How to Make Cranberry Crostini - as part of the food and kitchen series by GeoBeats.

My name is chef Kwame Onnuachi with Coterie Catering and I am going to show you how to make a persimmon cranberry crostini today. First we will start by chopping the persimmon. We are going to cut the leafy part off and cut it in half. And we are going to cut it into quarters. So, you are going to chop about three or four persimmons up for this recipe. And once again it is just a rough chop, they will be going right into the sauce. After you have chopped the persimmon up, we are going to take the cranberry, the starinese, the ground ginger, the sugar, and the water and head to the stove top and get started on our sauce.

So now at the stove top and we are going to start making the cranberry persimmon sauce. A persimmon is a great winter fruit and it comes in two varieties. Here we are using the Hachiya variety. And you want to freeze it before cutting it up to release some of those tannins. To get rid of those tannins. So, I am going to start by adding two cups of cranberries. We are going to add two cups of water, just about two cups. A cup of sugar. Half a tablespoon of ground ginger. And about one to two pieces of starinese. And also a tablespoon of vanilla. I am going to stir this around. As the flavors and spices incorporate and let the cranberries do it is thing and pop. While the cranberries and persimmons are going on the stove top, I am going to prepare the crostinies. I am going to take a baguette, and cut it on a bias which is a slant. We want to use a bread knife with ridges because it can cut easier through the bread. I am just going to cut these into small slices. And after I get these cut, these will be the stages for the persimmon and cranberry.

And we will add a little more persimmon at the end so you have a nice textural contrast with the crunchy persimmon and the sweet soft cranberries. So we have got the persimmon and cranberry combo essentially all finished and it smells really, really good. So you want to get it like little bit on each one of the crostinies. And I will top these with some fresh mint, and also garnish the plate with a sprig of mint.