Thanksgiving Prep: Another Cranberry Sauce

Thanksgiving this year is a little different. Due to time constraints, Nexx and I aren't headed up to Massachusetts, but instead will be home, just the two of us.

I made cranberry sauce today and doing some baking tomorrow. I'm going for lemon-ginger scones, I think, and possibly some rolls. I'm not completely sure about the rolls because we've got a very rich dressing coming and do we really need them?

I'll make up my mind tomorrow.

Today's was a smaller batch, unlike my previous recipes. Inconveniently, a large package of cranberries is 12 oz, and a small one is 7 oz, so the measurements are not quite exact. 7 oz is close enough to a third of 24 (two packages).

Ingredients

• 1 7 oz package of fresh cranberries
• 2/3 cup of sugar (I removed about 2 Tablespoons)
• 2 teaspoons orange zest (about one small orange)
• 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon bourbon (we got something called Rumble)
• 1 Tablespoon Gran Marnier
• juice of half the orange you zested

Preheat the oven to 350F. Rinse the cranberries in cold water and drain, but don't dry them. Pour them into a glass baking dish in one layer. Stir in sugar, zests and cinnamon until well blended--the cranberries will be coated with sugar, but you shouldn't see the spices. I use a rubber scraper for this. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and  bake for 55 minutes. After removing from the oven, stir in orange juice, bourbon, and Gran Marnier. Hide in fridge until Thanksgiving dinner.

When I talk about this recipe, I often get a surprised comment of, "You bake your cranberry sauce?" I don't think I'd have it any other way. Even with the foil, the tops of the cranberries are going to dry a touch, so you have a nice interplay of textures.

If all goes according to plan, there will be an entry about our main dish and other sides. 

Enjoy!

Happy Holidaze

Ah, the insanity that is November and December. The cooking frenzy in many a kitchen. I started on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving with a variation on last year's cranberry sauce recipe. I figured a day for the flavors to meld into a whole would be a good thing and as it turns out I was right. Our ingredients:

• 2 12-ounce packages whole cranberries
• 2 cups sugar
• 1.5 teaspoons orange zest
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 generous teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 6 Tablespoons Gran Mariner

Preheat the oven to 350F. Rinse the cranberries in cold water and drain. Put in a glass baking dish in one layer. Stir in sugar, zests and cinnamon until well blended--the cranberries will be coated with sugar, but you shouldn't see the spices. Cover and  bake for sixty minutes. After removing from the oven, stir in orange juice and Gran Mariner. Remove spoon from sweetie's hand so he doesn't eat it all. Let cool and store in the fridge in an airtight container.

My thirteen-year-old cousin was a little confused at the appearance. "How did you get the stuff in the can to look like that?" To her credit, she tried some and said she liked it. I can't say I'd have done the same at that age. 

Next week: Variations on an herbed quickbread!

Questions, comments? I'd love to hear from you!

In which Kate transforms a recipe without testing it first

The day after Thanksgiving, my friend Scott sent me a link to this recipe for a bourbon cranberry sauce. I read through the recipe, and thought I'd give it a try, but the more I read, the more I thought, "I can do a little better."  Their list of ingredients:

1 pound (about 4 cups) cranberries
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup bourbon

The amount of bourbon seemed about right, but a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon for a whole pound of cranberries? That didn't sound right to me. After some mental calculating, I came up with this:

My list of ingredients:
1 12 oz package of cranberries
1.25 cups sugar
generous half teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 Tablespoons bourbon

This is so easy to make, it's scary. If you're teaching a child to cook, this would be a great one.

Preheat the oven to 350F
Rinse the cranberries in cold water, put in a 9x9 baking dish
Stir in sugar and cinnamon until the berries are well coated
Cover the baking dish with foil, bake for approximately one hour
Stir in bourbon, let cool.  Serve warm or chilled (I like it warm)

While cranberries are still in the store, I'm considering trying a variation that uses Gran Mariner and lemon zest. Watch this space!

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Let's hear them!