It’s been a busy week for everyone. The last few shopping days before the big day. For me it’s ‘wrapping’ time and meal planning for the next 7 days. Shrimp has been called up as the Christmas Day main entrée. A little salad, potato and dessert and we’ve got a great holiday meal. That’s one down and six more to go!!
One of my favorite meals, all year round, is a good ham. The easy jezebel cherry sauce I’m featuring will be the perfect pairing. I think I’ll also include my super simple cranberry sauce recipe. Either will be good choices whether it’s a holiday meal or regular family dining. In either recipe guests do not need to know it all started with a can of cherry sauce or chunky cranberry! Heck you could mess with these sauces and implement them as a marinate for meatballs. I’ve been planning on making a sheet of meatballs for the freezer, hmm I like my own idea!
Wait, how did we overlook chicken? Both sauces would be delightful on grilled or sautéed chicken breasts.
Last weekend we had the beautiful snow here in the Ozarks. Now, like a little tike I’m searching for more snow. Not holding my breath on that one either. Wishful thinking.
Some of you may be wondering about all my holiday baking this year. Well, the truth is there hasn’t been any to spout about. I was a bit under the weather last week and that was the last thing on my list. Actually, perhaps I need to come clean with you. My new office is right across the street from a lovely bakery. I plan on placing an order tomorrow for just a few specialty items. My husband, Ervin, isn’t supposed to have copious amounts of sweets and I tend to eat too many. Actually a platter of homemade chocolate chip cookies sounds quite good to me.
I hope your holiday is a blessed one. As we edge ever closer to 2021 I am filled with a positive anticipation. Our family has encountered ‘so’ many changes in 2020 that I’m ready for a mogul free new year. Cherish those loved ones. Merry Christmas. Simply yours, The Covered Dish. www.thecovereddish.com
Jezebel Cherry Sauce
1 can cherry pie filling
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup apple juice
Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan on top of the stove. Serve over pork or chicken. When you take a sweet sauce and ‘heat’ it up with mustards and peppers it is often referred to as a jezebel. This one doesn’t have any mustards, but in our opinion, it’s still a jezebel.
Cranberry Sauce
1 (15.5 ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup burgundy wine, (merlot would work)*
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan, whisking and stirring to break up the cranberry sauce. Bring to a boil, decrease heat to a simmer. The sauce is basically ready to be served. Try using a small crockpot to keep this warm for a dinner party. This is super simple to use with a variety of meats.
*For an alcohol free approach use 6 tablespoons of pomegranate juice and 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar.
(This is probably one of my favorites, Debbie.)
