Leftover cranberries and vacuum-packed chestnuts...any ideas?

[Roseylea]

Very festive ingredients, I know! I am making a "party pie" from the Good Food mag t freeze for Boxing Day, and I could only buy the cranberries and chestnuts in huge quantities...so any ideas? Can I make cranberry sauce for christmas day and freeze it? Or what do you think of mince pies with fresh cranberries in? And what about the chestnuts? I've never used them before.
THanks lovelies!

Chestnut and sweet potato soup

Ingredients:

1.3 kg Sweet potatoes (Approximately 3 potatoes), peeled and roughly chopped into small pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried cumin
2 teaspoons dried cinnamon
200g Chestnuts, cooked and peeled (Vacuum packed or frozen are ideal), roughly chopped
1.5 litres vegetable or chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish
Sprigs of parsley, finely chopped

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Sauté the sweet potatoes, red onions, cinnamon, cumin and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Taste and season accordingly. Transfer half of the soup into a liquidiser or food processor and whiz together. Return this to the saucepan and reheat when ready to serve.

To serve the stylish way: Serve the hot soup in warmed bowls with sprigs of parsley.

Chestnuts are also nice added to a beef pie - they make the pie slightly sweet and and thicken the gravy too

Freeze the cranberries now then get them out as and when to use in muffins, cakes, stuffing, risotto, sauces, anything really.

The chestnuts I would use in a soup - if there are lots, make a big quantity and freeze the soup.

Ooh thanks for that! The pary pie looks fantastic btw - I'm very proud of it!

I will freeze the cranberries now and...erm...still not sure about the chestnuts. Can you puree them and use them in chocolatey puds?

Party pie I mean!

Make your own cranberry sauce it's very easy and delicious and chestnuts are great in a stuffing. You can freeze both.

Cranberry and choc chip muffins are delish.

yummm...choc chip and cranberry muffins sound wonderful. Lovely for christmas breakfast!

Chestnuts:

get three different types of mushrooms, eg chestnut, shiitake and button and chop - not finely.
Soak some porcini.
Soften a finely chopped onion adn some crushed garlic in olive oil.
Fry the mushrooms (not the porcini) then add the chestnuts.
Add the porcini AND the liquor they soaked in.
Add two generous handfuls of green or puy lentils, or maybe half lentils, half brown rice. Quinoa? Something pulsey and small.
Tie up a bunch of thyme as thick as your thumb and add.
If you are veggie, add some veg stock or just water and a veg stock cube.
If you are not, chicken stock adds a bit of yumminess.
Cook on low for 45 mins. Then at the end, add some roux, or some flour-and-olive-oil and cook in for a couple of minutes to thicken the sauce.
Remove the thyme. Season.

Serve with rice.

I got this from someone on MN (it's been fiddled with a bit)...I had vegan friends coming round for dinner and it was delicious. So delicious that I improve it with the chicken stock and possible some grated parmesan at the end.

Try the stuffing roll, also in Good Food Magazine...strangely enough uses the same 2 ingredients...