Cape Cod Select Premium Cranberries Exploration!
In cooperation with The Cape Cod Select Blogger Recipe Challenge, featuring premium frozen cranberries! As a competition food blogger, a 48 oz. bag of Cape Cod Select Premium Farm Fresh Cranberries was provided! Cape Cod Select Cranberries are so delicious that all the words below are definitely what I believe!
Family Dinner: Cashew Crunch Cranberry Chicken
When you think of cranberries what comes to mind? A gathering of friends and family enjoying tasty foods during the Fall and Winter Holidays, right??? Me too! Cranberry dishes always mark the beginning of Fall for me. Why the heck am I playing with cranberry dishes in Spring and Summer? Well…I accepted the Cape Cod Select Premium Cranberry Recipe Challenge for bloggers!!!
I. AM. SO. GLAD. I. DID. Cranberries are a lot more versatile than I thought!
How about you? Do you cook with frozen cranberries year round? I had not but my cranberry exploration just changed that! I have a little Covid-19 story, to back my thoughts, about cooks not thinking about cooking with cranberries year round!. Two weeks into Covid-19 mandates, I masked up, and walked into a grocery store. It looked like the locust had attacked the selection in the freezer section before me, you know the look, the shelves were almost completely empty. I had accepted the challenge to develop 3 Cape Cod Select Premium Cranberry dishes using frozen cranberries, and received a 48 oz. bag of frozen cranberries for recipe development. As I walked by the frozen fruit freezer section the only fruit on the shelves were Cape Cod Select Cranberries!!! No exaggeration!
Shoppers simply do not know what to do with frozen cranberries other than to make Fall and Winter breads and muffins, and cranberry sauce. BUT. THAT. JUST. CHANGED. You can cook year round with Cape Cod Select Cranberries just check out other food bloggers delicious cranberry creation recipes with these hashtag: #YearOfTheCranberry #CapeCodSelect #SelectTheBest #YearOfTheCranberry! I truly want you to begin your own cranberry exploration! It's fun and tasty!
On my cranberry exploration, I played around with cranberries in the craziest recipes! The delicious tarty flavor adds that acidic pop…similar to a squeeze of lemon juice. Here are just a few ideas: Cranberry Hamburger Relish, Cranberry Korean BBQ Sauce, Cranberry Salsa, Cranberry Pork Egg Rolls with Asian Cranberry Sauce, Cranberry Coleslaw, Kale with Cranberry Vinaigrette, Cranberry Braised Chicken, Steak with Cranberry Chimichurri Sauce, Cranberry Overnight Oatmeal, and Cranberry Orange Creme Frozen Yogurt. You get the picture cranberry everything, from sweet to savory, and from quick and easy to slow-cooked!
I love that cranberries add low calorie (45 Kcal per cup) nutritional boost with high vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants. One cup of whole cranberries has 8,983 total antioxidant capacity! I also found that Cape Cod Select Cranberries have such a wonderful flavor and texture that I can enjoy them straight from the package ~ only a few at a time but those cheery red little tart balls quench my thirst.
Of course, I created lots of cranberry recipes during my frozen cranberry exploration but as one of the 50 bloggers invited to compete in the Cape Cod Select Recipe Challenge we could enter 3 categories, 1 recipe per category:
Healthy On-The-Go,
Cran-You-Believe It
Family Dinner
I enjoyed brain-storming all 3 categories. I ended up with way too many ideas! What a Cranberry Exploration! I discovered how many recipes are cranberry friendly. The count is higher than I imagined. In the end, when I had to pick my top 3 recipes it was based on one thing….is the recipe CRAVE-ABLE ??? Am I excited to prepare and eat this dish again??? Is this a keeper?
MY MOST CRAVE-ABLE CAPE COD SELECT CRANBERRY DISH:
FAMILY DINNER
Cashew Crunch Cranberry Chicken
Cranberry Crunch Cranberry Chicken is SO VERSATILE!
Cashew Crunch Cranberry Chicken Noodle and Grilled Bok Choy Bowl
Garlic Broccoli with Cashew Crunch Cranberry Chicken
Cashew Crunch Cranberry Chicken on Jasmine Rice
Cashew Crunch Cranberry Chicken Chinese Salad
Cashew Crunch Cranberry Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Category: Family Dinner
Cashew Crunch Cranberry Chicken
INGREDIENTS Cranberry Asian Sauce 2 cups Frozen Cape Cod Select Premium Cranberries, divided
8 garlic cloves
1-inch peeled ginger, roughly chopped 1 cup Hoisin sauce 1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar 1/2 tablespoon sriracha style hot sauce
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
Cashew Cranberry Chicken 2 cups rice flour 1/4 cup all purpose flour 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika or sweet 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 1/2 pounds chicken tender 1/3 cup canola oil 1 1/2 cup ice water 6 ounces whole or broken cashews, about 1 1/2 cups or desired amount 5 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally
Garnish: 1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, 1 thinly sliced green onions, 1/4 cup chopped cashews
METHOD
To Make The Sauce MINCE 3/4 cup cranberries, garlic, and ginger in a small food processor, or by hand. ADD Hoisin, rice vinegar, hot sauce, sugar and red pepper flakes, and blend 30 seconds or until smooth. Set sauce aside.
To Make The Cashew Chicken MIX flours, salt, pepper, paprika, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Transfer 3/4 cup flour mixture to a resealable gallon plastic bag to coat the chicken.
CHOP chicken into 2-bites-size pieces, about 1 1/2 inch each. Transfer the chicken into the plastic bag with flour, and toss to coat.
HEAT 1/3 cup oil in a skillet or wok over medium high heat.
WHISK ice water into the remaining flour in the medium bowl. Dip flour coated chicken into batter, several pieces at a time. Lift chicken from batter with slotted spoon and allow access to dribble back into bowl.
COOK chicken, in batches, in hot oil, 3 minutes on each side or until browned and crispy. Break apart any pieces that stick together. Place on a paper towel lined rimmed baking sheet until all chicken has been cooked. Transfer last batch of crispy chicken bites to paper towel. Remove oil from skillet but do not wash out skillet.
POUR the cranberry-hoisin sauce to the skillet, and heat on medium for 1 minute or until just beginning to thicken. TOSS remaining 1 1/4 cups cranberries, chicken, cashews and green onions into the sauce and heat for 30-60 seconds to warm. Transfer to serving plate.
GARNISH with sesame seeds, chopped cashews, and green onions. Serves: 6
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Cashew Crunch Cranberry Chicken over Thai Noodles, Stir-fry vegetables, rice, Asian slaw, lettuce wraps!
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WATCH ME COOK
