Ever since I was a little girl, my absolute favorite part of a turkey dinner has always been the cranberry sauce. I can remember that luscious cranberry goo that came out of the can, with the lines from the can molded into the jellied goodness.
As I matured, I eventually made a stab at making homemade cranberry sauce. I found a recipe in Consumer Reports, which was pretty simple. I just combined cranberries with water and sugar, cooked them down, and then strained the berries to get the gel.
Eventually, I stopped straining the mixture and found that I actually preferred the texture in the sauce made from whole berries. I have made this cranberry sauce for the last 15 years.
This year, I found a new recipe to experiment with and, as it turns out, I like it even better than my tried and true.
Cranberry Sauce
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, I was able to squeeze this much out of one large navel orange
1/4 cup 100% cranberry juice, not cocktail
1 cup honey, I like to use raw, unfiltered
1 pound fresh cranberries, about 4 cups
I washed the cranberries, getting rid of any soft or wrinkled ones.
Next, I combined the orange juice, cranberry juice, and honey in a saucepan over medium-high heat. I brought the mixture to a boil, then reduced the heat to medium-low and simmered it for about five minutes. I added the cranberries to the liquid and cooked it for 15 minutes, until the cranberries burst and the mixture thickened, stirring it occasionally. (Do not cook the sauce for more than 15 minutes or the pectin will start to break down and the sauce will not set properly.) I removed the sauce from the heat and let it cool five minutes.
The recipe calls for the sauce to go into a three-cup mold. I do not have one of those, so I used a cute cranberry-colored bowl instead. I put the cranberries in the refrigerator overnight (you don’t have to leave them overnight as long as you chill them for at least six hours).
If you use a mold, you can turn the sauce out and slice it to serve. I simply scoop the sauce out of the serving bowl with a spoon.
The sauce is bright, with a tart, sweet flavor. It is the perfect foil for the richness of a turkey dinner.
This is Alton Brown’s recipe found on FoodNetwork.com.
This looks so good!