Three Ingredients, Three Methods to Make Your Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce
It’s hard to imagine a Thanksgiving spread without that colorful dish of cranberry sauce brightening the table. Don’t simply settle for a jiggling can-shaped side. Make your own flavorful cranberry sauce with Three Simple Ingredients.
1. Cranberries: Use fresh or frozen cranberries. Thawing isn’t necessary. If using fresh berries, choose firm, plump, colorful berries. Cull any shriveled or bruised ones. (Fresh berries are available from September through December.)
2. Sweet: Cranberries alone are flavorful but tart. They need a bit of sweet to bring out their rich flavor. Use your favorite sweetener: sugar, honey, maple syrup or your choice of sugar substitute made for cooking.
3. Liquid: The basic liquid choice is water. Spice it up a bit using apple juice, orange juice or even red wine.
Three Methods
Method 1: Basic Sauce
* Place 12 ounces of cranberries in a medium saucepan.
* Add liquid to about 1/3 of the height of the cranberries.
* Add 3 tablespoons of sweetener to the pan.
* Simmer over low heat until cranberries ‘pop’ open and burst. This should take about 15 minutes.
*Remove from heat and taste. If not sweet enough, add more sweetener a tablespoon at a time until it’s just right for your taste.
Method 2: Jelled Sauce
* Place 12 ounces of cranberries in a medium saucepan.
* Add liquid to about 1/3 the height of the cranberries.
* Add 1 cup of sweetener to the pan.
* Add one medium crisp apple, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes.
* Simmer and stir over low heat about 15 minutes.
* Pour into small mold or pan lined with plastic wrap. Chill for 3 hours.
* Invert onto serving dish.
Method 3: Smooth Jelled Sauce
* Place 12 ounces of cranberries in a medium saucepan.
* Add liquid to about 1/3 of the height of the cranberries.
* Add 1 cup of sweetener to the pan.
* Add one medium crisp apple, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes.
* Simmer and stir over low heat about 15 minutes.
* Pour cooked cranberry mixture into blender. Pulse until broken down. Be careful to release heat pressure every few pulses by lifting lid.
* Using rubber spatula, push cranberry mix through strainer or sieve.
* Pour quickly into plastic-lined mold and chill for 3 hours.
* Invert onto serving dish.
Kitchen Tip: Cranberries are loaded with pectin, a natural ingredient that makes cooked fruit firm and set. To release the pectin when cooking berries for sauce, bring the berries to a boil, and cook them until their skins split and burst. Skim off any foam that accumulates on top of the fruit as it cooks, but it’s not necessary. Once the berries burst, let the mixture cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate until cool. The cranberry mixture will thicken as it cools.
Cranberry Facts:
* Cranberries were called ‘bounce berries’ by American colonists because they ‘bounced.’
*They got the name ‘cranberry’ from Dutch and German settlers who called them ‘crane berries’ because the plant blossoms looked like the head of a crane.
* Cranberries are very acidic and can react to aluminum cookware giving them a metallic taste.
* To eliminate foam and over boiling, add 1 teaspoon of butter to cranberries when cooking.
* Cooking cranberries beyond the time when they ‘pop’ makes them bitter.
* Favorite cranberry sauce add-on ingredients include: orange or lemon zest, cinnamon, anise, cloves or ginger.
Thanks to Run of the Mill Mary for help with Kitchen Tips.