Classic Cranberry Sauce Food

CLASSIC CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, 2 cups water, the sugar and salt. Let the sauce boil until it thickens; the water will evaporate and the pectin in the cranberries will be activated as it cooks. Let it boil for at least 10 minutes, and up to 25 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Stir in juice or liqueur, if using, then cover sauce well and chill. Sauce can be made up to this point 1 week in advance and kept refrigerated. A few hours before serving, stir in the pecans, if using.

CLASSIC CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, orange zest and juice, cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries burst and mixture thickens slightly, 12 to 15 minutes. (Sauce will thicken more as it cools.) Remove from heat; let cool completely. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 week.

CLASSIC MOLDED CRANBERRY SAUCE -- WILLIAMS AND SONOMA

Steps:

• 1. Lightly coat the inside of a ceramic cranberry mold with nonstick cooking spray.
• 2. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, salt and the 2/3 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the cranberries have burst, about 15 minutes.
• 3 .Meanwhile, pour the 2 Tbs. water into a small bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let stand until the gelatin softens and swells, 5 to 10 minutes.
• 4. Spoon 1/2 cup of the juices from the cranberries into the gelatin and stir until the gelatin has dissolved. Pour the gelatin mixture into the cranberry mixture and stir to combine. Pour the cranberry mixture into the prepared mold and let cool to room temperature. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to overnight.
• 5. To unmold, dip the mold into a large bowl of warm water so the water reaches almost to the rim of the mold. Remove from the water and run a small paring knife or spatula around the inside of the mold to loosen it. Place a serving platter upside down on top of the mold, invert the platter and mold together and shake gently. Then lift off the mold. Serves 12 to 16.

CLASSIC CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine the cranberries, sugar, 1 1/2 cups water and the lemon and orange zest and juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer the cranberry sauce to a bowl and refrigerate until cold and thickened but still saucy, at least 4 hours and up to 1 week.

CLASSIC CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Put all but 1 cup cranberries in a saucepan. Remove wide strips of zest from 1 orange with a peeler; add to the saucepan with the juice of both oranges (about 1/2 cup). Add the sugar, coriander, a pinch of salt and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries burst and the sauce thickens, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Stir in the remaining 1 cup cranberries; cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool; remove the orange zest. Transfer to a serving dish and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

EASY CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium pan, heat water, sugar, orange juice and orange zest over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add cranberries, stir.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Cranberries will burst as they cook.
• After 15 minutes, remove from heat and let cool.

HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, bring the ginger ale and sugar to a boil until the sugar dissolves.
• Place the cranberries in the hot sugar syrup and bring to a healthy boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook the cranberries for about 15 minutes until they start to burst.
• Remove cranberry sauce from heat and allow too cool. The sauce will thicken as it cools. When cooled, place in a bowl and keep refrigerated.

HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Cranberry sauce is one of the first things you can cross off your Thanksgiving list. Make a batch before you even start defrosting the turkey.Homemade cranberry sauce keeps for about a week. Cover it well and store it in the fridge.Don't be tempted to freeze cranberry sauce; the structure will break down, and you could lose the gelling.A raw sauce has a shorter shelf life than a more stable cooked one. You can make it a day or two ahead. If you see liquid starting to pool, drain it off and give the sauce a good stir.
• Sweetened with sugar and seasoned with orange juice, this is the most traditional way to make cranberry sauce. It's also one of the best. Place one 12-ounce bag fresh or thawed frozen cranberries in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and pour over these 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup fresh orange juice. Stir to combine. Cook until sugar is entirely melted and cranberries begin to burst in the heat, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir again, add the zest of one orange, and cook for 2 or 3 minutes longer, turn off heat, cover pan, and allow to cool. Put cranberry mixture in a serving bowl, cover, and place in refrigerator until cold, at least 2 hours, or until you need it.• If you are using frozen cranberries, there is no need to defrost before cooking. • Pull the sauce off the stove once you hear or see the first few cranberries burst. You want some of them to burst but others to remain whole for the best texture. • The sauce can be made up to 1 week in advance; keep refrigerated, and do not add the nuts until Thanksgiving Day, a few hours before serving. • If your sauce doesn't set after you've chilled it, put it back on the stove and simmer it for another 5 minutes or so, then let it cool and chill. That should do the trick.
• A shimmering cranberry jelly need not come from a can. This homemade version is bracing, syrupy and pleasingly wobbly. A touch of Lillet makes it sophisticated as well.In a heavy saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups Lillet, 1/2 cup orange liqueur (like Grand Marnier), 2 cups sugar and, if you'd like, 2 tablespoons juniper berries for a dash of spice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add two 12-ounce bags of fresh or frozen cranberries (about 8 cups) to the pot and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until all the cranberries burst and are very soft, at least 10 minutes. Strain the sauce into a bowl through a sieve, pushing on the solids with a rubber spatula to extract all the liquid. Discard the solids. Stir the liquid and transfer to a pretty serving bowl or a mold. (A funnel or liquid measuring cup with a spout can be useful for transferring without splashing the sides.) Cover and refrigerate. It will firm up within a few hours, or can be made several days ahead. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. If you chilled the jelly in a mold, you'll need to turn it out. To do so, place the mold in a large bowl. Carefully pour hot water into the bowl so it comes up the sides of the mold, melting the jelly just enough to release it from the mold. After 3 minutes, try unmolding the jelly onto a serving dish. If it doesn't come out, return to the bowl and try again 2 minutes later. Repeat until the jelly is released. If necessary, return it to the refrigerator to firm up before serving.• Make it nonalcoholic, or play around with the flavor: Use 2 cups of orange juice, red wine, port or Madeira instead of the Lillet and the orange liqueur. • You can serve the jelly directly from a simple glass bowl, but the fun here is using different shaped molds. A small ornate Bundt pan is nice, and you can fill the center with sour cream or diced fresh pineapple. Pouring the jelly into clean empty cans is an amusing sleight of hand: "canned" cranberry sauce. Or pour the mixture into a plain metal bowl, then unmold it onto a fancy plate and surround it with a combination of dried cranberries and toasted pecan or walnut halves. • Make sure the water your use to unmold your jelly is quite hot, not just warm. The idea is to melt the outer jelly layer enough so that the whole mold can slip right out. • To avoid drips, after dipping the cranberry jelly mold into the hot water, dry the outside of the mold with a kitchen towel before turning it onto your plate.
• Raw cranberry sauce, or cranberry relish as it is also known, is snappier and fresher than the cooked kind. Even better, you can make it in under 10 minutes.This bright and bracing mixture doesn't really need a recipe - just a food processor. Put half of a navel orange (peel, pith and all), a cup of fresh cranberries, and half a cup of toasted walnuts or pecans (if you'd like), in the food processor and pulse together until everything is finely chopped. Add sugar by tablespoons until it tastes good. The white parts of the orange give the fresh sauce a pleasant bitterness that mellows over time. • If you don't have a food processor, you can make this with a meat or nut grinder. Or even a knife will work, though it will take you a while. Don't use a blender, which will reduce everything to juice.• Don't overprocess the mixture. Pulse it just until it comes together. The chunky texture is part of its charm.• Make this within 48 hours of serving. Unlike other cranberry sauces, it won't get better sitting for longer than that, and if you use nuts, they will lose their crunch. If the liquid starts to pool, drain it off and give the whole thing a stir.
• Classic cranberry sauce satisfies the traditionalists in your clan, but going rogue is easy if you've got the urge. Here are some ideas for jazzing up the flavor and texture.• Nuts add richness and crunch. Try pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts, pine nuts, pistachios or whatever your heart desires. Toast them first, then add them within a few hours of serving so they don't lose their snap in the fridge. • Chopped dried fruit adds sweetness and a pleasant chewiness to cranberry sauce. Stir them into your sauce after it has cooked but while it's still warm. • Dried cranberries, strawberries and cherries intensify the berry factor; you don't need to chop them. Dried apricots and pears add color and a honeylike flavor; slice into bite-sized pieces before stirring into the sauce. Candied ginger adds a gentle bite; chop it finely before using so it's well distributed into the sauce. • Figs and dates give cranberry sauce Mediterranean verve. Slice them before adding. You could also add a few drops of rose water or orange blossom water to the sauce as well. Cranberries are more sour than sweet, and you'll need some kind of sugar to balance out that acid. Changing up the sweetener is a way to tweak the flavor of your sauce. • White sugar, which most recipes use, leaves you with the cleanest and purest cranberry flavor. Brown sugar adds a caramel richness, though it muddies the vivid scarlet of what may be the only colorful thing on the table. • Liquid sweeteners, including honey, maple syrup and agave, can also be used, but you'll have to reduce the liquid in the recipe to make up for the addition. Or let the mixture simmer for an extra minute to cook off some of the moisture. Rule of thumb: when it looks like loose jam, pull it off the heat. It will thicken as it cools. • If you want something on the tart side, start out with less sugar than the recipes calls for, then add more to taste.Liqueurs, spirits, wine and fruit juices add depth to cranberry sauce, and can be used in place of some or all the water in any given recipe. If you're adding something sweet, you may want to reduce the added sugar in the recipe. Be aware that most but not all of the alcohol will cook off during the simmering. • Orange is a classic cranberry match in the form of orange juice or Grand Marnier. But other flavors work well, too. • Consider apple cider and applejack, brandy, Bourbon, Chambord, red or white wine, vermouth or a fortified wine such as port, Madeira or Lillet. Adding aromatics turns the usual jamlike cranberry sauce into more of a complex chutney. • Fresh chiles and fresh ginger bring sharpness and heat. Mince chiles and discard the seeds, or finely grate the ginger, then add to the pot along with the cranberries. • Sweet spices (cinnamon, clove, allspice) give a perfumed warmth. Stir in ground spices to taste at during the last minute or two of cooking. If you want to use whole spices, wrap them in cheese cloth so you'll be able to discard them easily later, and add them along with the cranberries to they have time to infuse. • Herbs like bay leaf and thyme can add a woodsy note. Wrap them in cheese cloth or tie them into a bundle with kitchen twine, and add them with the cranberries. Discard after cooking.• Freshly grated citrus zest lends brightness. Add them to taste after you've pulled the cranberry sauce off the heat.