So, my mother-in-law has asked me to bring cranberry sauce to Thanksgiving dinner this year. My non-jellied, non-jarred cranberry relish has been a hit in the past.
But, I’m thinking of spicing it up a little.
Cranberry sauce–the real stuff–is ridiculously easy. To the point where I have no idea why anyone would eat the stuff with aluminum-can indentations in it.
Get thee a bag of fresh (NOT FROZEN!) cranberries. Maybe two. Add sugar to your taste. 1/2 cup or so for tart, 3/4 cup if you like it sweeter. Boil 15-20 minutes. The cranberries will do this really cool popping thing. Let that happen. Stir occasionally to avoid sticking and burning.
Chill that sucker. Boom. Done. Almost as easy as opening a can and way tastier.
This year, though I want to add some new ingredients. Nothing shocking. A little pomegranate juice, some orange zest and ground ginger.
Here’s where I get a little crazy. What would you think if I took this concoction, put it on a slice of angel food cake and served it as dessert with a drizzle of The Pioneer Woman’s Hard Sauce (also known in Britain as brandy butter)?
Am I crazy? Or does this sound divine? I think it does but really, I have no idea. I’ve never eaten cranberry sauce as a dessert. I’ve never had hard sauce.
I’ll let you know if I’m laughed right out of Thanksgiving dinner. But really, I doubt that’ll happen. I think it’s more likely that I’ll be kicked out after the hard sauce is gone. 
So, what are you cooking this week?
Happy Thanksgiving, nibblers!
Am I crazy? Or does this sound divine?
Both!
No, I really do think that combination sounds yummy- kind of a grown-up, autumn-y take on the strawberry shortcake! DO IT!
how much water do you boil your cranberries in? I tried to make a ‘cranberry-chile dipping sauce’ of which the recipe sounded pretty similar to straight up cranberry sauce as you describe here… and I think mine ended up too watery. but maybe it was suppose to be.
I know we talked about this last night but in case anyone else is wondering, I substituted 1 cup of pomegranate juice for water. You can also use orange juice. But you really don’t need more than a cup to get those cranberries reduced to deliciousness!