My grandmother growing up always ate sweet and savory things combined together. Flavors my young self didn’t really appreciate or understand. Teta would eat avocados with jam or Labaneh with honey or dibis (often grape molasses). But as I got older, these flavors stayed in the back of my memory, I developed my palette to truly enjoy this combination too. Here is a simple holiday treat of creamy Labaneh crostini topped with my cranberry and Seville marmalade compote and finish with a drizzle of olive oil. But as opposed to my fresh cranberry recipe (on my website) i actually cooked the cranberries for this crostini. My daughter Julia caught on to this idea early on but her sweet and savory combo consists of one bite tacos and one bite ice cream or cake. I will stick to my teta ‘s palette because teta knows best. We don’t always have to come up with new recipes, repurpose exiting ones to truly enjoy what’s in season is so fun too.
For this recipe I cooked down the relish:
Ingredients:
1 orange peeled and diced
Zest of the orange
12 Oz fresh cranberries washed
1/2 tsp orange blossom
Add 2 tbls of Seville orange marmalade **, you can also add marmalade or maple syrup or honey. Adjust the sweetness to your liking
1 baguette sliced and toasted
honey and olive oil to drizzle
Directions for this cooked version:
In a heavy pot add the cranberries, diced orange, and marmalade, mix to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil and turn the heat down to low and simmer until all cranberries burst, stirring often. If mixture is too dry add few tablespoons of orange juice at a time. Simmer for 20 minutes until mixture is bubbly. off the heat add the orange zest, and orange blossom water. Stir to combine.
let mixture cool before you top you toasted crostini with labaneh and then a dollop of the cranberry relish. Add a drizzle of honey and olive oil to finish.
