Thanksgiving: Boozy Cranberry Sauce Recipe

[ecowper]

I’ve taken Ina Garten’s "Make Ahead Cranberry Sauce Recipe" and amped it up … it’s rich and boozy now and much thicker. It won’t create a puddle on the plate like hers did and it will be awesome on a turkey sammich. I’ve been working on this for several years now and I think what I have is pretty darn good.

This definitely ain’t Grandma’s canned cranberry sauce from Ocean Spray. It’s still tart, with an undercurrent of sweet, some lumps and bumps left. It’s not something to be done in 30 minutes while trying to wrangle a turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and all that other stuff you cook the day of the big holiday.

So, cook this on monday or Tuesday. Keep it in the fridge, chilled, until Thursday. Pull it out, put it on the table as an afterthought. Your guests are gonna love it.

Ingredients

• 16 oz cranberries - fresh is best, but frozen works in a pinch
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, chopped
• 1 orange, zest and juice
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 1 1/2 cups white table sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup chambord (if you don’t have it, don’t worry, just increase the cognac)
• 1/4 cup cognac
• 1-2 pinches salt

Method

• Put cranberries, water, liquor, orange and lemon zest and juice, sugar in a medium sauce pan.
• Bring to low boil over medium heat
• Maintain the boil at the bare edge of boiling, right between simmer and boil
• When 80% of the cranberries have split, stir and lightly mash with a potato masher
• Add the apple
• Reduce heat and maintain a simmer
• Stir occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom of the sauce pan
• Stay at a low simmer for about 60 minutes
• You want the alcohol to cook off, leaving the richness of cognac
• You want the cranberry sauce to thicken until it is barely running off a spoon
• Turn off the heat, let the sauce stand and cool
• When the sauce is cool enough to put a finger on it, check thickness
• It should form drops but not run
• Put in a bowl, refrigerate, keep until T-Day!

[Jim White]

That sounds great. My wife's family does a boozy version that is much simpler. Just cranberries, sugar and brandy. We keep that available year round.

[ecowper]

Honestly, I think the cognac is the key … the other stuff is just nice to have