With the holidays right around the corner, I thought it might be a good idea to add one of the most iconic American side dishes: cranberry sauce. I'm sure we all know it from that OceanSpray container with more sugar than two bottles of coke, but I'm here to show you how great it can taste when you make it from scratch.
To add a little more zing to this incredibly sauce, I decided to make the orange variation, by just adding 1/2 cup of orange juice. This slightly takes away from the tartness of the cranberries and gives frozen cranberries a little more freshness.
Recipe:
1 bag fresh or frozen cranberries (12 oz)
1/2 cup orange juice (fresh or unpasteurized preferably, if using bottled, reduce this to 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick or 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
Zest of one orange (optional)
Start by bringing the orange juice and water to a boil over medium heat. Add in the sugar once boiling; this will create a concentrated simple syrup.
Add the cranberries and orange juice and boil for about 15 minutes. The cranberries should have bursted open and be expelling their juices.
Add in the spices and salt and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. If the cranberries have not broken down enough, you may have to mash them.
Once cooled, transfer a serving bowl and chill before serving. Surprisingly, this tastes great hot or cold.
Enjoy!