10/31/07  Cranberry Sauce Two Ways


Both of these sauces can be made a week ahead because they keep well in the refrigerator.

The Cooked:

• 1 12-oz. bag fresh cranberries
• 1 navel orange
• 1 c sugar

2. Combine the cranberries, orange juice, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes, until some of the cranberries have popped by many remain whole.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the reserved orange zest. Cover and let the sauce cool to room temperature before refrigerating.

The Raw:

• 1 12-oz. bag fresh cranberries
• 1 navel orange
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1-2 peeled, cored pears, coarsely chopped (optional)
• 1 trimmed, seeded jalapeno pepper, coarsely chopped (optional)

2. Place the cranberries, orange pieces, sugar, and any optional ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse until coarsely ground, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Cover and refrigerate.

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Tips

* To chiffonade the basil, roll several leaves together as one would a cigar. Slice this cylinder into thin cross-sections about an eighth of an inch wide. The results strips are the chiffonade.

* I zest oranges with a Microplane grater, which zests and grates in one easy operation. If you use a traditional zester, which produces strips, chop the zest finely before adding it to the sauce.

* I make the cooked sauce sweeter than the raw sauce so that my guests have a choice, but you don’t have to. Adjust the sugar as you see fit, keeping in mind that you need some sugar to offset the tartness of the cranberries. As a general rule, half a cup of sugar produces a mildly sweet sauce, and a full cup yields a noticeably sweet sauce.

* Sugar isn’t the only way to sweeten cranberry sauce. Honey also works well, as does crystallized ginger. I don’t know that I would use either exclusively, but you might try replacing a quarter cup of sugar with one or the other.

If you have tried one of these recipes and have an improvement or tip or variation to suggest, please e-mail David at dinner@wamc.org. Also feel free to send along your own family cuisine recipes. You can even request dishes that you'd like David to present in the future.