Get Sauced for Turkey Day

It's Thanksgiving!  That means cooking!  And that means more blog entries!  Yay!!!

Also, I hadn't thought about blogging my dishes for Thanksgiving until a coworker mentioned it today, so lucky for all you out there reading this that he reminded me.  So thanks SZ!

So let's talk Cranberry sauce.  What's a sauce?  According to various sources around the internet, and my dictionary, sauce is defined as a thick liquid served with food.  When someone says sauce, what comes to your mind?  Mine, tomato sauce.  Oh how I love tomato sauce.  I never, ever get it, because my children have decided it's the food of the devil (not really) and won't eat it, ever.  My oldest gags and pretends she's dying even if I ask her to take the tiniest taste, and this includes pizza.

But, back to cranberries.  I couldn't find why it's called Cranberry sauce (in the short span of me writing this) as most cranberry "sauce" recipes are actually a jam, or jelly, or relish.  If I had to categorize today's recipe, I would say mine is a Cranberry Jam just based off it's consistency and ingredients, and the definition in the link I provided.

I never use to like homemade cranberry sauce.  Growing up, our Thanksgiving dinners had both the cranberry jelly out of a can, and my mom would make her own.  No one ever touched her homemade sauce except her.  It had bits and pieces in it, and no one wants to chew their cranberry sauce.  Back then, as a child, it's a texture thing.  So I don't get offended when my kids won't eat the homemade cranberry sauce on our table tomorrow.  We serve them side by side.  At our family Thanksgiving dinners you will find our perfectly popped out, unblemished jelly form from the can, right next to my homemade cranberry jam.  And for the record, my mom's recipe, straight from Joy of Cooking.  My kitchen Bible.  I can't stress enough if you do not have this book, you must buy it. And the older the version, the better.  Here's some history, and here's why the version is important.  I have the 7th edition and love it.  Would really like to get my hands on the 6th.

Ah yes, but cranberries is what we're talking today.  Now, most cranberry sauces are of the same base recipe.  Cranberries, sugar and water.  And when you search on the internet you get a couple variations and additions.  Most people add oranges and orange juice, a few add cinnamon sticks.  Last year, on a whim, I added an extra flavor, that I personally feel, made this cranberry sauce just POP.  I improved on it again this year, adding yet another layer of awesome.   So now, when you place a spoon of this cranberry sauce in your mouth, you get that initial zing of cranberry, and underlying tones of orange, cloves and almonds.  That's right, you read that correctly... cloves and almond.  You ready?  Let's play.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag cranberries
• 1 navel orange
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed juice from an orange
• 2 teaspoons orange zest

 Prep Time:

Clean and sort the berries!

Remove any berries that are squished or turning into shrivels

Remove stems, search carefully, I have missed a few in the past

Get Sauced:
 

^^^My Young K2 sous chef!

Zest the Orange for 2 teaspoons
Juice the orange for 1/2 cup, strain pulp/seeds
Add to 6qt sauce pan

Add 1.5 cups sugar
Add 1/4 cup honey
Add 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Add 1/4 teaspoon almost extract

Add the berries, stir well
Put on Med-High heat and bring to boil

Gellin' Time:
As the sauce boils, the berries will start to pop.  This is fun to do with kids, because they can hear and see the berries pop open.  The sauce goes from a light orange, to pink, to red, to maroon.  The science behind how cranberries have a natural pectin is explained real well in this recipe by Scientific American

Below are the three stages I have found when making cranberry sauce.

1. Once the cranberries start to really pop open the sauce is a deep purple you have more of a "mash."  And that's pretty much what I start doing with it.. I mash the cranberries into the side of the pan.  Crush them up using your spoon. 
2. Then, the sauce will really start to thicken.  And as you're stirring, it won't just slide off the spoon or down the side of the pot.  You'll start to see it leave a trail behind.
3. Then it will start to really clump and become heavy.  It's at this point it's ready.
4. Turn off the heat and move to another area to sit and cool.  And as it cools, you'll start to really begin to gel.

 And when this sauce is complete, you'll have a beautiful deep maroon sauce.  I like to this sauce the day before you want to serve it.  Gives it a real good chance to congeal and bring the flavors together.