Cranberry Butter

DEAR SOS: I have looked for years for Cranberry Butter. Do you have a recipe?

--CYNTHIA

DEAR CYNTHIA: Cranberry Butter will be great on toast, corn bread and muffins, as well as a fine basting butter for roasting chicken, game hen, venison or ham during the holiday season.

CRANBERRY BUTTER

1 cup cranberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 pound unsalted butter, softened

Combine cranberries with sugar in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat 10 minutes or until berries have popped and mixture forms sauce. Cool.

Blend cranberry mixture into soft butter with wooden spoon. Pack into crocks or molds. Chill. Serve with corn sticks, corn bread, muffins or coffee cake. Makes 3 cups.

DEAR SOS: About five or six years ago you printed a recipe for beef brisket with a wonderful sauce containing apple jelly and curry powder. I have flat out lost the recipe. Can you help?

--MRS. M.M.

DEAR MRS. M.M.: We cannot locate the recipe you requested, but it does call to mind recipes using corned beef brisket, which often are treated with a glaze. If you don’t want to use corned beef, bake or boil brisket without spices until done, then use the glaze described. You can transform flavors of this recipe by using about one tablespoon of curry powder mixed with apple jelly in lieu of the mixed fruit jelly and mustard.

SANTA ANITA RACE TRACK CORNED BEEF

1 (5- to 6-pound) corned beef brisket

3 tablespoons pickling spice

Prepared mustard or curry powder

Mixed fruit jelly or any other kind fruit jelly

Sesame seeds

Place brisket in large pot. Add boiling water to cover. Add pickling spice. Cover and simmer 3 1/2 to 4 hours or until tender. Do not overcook.

Remove brisket from pot and let stand 15 minutes. Place in baking pan and cover surface of beef lightly with prepared mustard. Let stand 10 minutes until mustard penetrates meat. Spread jelly over brisket and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 375 degrees 15 to 20 minutes or until set. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

DEAR SOS: I misplaced my recipe for banana bread, three-way baked. Please reprint it.

--MARY

DEAR MARY: The recipe, dating back to 1968, was found sandwiched among the fruit breads in our archives. A basic banana bread recipe and two variations were provided, hence the name.

THREE-WAY BANANA BREAD

1/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cups sifted flour

2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed bananas

Beat shortening until creamy, about 2 minutes at medium speed on electric mixer. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy after each addition.

Add eggs and beat until thick and pale lemon in color. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together and add alternately with bananas. Blend thoroughly after each addition.

Spoon batter into 8x4-inch loaf pan greased on bottom only. Bake at 350 degrees 60 to 70 minutes. Bread is done when center springs back when touched lightly with finger.

Cool 20 minutes in pan and turn out onto rack. Makes 1 loaf.

Variations:

Banana-Date Bars

Add 1 cup chopped dates to basic batter. Spread in greased and floured 15x10x1-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees 20 minutes. Cool in pan. Cut into 42 bars. Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar. Store in airtight container or wrap and freeze.

Banana Jam Ring

Spoon layer of batter into well-greased and floured 6 1/2-cup ring mold. Spoon 1/4 cup strawberry preserves over batter.

Add more batter and 1/4 cup more preserves. Top with remaining batter. Cut down through batter and jam with rubber spatula or knife, swirling batter to marbleize.

Bake at 350 degrees 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pan and turn out onto rack. Cool.

Spread with icing made by mixing 1 cup powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon softened butter or margarine and 1 teaspoon hot water. Decorate with candied fruit, if desired.