2 posts tagged “cranberry sauce”

What is your favorite dish on the Thanksgiving table?
Submitted by Kadeeae.  

well clearly my mom's or my cranberry sauce.  followed closely by cornbread stuffing.

cranberry sauce is easy
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 apple, red delicious
1 bag cranberries

rinse cranberries and put aside.
cut apple into cubes about cranberry size and add to water and sugar.
bring water, sugar and apple to a boil
reduce heat and add in cranberries
bring back to a simmer/light boil for 10 minutes, or until all berries are popped.
the mixture will foam after most of the berries have popped.
stop here for whole berry sauce,
set up a metal mesh strainer on top of a tall bowl.  i find i do not want the bottom of the strainer lower than halfway down the bowl.  then use a metal spoon to push berry mixture through the mesh.
use skins in other recipes, or add back into the sauce for some texture.

i use my biggest non-stock pot.  a stock pot is going to be too tall for stirring and then later for the straining process.

cornbread stuffing

Cornbread casserole -

1 stick of melted butter

2 eggs

1 can (15-20 oz.) whole kennel corn - drained

1 can ( 15- 20 oz. ) cream corn

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

8 oz. sour cream

----------------------------

mix all ingredients in a small casserole dish

bake 1 hour

for double recipe use 13" x 9" dish

i made cranberry sauce.  it is super easy.  1 cup of water 1 cup of sugar per bag of berries.  i also like to add 1 apple, red delicious is best, but this year i used fuji.  boil water and sugar and apples.  the apples need a little more time to soften than the berries.  i cut the apples up pretty small, about cranberry sized, you will see why later.  when the water boils, add in berries and reduce heat.  it doesn't take much to keep it boiling, and if you boil too hot, you will have burned cranberry stove to clean up because of boil over.  once it's boiling again, light boil/simmer for 10 minutes or until all of the berries pop.  it's almost like popcorn, but not as dynamic.  be careful though, the first few will be violent and cause a tiny bit of splatter.  once more berries pop, the pectin in the fruit gels up a bit and there is less splatter.
remove from heat.  at this point you have whole berry cranapple sauce.  i go a step further and take a wire mesh strainer hooked over my bowl and scoop a ladle full of sauce at a time, then i use a metal spoon to smush the berries through the strainer.  this yields a nice applesauce consistency cranberry sauce.  keep in mind, while this is still hot, it looks very soupy, it will thicken once cooled.  i ended up adding back in the skins from the berries because i like the texture, my mom just uses the strained sauce.  i also leave about a ladle full of unstrained berries to add in for texture as well. 

now i am munching on some plain cheerios with some of the skins of the cranberry from the straining.  i find the skins are just as yummy as the sauce and there is always some sauce you just can't get through the strainer.  my mom thinks the skins are bitter, that's why she doesn't add them back in.

i tried to take pictures, but they came out crap because jon's camera hates me.

for those who like concise recipes :
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 apple, red delicious
1 bag cranberries

rinse cranberries and put aside.
cut apple into cubes about cranberry size and add to water and sugar.
bring water, sugar and apple to a boil
reduce heat and add in cranberries
bring back to a simmer/light boil for 10 minutes, or until all berries are popped.
the mixture will foam after most of the berries have popped.
stop here for whole berry sauce,
set up a metal mesh strainer on top of a tall bowl.  i find i do not want the bottom of the strainer lower than halfway down the bowl.  then use a metal spoon to push berry mixture through the mesh.
use skins in other recipes, or add back into the sauce for some texture.

i use my biggest non-stock pot.  a stock pot is going to be too tall for stirring and then later for the straining process.