That little platter of jellied cranberry sauce jiggling on the table, unmolded whole so it shows off the attractive shape of the can, has a certain kitschy appeal, but it’s not too difficult to make a good cranberry sauce by yourself.
I like cooking this Thanksgiving staple with dried rather than fresh cranberries. Dried cranberries have a flavor that’s more concentrated and mellower at the same time. Like passion fruit, cranberries can have a terrifying acidity, which is often tamed by adding a stupendous amount of sugar. My recipe uses a touch of sugar, and a little heat from fresh ginger and cayenne pepper. To give this condiment a nice complexity, I add tartness from four sources — the cranberries themselves, vinegar, orange juice and, at the very end, a squeeze of fresh lemon. This cranberry chutney of course goes ideally with turkey, but is also well suited to game or pork. J.B.
Cranberry Chutney
Recipe by John Broening. Makes about 3 cups.
Ingredients
3 cups dried cranberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Directions
In a small nonreactive pot, combine all ingredients except lemon juice. Cover, and cook over gentle heat for 25-30 minutes. Transfer mixture to Cuisinart and pulse. Transfer to stainless steel bowl, add lemon juice, cover and chill until ready to use.
