Thanksgiving is less than one week away! You've got your turkey taken care of, and mashed potatoes practically make themselves. But do you have a recipe for my very favorite holiday condiment: cranberry sauce?
My family have always been pretty staunch cranberry relish people. We're all about raw cranberries and orange rind just because it's what our mom does and what her mom did. No one really questions it; no one would sing the praises of the relish either. It's not something we all necessarily look forward to like, say, pumpkin cheesecake. It's just always there.
Unlike many other households, there isn't any simmering on the stove, there's very little fan-fare; most of us just take a little dollop to be polite and move on with the meal. But that's not how it has to be. There is something very gratifying about simmering cranberries, a little bit of honey, and warm fall spices on Thanksgiving afternoon.
Actually, the nice thing about this recipe is that you can make it up to two days before you're going to serve it and, if you're anything like us, you can use these days to dollop it on your waffles, toast, and even in your squash soup. Who knew that cranberry sauce could straddle so many lines, from sweet to savory and right on back to the holiday table.
I have to say that after experimenting with this recipe, I'm no longer in the raw-cranberry-and-orange rind-camp. I've been converted. I'm now in the soft-velvetty-spiced-cranberry-camp. A happy convert and I think you will be, too.
Spiced Cranberry Sauce
Serves 4-6
12-ounce bag of cranberries, bruised ones discarded, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 cup water
zest from 1 orange, about 1 tablespoon
2 3-inch cinnamon stick
4 cardamom pods
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch dried cloves
2 tablespoons candied ginger, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier, optional
Bring the cranberries, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, nutmeg, and water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Cover the mixture and allow it to simmer on low-medium heat for 7-10 minutes, or until the cranberries are just beginning to burst and you notice the mixture thickening.
Add the orange zest, chopped candied ginger, and Grand Marnier and stir to combine. Simmer for an additional 1-2 minutes. The trick is not to allow the mixture to simmer so long that all of the cranberries are bursting and/or softening. You don't want your sauce to be too mushy--I always pull it from the heat once a few cranberries begin to pop and the liquid is mostly absorbed (it will continue thickening off of the heat source as well). This is a good rule of thumb.
Using a small kitchen spoon, scoop out the cardamom pods and cinnamon stick. The cardamom pods should have lightened in color significantly and should be easy to find. Transfer the sauce to a shallow bowl and let it cool completely. It may be made 2 days in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator. Best served at room temperature.
Related: Recipe: Fresh Cranberry Relish
(Image: Megan Gordon)
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Living in the SW, I make a Cranberry Salsa with cranberries, tequilla, cilantro, cumin, ginger, serrano chili, orange juice and some other special ingredients. Always get raves for it and the best part is you have to make it at least 3 days ahead to give all those wonderful flavors time to meld togehter.
I add cinnamon, orange zest and lavender to mine. YUM.
I am not a cranberry fan with turkey.
I was converted when I took fresh cranberries and mixed them with a jar of spicy mango salsa.
So sorry ...spicy mango chutney not salsa.
ccp mbd--wish I had your recipe!
Hmm, just made this recipe (minus the grand marnier) and substituted agave nectar for the honey and used unrefined coconut palm sugar for the brown sugar. And...it's really not thickened up. In fact, even on very low heat setting, the cranberries started to pop long before any thickening started to occur. Hoping that letting it sit will help to set it I hesitate to leave it in the saucepan too long, but there's a lot of liquid. Next time I'd keep my substitutions (try to avoid refined sugars wherever possible) but reduce the water.
sarahld, mine's on the stove right now and I'm experiencing the same thing. I doubled the recipe, but not quite all of the spices, I wish I wouldn't have doubled the water!
What would be a good substitute for the orange zest?
Melissa Ann--depends on why you're substituting. I'd think you could sub in lemon zest if that suits you better. If you want orange flavor without having to zest anything, you could replace some of your water with orange juice. Personally, I'd just leave the orange zest out altogether because I prefer my cranberry sauce unadulterated with other fruits.
I have a question about the cloves. The recipe calls for a "pinch of dried cloves" but doesn't specify whole or ground; and then the cloves are not mentioned in the instructions at all (unless I'm blind, if so, please point it out to me). Could someone clarify the clove situation for me?
Also, is it okay to substitute ground cardamom for the whole pods? I read something like 1 whole cardamom = 1/6 tsp. ground, but would that end up ruining the flavor?
I'm really looking forward to making this and I don't want to screw it up! Thank you in advance for your assistance!!!