Lovely and delicious cranberry mold!

 

For a recent holiday gathering with friends, I was looking for an alternative to the usual cranberry-orange relish or salad. I came across a recipe for a sweet cranberry panna cotta on the Viking Cooking School website. I made a few changes to make it a savory mold, and everyone pronounced it quite tasty.

I made it in a two-cup mold, but it would be equally attractive made in individual ramekins and turned out onto greens for a first course salad. A sherry vinegar dressing would make a nice complement to the flavors in the mold.

The Viking recipe called for cranberry Jello, which I used,. If you would rather, you can soften one envelope of unflavored gelatin on a couple of tablespoons of cold water, then substitute cranberry juice for the one cup of water. Heat it, add the gelatin, stirring until dissolved, and then 2 tablespoons of sugar and the seasonings listed below.

One of my friends at the gathering said she’s going to use the recipe in a heart shaped mold for Valentine’s Day, so if you’ve already planned all your holiday gatherings, there’s always another appropriate time to use it!

SAVORY CRANBERRY MOLD

1 cup water
1 package cranberry-flavored gelatin
¼ tsp. kosher or sea salt
Juice and finely grated zest of one lemon
2 tbsp bottled grated horseradish
½ tsp. dried dill weed
1 cup sour cream

Spray a two-cup mold generously with cooking spray.

In a saucepan, heat the water to a boil. Remove from heat and add the gelatin, stirring until completely dissolved. Whisk in the remaining ingredients in the order listed and pour into the mold. Refrigerate at least four hours, or until completely set. This may be made one day in advance if tightly covered with plastic wrap or foil.

When ready to serve, dip the mold in very hot water, being careful not to get water in the mold itself. Turn a serving plate upside down on the mold, then invert and give it a little shake. If the mold doesn’t come out, repeat the hot water process. Serve with crisp toasts or crackers. Serves 8-10 as an appetizer, or 4-6 on a first course salad.

NOTE: I wanted to make this again but had used all my horseradish. I had a container of Penzey's horseradish dip mix and added 3 tablespoons of that instead of the seasonings. It turned out to be delicious, although less piquant than the one with real horseradish.