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Cranberry Sauce – Three Ways!

I love the holidays, but my biggest pet peeve is how our culture seems to slide from Halloween right into Christmas (and sometimes at the same time!).  The month of November no longer serves as a time of reflection and thanksgiving.  Well, not for this old lady!  And for that reason you will not see anything Christmas until AFTER the Thanksgiving holiday.  What you will see are some stories about our traditions and some recipes that my family has enjoyed.

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You’ll also see I get, “not so lazy” around this time.  Sharing food is sharing love.  That doesn’t mean to over eat, but to savor each bite and be thankful for the food on the table and the family around it.

And wouldn’t it be great if you shared some stories of your own in the comments?  Feel free to link your Thanksgiving blog posts there too.

To start the month off, it’s Cranberry Sauce!

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My brother and I love to play with plain ol’ cranberries and create beautiful and interesting flavor combinations to share the plate with our turkey.  Here are three of mine…

Tangerine and Ginger Cranberry Sauce

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What you need:

How to Do it:

Put all the ingredients except for one teaspoon of the ginger in a medium saucepan on high heat. 20151101_141721_resized [4]

Bring to a rolling boil, then,

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reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.

20151101_142422_resized [6]Continue cooking until the mixture begins to thicken. You’ll start to hear a pop as the cranberries split their skins.  Add the remaining ginger and simmer, stirring, for another five minutes.

Remove from heat and cool.  Garnish with strips of tangerine peel.

 

Makes about 1 ½ cups of cranberry sauce

© Copyright 2015 The Lazy Gastronome

 

Port Wine and Raspberry Cranberry Sauce

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What you need:

How to Do it:

Put all the ingredients except for ¼ cup of the port in a medium saucepan on high heat.  Bring to a rolling boil, then, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.

Continue cooking until the mixture begins to thicken.  Add the remaining port and simmer, stirring, for another five minutes.

Remove from heat and cool.  Garnish with raspberries.

Makes about 1 ½ cups of cranberry sauce

© Copyright 2015 The Lazy Gastronome

 

Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

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What you need:

How to Do it:

First you need to remove the arils (also known as the seeds) from the pomegranate.  The easiest way is to cut the ends off.

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When then ends are cut, you can see the veins that create the pockets that the seeds are in.  Run a knife down the sides of the fruit where you see the veins.

Pull the fruit apart using a plate to make sure you catch all the juices.

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Hold each section over a bowl and gently remove the seeds.  You can use the prepackaged arils as well, but you will need more to get the same amount of juice.

Put the arils in a saucepan with ½ cup of water.  Bring to a boil and then simmer gently for about 5 – 10 minutes

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Put all the ingredients except for one teaspoon of the ginger in a medium saucepan on high heat.  Bring to a rolling boil, then, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.  Using the back of a big spoon, smash the seeds to release as much juice as possible.  Keep smashing until they begin to lose color.

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Remove the pan from the heat and cool slightly.  Remove the seeds into a strainer and push the juice through.  I use my hand, but you can use the spoon.  You should end up with about ¼ cup of juice.  Discard the seeds. You can use pre-made juice, but I don’t think it comes out as good out as good.

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Place all the ingredients into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  If you are using premade pomegranate juice, reduce the sugar to ¾ cup.  Once it has boiled, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.

Continue cooking until the mixture begins to thicken.

Remove from heat and cool.  Garnish with pomegranate arils.

Makes about 1 ½ cups of cranberry sauce

 

© Copyright 2015 The Lazy Gastronome