We checked in with several chefs around the Garden State to get the inside scoop on the best ways to use cranberries, both on Thanksgiving and—even better—on Friday, with leftovers. Thanks to the many chefs and restaurants who contributed! Mangia!
Kick things off with a cocktail…
Sparkling Cranberry Cosmo
Courtesy of Strip House at Westminster Hotel
Ingredients:
1 oz Tito’s vodka
½ oz orange liqueur
¼ oz lemon juice
½ oz cranberry juice
4 oz Prosecco
Dry or fresh cranberries for garnish
Directions:
Add vodka, orange liqueur, lemon and cranberry to champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine. Garnish with dry or fresh cranberries.
Cranberry Granola Bars
Courtesy of Blue Pig Tavern
Ingredients:
2 cups oats
2 cups peanuts (chopped)
1½ cups wheat germ
1½ cups sunflower seeds
2 cups rice cereal
1⅓ cup brown sugar
1 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter
3½ cups dried cranberries
Directions:
- Combined oats, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, and chopped peanuts. Spread evenly onto a cookie sheet and toast them for 10 minutes in a oven preheated to 325°F. Let cool before adding to the remaining ingredients.
- In a very large bowl measure your rice cereal, dried cranberries and add your remaining toasted ingredients. Set aside.
- In a medium sauce pot, over medium heat, combine brown sugar, honey, vanilla, and salt. Bring this to a boil and remove from heat.
- Pour brown sugar syrup over your dry ingredients and carefully fold with a large serving spoon. (Be cautious, as this will be very hot, but will cool as you mix.)
- Once all is incorporated, into a prepared cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and greased with vegetable oil spray, pour the granola and with greased hands press down mixture until it is even and compact.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let mixture chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Cut and enjoy! Best stored in the refrigerator.
Maple Orange Cranberry Sauce (pictured at top)
Courtesy of How to Feed a Loon
Ingredients:
1 12-oz. package of fresh or frozen cranberries (3 cups)
1 cup pure maple syrup
⅓ cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
⅓ cup cranberry juice (not cocktail)
1 tablespoon orange zest, plus more for garnish
Directions:
- Combine the cranberries, maple syrup, orange juice, cranberry juice and orange zest in a medium-size saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, just until the cranberries burst, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Turn down the heat to medium-low and continue cooking over lower heat until the juice is thick, about 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Allow to cool, and then chill in the fridge until ready to serve. It should have a nice jelly-like consistency.
- Garnish with extra orange zest.
Roasted Butternut Squash & Kale with Dried Cranberries and Pistachios
Courtesy of Deliboy Delivery
Ingredients:
2 whole butternut squash (about 3 lbs), peeled, halved lengthwise, seeds removed, and cut into ½-inch chunks
1 bunch flat-leaf kale (about 12 ounces), tough stems removed, leaves cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup dry cranberries
1 cup shelled pistachios (lightly crushed)
Olive oil
Salt, Pepper
Directions:
- Preheat over to 375°F.
- Arrange butternut squash on a sheet pan in a single layer.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat.
- Roast for 30 minutes.
- Add the chopped kale to the butternut and roast an additional 15 to 20 minutes until the butternut is cooked through.
- Once cooled, sprinkle the cranberries and pistachios over top and toss to serve.
Warm Goat in the Coat
Courtesy of Chef Mike’s Atlantic Bar & Grill
Ingredients/Prep:
Goat Cheese
2 oz piece of goat cheese
1 oz olive oil
3 oz seasoned bread crumbs
Form the goat cheese in a pyramid then dip in olive oil then into the bread crumbs. Refrigerate for 5 hours.
Cranberry Pear Compote
1 small Asian pear, diced
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup cranberry juice
½ cup white sugar
½ cup apple pectin
Heat everything, except apple pectin, together until boiling. Slowly add apple pectin until thick, then chill.
Raspberry Vinaigrette
½ cup raspberry vinegar
1 cup olive oil
⅓ cup white sugar
3 basil leaves
1 small red onion diced
Salt and pepper
Place the vinegar, sugar, basil, and salt and pepper in a food processor on high. Slowly add the olive oil until thick. Add the onions at the end when the machine is off.
Top with frisee lettuce.
And on Friday…
The Best Turkey Sandwich
Courtesy of Samba Brazilian Restaurant and Cafe
Directions:
Layer sliced, leftover turkey breast with brie, cranberry sauce and honey mustard on Ciabatta Bread.
Building on the success of its iconic 40-year-old establishment in Paterson and large, loyal following, family-owned fried chicken restaurant Chicken Supreme (owned by the Lambrinides family) opened a second location in Hackensack on November 14. Launched on the site of the former Old Harley’s Pub and offering seating for about 25 people, the open-layout restaurant will continue to delight diners with its fresh and homemade fried chicken as well as such menu favorites as the four-piece meal and popular side dishes including french fries, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, cole slaw, rice, macaroni salad, and biscuits. “Our grand opening event will take place on Saturday, November 26, during which time we’ll be offering 10% off of all orders at both locations all day, donating food to a local charity, and giving away over $500 worth of gift cards, which people can enter to win via our Facebook page,” says spokesperson Ed Pirone. “We’re excited to expand to Hackensack and are confident that our new guests will find such a personal touch at Chicken Supreme—the restaurant truly knows its customers and cares about the community.”
Opened on November 1, this casual quick-serve restaurant—the first New Jersey location for this rapidly-growing Toronto-based franchise—offers a range of fresh salads, wraps, bowls, burritos, soups, juices, smoothies, and snacks as well as artisan coffee (branded under the Fair Grounds Coffee moniker). “Our bowls are built on brown rice, quinoa, rice noodles, or kale, to which guests can add vegetables and a protein such as chicken, steak, tofu, or falafel,” explains Stefanie Sheriff, a Flemington native, who owns the 44-seat restaurant with her husband, Stephen. Based on its healthy menu and centralized downtown location, traffic to the new restaurant has been strong in its opening weeks. The Sheriffs report that they’re excited to serve the local community and to bring healthy, affordable meal options to area residents and visitors. 
Previously in operation from 2012 to 2013, Giovanni’s Bistro & Bar in Berkeley Heights was officially relaunched on September 14 by original owners and restaurateurs Bob and Nadine Tokash (who named the restaurant after their grandson) and under the new culinary leadership of CIA-trained Chef Chris Ita, who previously served as Executive Chef at Hamilton Farm Golf Club in Gladstone. Among the 38-seat restaurant’s signature bistro fare menu items are its organic pan-seared boneless half chicken, rock shrimp with spinach, homemade potato gnocchi, double-cut pork chops, and New York-style cheesecake. “We like to think of ourselves as friends serving friends,” says Greg Gibbs, who is the general manager and a master sommelier. He oversees the restaurant’s small but inclusive wine list and invites diners to enjoy the restaurant’s casual atmosphere and friendly service.
Opened in late October, Naf Naf Grill offers hearty, tasty, and flavorful Mediterranean cuisine and is the most recent extension of the Illinois-based chain. The new Mount Laurel site of Naf Naf Grill represents the first in New Jersey, the second on the east coast. (It’s 24th in the company’s nationwide network of outlets.) According to Destiny Millett, general manager, guests can stack a pita or a bowl with hummus, basmati rice, cous cous, or lettuce topped by a protein (chicken, steak, or falafel), their choice of vegetable, and any of five sauces (including tahini, chile and pepper-based harissa, garlic and mayonnaise, skhug jalapeno-based hot sauce, and pickled mango). “We’re like Chipotle with Middle Eastern flare,” explains Millett. With indoor and outdoor seating for 80, the cozy eatery decorated in orange, gray, and white tones is also high on customer service. “All of our staff members are trained to give ‘Naf Love’ and to go above and beyond expectations,” says Millett of their friendly team of servers. “Our food is very healthy, like a home-cooked meal.”
Holding its soft opening in mid-November (with its grand opening coming after Thanksgiving), this quick service sit-down and take-out establishment, launched by the owners of nearby Montclair Bread Company, hopes to fill a niche in the community’s culinary scene. “We’re an Irish-style fish and chips place,” explains Co-Owner Jessica Woodward. “It’s a basic idea that we’ll specialize in using great ingredients and techniques and a product people love that’s missing in the area.” In addition to cod and other seafood options and a unique housemade curry sauce for its fish and chips, “we’ll be offering authentic sodas and potato chips imported from the U.K.,” Woodward says of the eatery, which features a blue nautical décor (including a boat-themed light fixture) and seats up to 20 people. “We’re all about high-quality food, friendly service, and a relaxed environment in which you can get in and out quickly,” she says.
Set to open in December, Satis Bistro in Bloomfield will represent the second location for this Mediterranean-style salumeria, which has been a well-trafficked dining destination in Jersey City for the past six years. “We serve typical bistro food—elbows up to the table and enjoy,” says chef and owner Michael Fiorianti, of the eatery where “classic dishes and flavor profiles have been rethought and recreated with respect to their origins.” Among the restaurant’s most popular items are its short ribs with chorizo goat cheese mashed potatoes and au poivre sauce as well as its bouillabaisse and housemade ricotta gnocchi with white beans, escarole, and garlic. At the restaurant’s new 3,000 square-foot Bloomfield location, which seats over 90 people between its dining room and bar, “we really just tried to restore the beauty and craftsmanship of the original space, which was a gorgeous old tavern dating back to the late 1800s,” Fiorianti says of the décor in the over century-old site, which features brown and copper tones and such original details as brick walls, tin ceilings, and wood trim work. “I’ve always made it my goal to ensure that when people sit down at Satis Bistro it should be comfortable, unpretentious, and enjoyable, like sitting at a family home,” Fiorianti says. “To now have the opportunity to expand our concept to Bloomfield makes me so incredibly excited and we hope that guests will enjoy the experience and return many times over.”
At 
Plum
Next out was the hirva thecha fennel shrimp with squid pakora (Indian fritters), mushroom khichdi (a South Asian rice and lentil dish) and truffle oil. A stunning presentation (my photo doesn’t do it justice.) This dish was another delightful combination of textures and tastes and went away far too quickly. I could have had a dozen.
Our final appetizer round was the ginger lamb chop with a quinoa pulao (pilaf) and mint chutney. It was explained to us that while quinoa is not a traditional Indian ingredient it is now very popular in India. The lamb was cooked to perfection and paired perfectly with the mint chutney which is savory and acidic.
Owner Kamal Arora, executive chef Shravan Shetty, chef Dayanand Shetty, and
At the table closest to us, a husband and wife dined with their toddler. Mei told us this was the family’s fourth or fifth time visiting the Boiling House. The restaurant has already acquired several repeat customers during the short time span since it opened, even though they have done little in the way of advertising beyond creating a 
Diwali is celebrated over several days, coinciding with the fall harvest, and traditionally, the darkest night of autumn. This year, the holiday falls on Sunday, October 30. Many Indian-Americans observe Diwali, which celebrates the symbolic victory of light over darkness, or good over evil. People decorate their homes and businesses with lamps (diya) and candles for the holiday. On the day of Diwali, families offer prayers (puja) to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. The festival features fireworks, celebratory meals and the exchange of gifts and sweets (mithai). Diwali-themed street fairs and markets (melas) are also common from mid-October through mid-November.
Food, of course, is a centerpiece of Diwali’s public festivals and family gatherings. We are fortunate in New Jersey to have plenty of choices for excellent Indian cuisine, in many regional varieties. Whether you prefer North Indian meats stewed in complex spice mixtures or grilled in a clay oven (tandoor), flatbreads (roti, paratha, naan), and hearty rice biryanis, or fiery South Indian dishes like potato-filled crepes (dosas), spicy lentil stew (sambar), and steamed rice cakes (idli), you can find them all in Jersey.
Dosa Grill
