Black Mission figs and fragrant rosemary are what make this cranberry sauce recipe such a smash hit
Photo: Chronica Domus
I've never quite understood the need to serve cranberry sauce with turkey. However, food traditions are hard to break, especially when one is trying one's best as a hostess to adhere to long-established Thanksgiving fare which is, after all, part and parcel of the holiday.
In England, turkey is the traditional meat of choice for the majority of households on Christmas day (goose a close second). I only ever recall the presence of cranberry sauce at table in the years we were to spend Christmas day at my uncle and aunt's house. My aunt was an excellent cook, a real powerhouse that would whip up a storm for a crowd with little fuss and with all the execution of a military exercise. She made everything from scratch except, that is, the cranberry sauce. The solid red unidentifiable canned mass that was presented on a plate was so dense it could actually be sliced. Aside from the color, I don't think anyone would actually be able to guess there were real cranberries in that "sauce" (isn't sauce supposed to be somewhat runny by nature?). No wonder the stuff never made an appearance at my own parents' table. The last time I celebrated Christmas at the home of my uncle and aunt, I noticed an upgrade had come about. The cranberry sauce came out of a jar, which to my eye looked infinitely more appealing than its canned cousin. Yet, I was unable to bring myself to sample it.
It was not until I started cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my own family and friends here in America that I realized cranberry sauce is considered a staple, and fully expected to make an appearance on the big day as much as pumpkin pie. What was a girl to do? Would I crumble and bring myself to purchase a can of the gelatinous goop passed off as cranberry sauce?
Mulling things over for all but a few seconds, I decided the answer was a resounding no. Absolutely not! I was happy to give the can the cold shoulder at my table, thank you very much! You see, it was through the thoughtful act of a friend that passed along her old copies of Bon Appétit magazine that I long ago unearthed the best recipe (possibly) in the world for home cooked cranberry sauce.
I was chuffed to bits to discover that the sauce was really rather simple to make, requiring little output for the result, and it could be made up to a week in advance when one's kitchen is still relatively quiet as compared to the frenzy of activity leading up to Thanksgiving. Today, the recipe is published electronically, here, if you too wish to give the can the boot and make your sauce from scratch.
The ingredients simmering away prior to the cranberries being added
(warning: your kitchen is about to be enveloped in a heavenly aroma!)
(warning: your kitchen is about to be enveloped in a heavenly aroma!)
Photo: Chronica Domus
The addition of figs, fresh rosemary, and an unexpected dash of black pepper are what make this version of cranberry sauce so memorable. You might very well think the combination is an odd one, but together with the ruby port wine (I've used both ruby and reserve port depending on what I had on hand), and an aged viscous balsamic vinegar, you are assured of a winner.
Fresh cranberries popping in the sauce pan
Photo: Chronica Domus
The cranberries are cooked a few minutes longer than the recipe suggests which insures that all the berries have broken down
Photo: Chronica Domus
The finished cranberry sauce glistens in its Anglo-Irish cut glass bowl
Photo: Chronica domus
Although those of your fortunate guests who expect cranberry sauce to be served alongside their turkey and trimmings will rave about its flavor, it is by no means my favorite use of the sauce. No, for that I turn to dessert.
An early-nineteenth century syllabub glass holds the icy fruity treat
Photo: Chronica Domus
You see, a smattering of this delightfully fruity stuff, warmed in a pan just before serving, makes an incredible topping for a dollop or two of vanilla ice cream. The tart fruity sauce really pairs well with the creaminess of the ice cream, and is a big winner each time I serve it for dessert around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Besides, it is a most delicious solution of what to do with the inevitable leftover sauce (the recipe yields just over three cups).
Please do venture forth into your kitchen over the next week and make a batch of this memorable version of cranberry sauce. I'm certain your guests will thank you for it.
Does cranberry sauce make an appearance at your Thanksgiving table and if so, is it homemade or canned?
CD,
ReplyDeleteI love cranberries. I usually make Ina Garten's recipe which has some orange flavor to it. This one sounds not only tasty but with complex flavors that could be fun. Thanks for this...oh, and yes, my family growing up loved the canned stuff. Ugh.
Karen
Hello Karen,
DeleteYes, that canned stuff was also a favorite of my dearly departed mother-in-law. Combined with memories of her Thanksgiving celebrations in the early days of my arrival in America, and those of my aunt and uncle's Christmas feast, can you really blame me for not having discovered the joys of cranberries for so very long?
I do hope you are inspired to try this recipe, for as you say, there is a certain complexity and depth that is unmatched in any other cranberry sauce I've tried. Orange and cranberries though... oh yes, another winning combination.
Every year I make a cranberry relish with fresh cranberries, oranges with pecan pieces, sugar and a shake of cinnamon. Chopped in a food processor, it can be left in the fridge for days. This year I am making a dish like you, cooked but will use dried apricots. Never though of a port. I love that cut glass Irish dish. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHello donna baker, and welcome!
DeleteYour cranberry relish sounds quite delicious, and with no cooking involved, is a sure winner!
The port in the recipe I write about in this post is the icing on the cake. I do hope you try it for yourself (perhaps next year?).
OH, Yes. And your Aunt opened both ends of the can and pushed it out like a Push-Up Sherbet, didn't she? That's the only way I can imagine she sliced it, for I still have several "Cranberry" dishes---all pretty clear glass rectangles, which have held a lifetime of good old Ocean Spray (jellied, only---both our families swore by the solid cylinder, plunked right out onto a dish and sliced either in the kitchen or at table). I've put the Tomato Slice on the table for more years than I can count, for serving the slices, and guests would marvel that we had such a specialty item in the box.
ReplyDeleteBut now, the familiar blue and white cans have only one can-openerable end, forfeiting the proper leverage to push out the maroon marvel.
And for quite a few years now, I've made a separate compote of homemade cranberries, juice and zest of an orange, sugar or maple syrup, with perhaps a minced apple into the mix---even a can of crushed pineapple (if the occasion brings out the Limoge and the faintsy stuff), all bubbled just until the berries pop.
But we still have a pretty little dish of the old guard, spooned from that new-fangled can with plenty of the can-pleats intact to show its personality properly. Chris prefers the solid, I the fresh, and everybody else has a dab of which or both. Whatever's left over gets stirred with a bit of mayo for memorable turkey sandwiches. It's just our way.
A very happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
r
Hello racheld,
DeleteI'd forgotten all about those little "can pleats", thank you. My American mother-in-law used to love the stuff and I remember her making the most unusual dessert from canned cranberries, evaporated milk, walnuts, and saltine crackers. As odd as that sounds, I can tell you it was delish. I'll have to dig up the recipe and make it for my daughter so she can sample her dearly departed grandmother's Thanksgiving dessert specialty.
A happy Thanksgiving to you too!
I don't eat turkey at Thanksgiving, or indeed at Christmas, (unless I accept an invitation to either). But if I were to do so, your recipe sounds like just the ticket. Actually anything with figs added to it makes for a heavenly treat. We're currently consuming a jar of fig and almond jam on the rare occasions I eat toast for breakfast. Somewhat unrelated, I have now added pomeganate arils to our daily juice, or I add them to chilled brown rice salad, (with figs and sultanas). I'm following a slightly different dietary root, as you can see. I liked the look of your pumpkin pie, (which I don't think I've ever eaten), but we had pumpkin in another chilled brown rice recipe, and I also like it baked and seasoned with salt and pepper, with butter.
ReplyDeleteThat is the way I also like squash and pumpkin--just baked and seasoned, without any sugar or syrup. If the squash is good, I can even forgo the butter, salt and pepper. --Jim
DeleteHello columnist,
DeleteYour fig and almond jam sounds heavenly and I'm sure if you were to sample my cranberry sauce you'd enjoy slathering some of that on your toast too (my daughter asked for some just this morning for her breakfast). I'm afraid you have much more patience than I at breakfast if you are eating pomegranate arils. I love them but they are rather a pain to extract.
With regards to pumpkin and squash, I too enjoy it roasted with other root vegetables.
Dear Jim,
DeleteI agree, baked (or rather roasted) squash, such as butternut squash, and pumpkin taste terrific - forget the addition of a sweetener!
Hello CD, I think that jellied canned cranberry has to be considered as a different product. When I was small, we always had both, but this shifted long ago to only the freshly-cooked product. For some, jellied cranberry is probably a nostalgic relic of the days when fresh cranberries were not easily available.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, I am for the simpler the better, but your version seems quite festive and special, and looks beautiful, both while cooking and in the glass bowl. Those ingredients must make it very rich. Is that serving spoon a sheaf-of-wheat pattern which would be perfect for Thanksgiving, or a shell or some other design?
Happy Thanksgiving; I'm sure that yours will embody your usual level of welcome, flair and elegance.
--Jim
Hello Jim,
DeleteI'll take your advice and think of canned cranberry as an entirely different product for it truly is worlds away from the homemade version.
Ah, yes, I would dearly love a serving spoon with a wheat sheaf motif upon the handle. Alas, my spoon is decorated with a shell I'm afraid.
A very happy Thanksgivng to you too, Jim!
Since "Ocean Spray" is the most common brand of cranberries, the shell motif still seems appropriate. --Jim
DeleteHah! You do have a point there Jim.
DeleteI prefer a raw cranberry "relish" to a sauce--but, yes, absolutely! I agree wholeheartedly about ice cream. I love to make vanilla ice cream swirled with cranberry relish the day after Thanksgiving. Your crystal bowl is so pretty!
ReplyDeleteHello Stephen Andrew, and welcome!
DeleteYou have my interest piqued with talk of a raw cranberry relish and I'll be happy to sample it since you are not the first of my commenters to make reference to it.
Glad to hear you too enjoy an ice cream and relish/sauce combination. It really is good!
I don't really do turkey except for at xmas and even then it's what my friend decides to do...So cranberry sauce doesn't have that emotive effect for me I am afraid. I have tried really "nice" ones but even then I always go for the gravy!!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, gravy please! I too only ate turkey on Christmas day and as I write in this post, cranberry sauce never made an appearance on my parents' table. That said, although I do make cranberry sauce for the benefit of my guests, I still prefer it over ice cream and over turkey.
DeleteYou had me at the first sentence (hated that gelatinous goop melting alongside the warm mashed potatoes, etc) and the notion of figs and fresh cranberries is an enticing one but I fear you lost me with the introduction of rosemary. Far too dominating a herb no matter what the circumstances. But as Elizabeth David says, we mustn't dismiss a recipe as freakish until we've tasted the results. (that said, she was no fan of rosemary, now that I think of it!)
ReplyDeleteThe combination of cranberries and orange zest is something I turned to a few years ago when faced with a crowd expecting some form of cranberry compote.
Quite nice, actually.
Ah, yes, as with garlic, rosemary can very well be overbearing but with this recipe, the rosemary is removed after a few minutes so there is only the slightest suspicion of the taste that remains.
DeleteIt appears from several of my commenters that orange and cranberry is indeed a winning combo so I shall do a little research and dig out a recipe so that I may try it for myself.
I have to admit the cranberry sauce always leaves me a little cold at Christmas dinner with the turkey… but your recipe does sound lovely. And the vanilla ice-cream addition is a fabulous way to eat the leftovers. I may well make an attempt (although I'm not sure cranberries are actually in season in December in Australia?!)
ReplyDeleteOurs always comes out of a jar too - terrible!
Hello Heidi,
DeleteI think you should do some digging about of a specialty food store (or good quality grocer) to seek out the fresh cranberries. I suspect as they are quite hard they'll travel well and keep fresh for the duration. do give my recipe a try. I know your kids will rave about it over ice cream. I never eat it with turkey though - gravy all the way!
Cranberry Relish, from Good Enough to Eat in New York:
ReplyDelete2 bags cranberries,
1 cup granulated sugar,
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar,
1/4 cup raspberry preserves,
2 oranges zest grated and cut in wedges
1/4 teaspoon cinammon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
this is our tradition, served room temperatue. The pectin in the preserves thickens it up. Your recipe sounds wonderful and we'll try it.
Hello Diogenes,
DeleteYour cranberry relish recipe sounds delish! One question, however, is it "raw" (i.e. everything goes into the blender), or is some cooking required?
Do please come back and let me know if you liked the recipe I write about in this posting.
Sorry, I left out the most important part....put everything in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and cook until cranberries are only slightly popped. Serve at room temperature.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to giving your recipe a try at Christmas. :-)
Oh, thank you for returning Diogenes, and filling in the missing piece to this culinary puzzle. I shall try your recipe next Thanksgiving. It sounds wonderful.
DeleteMine is even easier! One bag of cranberries, 1.5 navel oranges, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, dash salt. Put all in food processor, orange peel, albedo, and flesh included. Good to go! I'm posting my favorite cocktail recipe with it later!
ReplyDeleteadd a slug of Gran Marnier to it.
DeleteWell, that sounds like a fine idea to me Meg.
ReplyDeleteDear CD,
ReplyDeleteI grew up with canned cranberry sauce even though my mother was an excellent cook. When I took up the holiday hosting duties about 20 years ago, I experimented with cranberry recipes. I liked the Bon Appetit recipe you highlighted here the best and have made it for the past few years. It is great added to leftover turkey sandwiches or swirled into Greek yogurt. Plus, you can serve the extra Port with a nice Stilton with dessert.
BTW, your Anglo-Irish compote bowl is gorgeous. I wish you and yours a joyous Thanksgiving.
KL Gaylin
Hello KL Gaylin,
DeleteThe canned cranberry sauce sounds as though it was certainly a popular addition to the Thanksgiving table of many, and as Jim pointed out in his comment, a nostalgic one at that.
So glad you too have discovered the tasty port and fig version I write about. Thank you for sharing your excellent suggestion of pairing it with Greek yogurt, a capital idea! I cannot wait to try it for myself.
I thought the glass bowl really made the sauce shine so I'm happy you too enjoyed viewing it. I have a pair of them (lucky me!) and they come with lids too.
Wishing you too a very happy Thanksgiving
I literally glop it out of the can as it meets with tradition. Your photographs are always so beautiful. I don't even like cranberry sauce but I'm craving it now.
ReplyDeleteHello Jen Lawrence,
DeleteThank you for the word "glop", I love it! It is so descriptive in this instance. I promise the recipe I write about here will change your mind about cranberry sauce. It is scrumptious! So good as part of dessert too and as KL Gaylin suggested in her comment above (with Greek yogurt).
Glad you are enjoying the photographs. I aim to please.
I have never, ever felt the need to make my own cranberry sauce, always relying on canned. But, that has changed. This absolutely looks worth doing. Thanksgiving next year. Remind me if I seem to have forgotten;).
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, this cranberry sauce is absolutely worth the effort to make, and is really very simple to do so. Your family will thank you for it.
DeleteThank you for the recommendation. I made it for Thanksgiving and even my partner's parents LOVED It even though they hate cranberries. They kept saying 'this tastes nothing like Cranberry' but I think they're just used to the odd canned gel (which tastes nothing like cranberries). Couldn't have been easier too -I think it would make a great pie filling! Thanks again, it was a success.
ReplyDeleteHello AD,
DeleteI'm tickled pink (or cranberry red) that you gave this recipe a try and received the rave reviews it deserves. Well done, and yes, so easy to prepare. I'm pleased you came back to tell me about it, thank you.
A pie filing you say? Hmmm.... you've just given me an idea.
I hope you had a marvelous time with your partner's parents and enjoyed the day.