Off the Sauce : Don’t Get Bogged Down in the Same Old Cranberry Recipes

There is life beyond cranberry sauce--as some imaginative recipes from international chefs demonstrate. For brunch, try warm and syrupy Cranberry Sticky Buns, seen above, sprinkled with almonds and baked in a pull-apart ring. They’re adapted from a recipe provided by New York caterer Rick Rodgers of Cuisine Americaine. Chef Bernard Meyer of The Grand in Nova Scotia combines a pale green, minty ice cream sauce with a cranberry-raspberry sorbet and serves it with flaky cranberry-filled filo pastries, seen at right. For the recipes, please turn the page. CRANBERRY ALMOND STICKY BUNS 3/4 cup water 1 package active dry yeast 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 1/4 cup milk 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1/2 cup plain yogurt 1 egg, beaten 1 teaspoon salt 3 cups flour 3 cups fresh or frozen and thawed cranberries 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed 1/4 cup cranberry juice cocktail 1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds

Heat cup water to 100 degrees. Dissolve yeast and granulated sugar in warm water. Let stand 5 minutes.

Scald milk in saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add cup butter, yogurt, egg and salt. Mix well. Place flour in bowl of electric mixer. Combine yeast and milk mixtures and add all at once to flour in bowl. Mix, using low speed at first, to form a soft dough. Turn dough out onto floured board. If mixture is too sticky to handle, work in just enough additional flour to make a soft but workable dough.

Place dough in well-greased bowl. Cover with towel and place in warm place, free from drafts. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, combine 2 cups cranberries with light brown sugar, remaining 1/2 cup water and cinnamon in heavy saucepan. Bring mixture to boil, lower heat and simmer until almost all liquid has evaporated, stirring often to avoid scorching, about 10 minutes. Cool.

In another saucepan, combine dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons butter and cranberry juice cocktail. Bring to boil, then simmer over low heat 5 minutes.

Punch dough down. Roll out on lightly floured surface to 16x10-inch rectangle. Spread dough with 2 tablespoons softened butter, then spread cooled cranberry filling over butter. Chop remaining 1 cup cranberries and sprinkle over filling along with almonds and half of brown sugar syrup. Roll dough up tightly. Cut roll into 16 to 18 crosswise slices. Pour half of remaining syrup into each of 2 round 10-inch cake pans. Place sticky buns, cut-side up in pan, 1/2 inch apart. (If desired, sticky buns may be baked in muffin pans.) Cover pans with light cloth and let buns rise about 30 minutes or until doubled. Bake rolls at 350 degrees 35 minutes or until golden. Cool in pan about 5 minutes before turning out to serve. Spoon any syrup left in pan over buns before serving. Makes 16 to 18 buns. CRANBERRY FILO ROLLS 1 16-ounce package filo dough Oil Cranberry Jam Sugar Mint Ice Cream Whipping cream or half and half Cranberry-Raspberry Sorbet Mint leaves

Carefully remove 1 sheet filo dough from package and brush lightly with oil. Cut in 15x4-inch rectangles. Place 1 1/2 teaspoons Cranberry Jam at end of each rectangle. Roll up entire length and brush lightly with oil. Sprinkle with sugar. Repeat procedure until 60 bonbons are made. Bake bonbons at 375 degrees 10 minutes or until golden. Place on rack to cool.

To assemble, place about half of Mint Ice Cream into container of blender, adding enough cream to achieve consistency of milkshake. Repeat with remaining ice cream. Spoon small amount mixture onto each of 10 chilled serving plates. (Save extra sauce for future use.) Arrange 6 bonbons on each plate. Add scoop Cranberry-Raspberry Sorbet onto each. Garnish with mint leaves. Serve immediately. Makes 10 servings. Cranberry Jam 3 cups cranberries 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water

Combine cranberries, sugar and water in large saucepan and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes or until almost all liquid has evaporated. Mint Ice Cream 1 cup milk 1 cup whipping cream 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves 1-1/2 cups sugar 8 egg yolks

Bring milk, cream and mint to boil in saucepan. Remove from heat and let stand 30 minutes. Strain and discard mint. Blend sugar and egg yolks in top of double boiler. Gradually stir in hot cream mixture. Cook, stirring until thick (mixture should coat metal spoon). Remove from hot water and cool quickly in large bowl of cold water, stirring occasionally. Chill. Pour into canister of ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s directions until firm. Cranberry-Raspberry Sorbet 12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries 3 cups water 1 12-ounce package frozen raspberries, thawed 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup lemon juice

Bring cranberries and 1 cup water to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover and let stand 30 minutes. Stir in raspberries. Puree in blender. Strain mixture through sieve into large bowl. Stir in sugar, lemon juice and remaining 2 cups water. Chill. Pour into canister of ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions until firm.

PRODUCED BY ROBIN TUCKER

FOOD STYLIST: OLIVIA ERSCHEN PLATES FROM THE PAVILION AT TANNER MARKET, PASADENA