cranberries and thyme to the pan and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes, then add the rice and stir until the grains are coated in butter​.

Pour the stock over the rice and mix well, then increase to a high heat and bring to the boil. Add a pinch of salt to the pan and cover with a tightly fitting lid, then transfer to the oven for 15 minutes. Once cooked, remove the pilaf from the oven and allow to sit for 5–10 minutes without removing the lid​. Meanwhile, prepare the turkey steaks. Place a griddle pan over a high heat and add a little oil. Pan-fry for 2 minutes on each side, then add the butter to the pan and baste for a minute or 2 to finish. Leave the steaks to rest for 2 minutes, reheating in the oven at 200°C/gas mark 6 before serving, if required.

To serve, use a fork to fluff up the pilaf and spoon a generous serving onto each plate. Slice the turkey steaks into even pieces and arrange on top of the rice. Garnish with parsley cress and serve immediately.

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500g of shortcrust pastry
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
100g of walnuts, shopped
75g of cranberries, fresh
100g of goat's cheese, crumbled
200ml of whole milk
5 eggs
salt
black pepper

Roll the pastry out until it’s large enough to cover the base and sides of your tart pan. Lay into the pan and press lightly into the sides. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes. In the meantime heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the sliced onions and fry gently for around 8 minutes.

Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for a further 2 minutes, set aside. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Trim the edges of the pastry. Cover with baking paper and baking beans or dried beans. Blind bake the pastry case for 20 minutes.

Add the onions onto the pastry case. Scatter over the walnuts, reserving a handful for the top. Follow with the cranberries and goat’s cheese. Beat the eggs and milk together and season with salt and black pepper.

Pour the egg mixture carefully into the pastry case and scatter with the remaining walnuts. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch. Serve warm or cold.

Recipes courtesy of Great British Chefs. Visit their site for more colourful cranberry recipes