Glistening jewels among the cabbages

A few weeks ago on Cape Cod, I stood at the edge of a magnificent sea of red fruit and blue water.  I watched, fascinated, as waves of cranberries were nudged from the cool flooded bog and sent rolling up a huge conveyor belt and then cascading down in a shower of red, pink, and white into a waiting open trailer truck.   I read that Massachusetts was the second largest producer of cranberries in the world and it appeared even from this one bog that we have plenty to share!  Naturally, I could not end my visit without taking home a taste of this bounty so my freezer is now filled with gallon bags of bright red berries.

Tonight we raided the cranberry stash to grace a dish of Brussels sprouts and apples.  We bought the firm and bright green Brussels sprouts from E.L. Silvia Farms at the Winchester Farmers Market this morning and the nice tart apples were from a picking expedition at Kimball Fruit Farms.  We gave them a quick steaming and then Mark pan roasted the baby cabbages until slightly charred and still crunchy.  He then added the cranberries , the apples, a splash of apple cider ,and a sprinkling of salt and cracked pepper.  The dish swirled with fall colors and each taste was distinct and yet the flavors blended together beautifully. 

We plan to make this dish again for Thanksgiving as long as one of the farmers still has good Brussels sprouts available.  If we can’t get sprouts some shredded cabbage would also work well.