Need a good recipe for cranberry sauce.

[kcass1954]

I decided to try making homemade cranberry sauce this year. I don't eat it, but everyone else in my family does. And I thought it might be a nice change to have something freshly made rather that that canned stuff that everyone eats but no one seems to love.

I've looked a recipes online, but since I don't eat cranberry sauce, I don't know what's good or not, or what to look for. The family seems to prefer more of a jellied sauce rather than one with whole berries in it. There are two vegetarians in the group, so I need to find a recipe that doesn't use gelatin.

(And yes, I've considered that maybe I don't like it because I've only ever had the stuff from the can.)

[Madam Mossfern]

1. Cranberries

have pectin in them, so the sauce thickens without any additives. The best recipe is on the bag of cranberries (if you buy Oceanspray). Just cranberries, a tiny bit of water and sugar. You can strain it while it's hot if you don't want pieces.

I guess you can go on line, but if your family doesn't like 'pieces' then the simple recipe is the best.

[boston bean]

2. I know this will be anathema to this group... sorry :(

But this is my recipe:



I don't like whole cranberries in my cranberry sauce.

[LaydeeBug]

5. This is the first year I am doing this...

Every year I make cranberry sauce. Every year, I have way too much left over and this is one of the areas where I am just not doing it this year.

Also, while I am making homemade pies, I am using store bought pie crusts.

sue me

[woodsprite]

3. We us a very basic recipe, but spice it up a bit.

Spiked, Spiced Cranberry Sauce

12 oz bag fresh cranberries
3/4 cup water or orange juice
1 cup white sugar
1/4 c. Southern Comfort
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (scant)
pinch of ground cloves

Put everything in a pan and cook on medium high until the liquid begins to reduce and the cranberries begin to pop. Turn down heat and cook until desired thickness. Sauce will thicken upon cooling. Can be served cold or hot.

If I make it to top chicken breasts (I don't reduce it as much, or add an extra 1/2 c. liquid), I'll add 1 chopped sauted onion before I put all the other ingredients in. That is really good over chicken breasts or ham slices as a baking sauce.

[Le Taz Hot]

7. Oh, see, now I'm likin' that whole

Southern Comfort thing. I may have to do this.

[struggle4progress]

4. Here's a bunch of recipes

http://www.recipelion.com/Thanksgiving-Recipes/17-Simply-Delicous-Cranberry-Sauce-Recipes#

If you really hate texture, you can strain the cooked stuff through a wire mesh. I myself won't do that, because I think the popped berries add some needed variety

I think citrus goes well in cranberry sauce. These look interesting:

http://www.recipelion.com/Thanksgiving-Recipes/Orange-Cranberry-Sauce
http://www.recipelion.com/Sauces/Orange-Cranberry-Sauce-with-Apples
http://www.recipelion.com/Sauces/Ginger-Citrus-Cranberry-Sauce

[SoapBox]

15. Drool!

I so want to try the recipe with the Cranberries, Orange, Pineapple and Apple.

...may have to go tonight and get the stuff!

[struggle4progress]

16. Yeah, that one looked pretty good to me

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. I made it fresh last year, and everyone liked it a little better than the canned stuff

but they still didn't eat very much. It's an accent flavor, not something I can eat a lot of anyway.

[Callalily]

8. This is what I'll be making - it's the BEST!

Spicy Cranberry Sauce

Makes about 3 cups

Note: If using frozen cranberries thaw them before cooking. For a spicier sauce, add some or all of the ribs and seeds from the jalapenos.

2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
2 jalapeño chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 shallot, minced
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup water
¼ cup cider vinegar
1 cup packed brown sugar
12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries (3 cups)

1. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat until just shimmering. Add pepper, jalapenos, shallot and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until pepper is softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Add water, vinegar, and sugar. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add 1 ½ cups cranberries and return to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries have almost completely broken down and mixture has thickened, about 15 minutes.

3. Add remaining 1 ½ cups cranberries and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to burst, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to serving bowl and cool at least 1 hour before serving. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

(photo from last year)

[HappyMe]

9. I use this recipe --

Cranberry Chutney

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 medium pear, peeled, chopped
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

What I do -
Dump all ingredients into a pan and cook until cranberries pop. Cook a little more. Set aside to cool & thicken.

Recipe says -
Dump everything into 1 1/2 quart microwave safe bowl. Cover bowl with microwave safe wax paper or plastic wrap. Cook on high 5 to 8 minutes, stir twice until cranberries pop. Set aside to thicken and cool.

I have added a little orange zest, left out allspice and added cinnamon.... however I felt like messing with the recipe. This doesn't make a lot, so increase according to your needs.
edit to add - You can probably puree this to make it smoother if you prefer.

[grasswire]

10. it's a bit harder to make a jellied sauce than a whole berry sauce

Incidentally, on the Food Network Thanksgiving show yesterday they had a fresh cran sauce that included grapefruit juice and segments. I thought that looked interesting.

[woodsprite]

11. I'll have to poke around their site. I love grapefruit! n/t

[grasswire]

13. I think they have a special page for the thanksgiving recipes

probably foodnetwork/thanksgiving.com

[gkhouston]

24. I made Alton Brown's cranberry dipping sauce for Thanksgiving. Good stuff. n/t

[mtnester]

17. Gotta watch grapefruit juice for a crowd though..lots of folks on statins (like Lipitor) can't have

grapefruit of any kind...including any juice. orange juice is a good sub if you are cooking for a mixed crowd

[woodsprite]

12. My MIL always does the uncooked cranberry-orange relish

I just can't get into it, but it really is easy.

1 bag of cranberries (about 4 cups)
2-3 oranges (cut in quarters. Don't peel them, just take the seeds out.)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 c. of sugar

Put the cranberries and oranges through a grinder. (MIL swears that a food processor doesn't give the same texture. She actually uses one of those steel hand-crank meat grinders to grind it all up.) Stir in the sugar and pop in the fridge overnight.

I'm sure that down in FL where my in-laws live now, they'll be having this. I don't know how many of the grandkids actually liked it, so I'm not expecting this version to show up at my BILs house this Thursday.

[Retrograde]

25. The only way to make it better is to add a jalapeno or serano or three (n/t)

[SoapBox]

14. All the recipes sound DEEEE-licious!

I love Cranberry sauce...canned (jelly or whole berry), cooked from scratch or uncooked relish.

Loves it all! In our house it's a fight for it as well as the stuffing/dressing (there is NEVER enough of that!)

Thanks for all the loverly ideas folks.

[HeiressofBickworth]

18. I don't eat the stuff either, but

I have made it for family Thanksgiving dinners. I use the basic recipe on the bag -- cranberries, a bit of water and sugar. To add a little something extra to it, I've grated orange peel in it. Everyone liked it.

[KC]

19. I have always

hated cranberry sauce until I made this simple recipe. It is sooo good
Now it does call for a can of whole berry cranberry sauce and I've never tried the plain but it might work?
anyway
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 small can of mandarin oranges (drained and cut up with scissors)
1 small can of crushed pineapple (drained )

Put cranberry sauce in a bowl and kinda chop it up and combine with mandarin oranges and pineapple in a bowl (day before if possible )
It is also good IF you have any left over on biscuits bagels or in plain yogurt.. It is that good! lol

[LeftofObama]

20. Actually, that sounds pretty good.

Maybe I'll make that and see what happens. If the rest of the family doesn't like it, I can just open a can of plain ole cranberry sauce and plop it down in front of them.

[KC]

21. I think

you'll like it and it is so simple !

[BuddhaGirl]

22. I have made this cranberry sauce for years and it's my absolute favorite :-)

Of course I always nip at the port while making it!

2 cups canberries ( About 8 ounces)
3/4 cup Tawny Port
1/2 cup (or more) sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons orange juice
3/4 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground ginger
3/4 cup Golden rasins
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Combine berries and port in heavy saucepamm over meduim heat. Cook until berries burst stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup sugar and salt stire 1 minute. combine orange juice, corn starch,dry mustard, lemon juice ans spices in small bowl. wisk to combine. Stir into beery mixture. Add rasins orange peel, lemon peel. simmer until thickened stiring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Season with more sugar if desired.

[kcass1954]

23. Thanks for all your help. I ended up using woodsprite's recipe.

How can you go wrong with Southern Comfort? I took an informal family survey, and everyone seems to prefer jellied sauce, so I ran this through my food mill. It set up pretty well. I even had some with my turkey. It was much better than the canned stuff.

[Glassunion]

26. I'm sorry I did not see this sooner...

I usually do the following.

I buy 1 jar (organic) for every three people I'm serving of real cranberry sauce. I then doctor it up by doing the following. This recipie is for one jar, just double up if you need to make more.

In a small sauce pan over low heat add 1/2 a tablespoon of butter and the cranberry sauce. Wait for it to reduce into a liquid but not sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Juice of one lime and zest from half of the lime (about a teaspoon).
Add about about 3 tablespoons (more if you'd like) of Grand Marnier and allow it to cook for about 3 or 4 minutes.
Add All Spice to taste.