"CranberrySauce" news and stories

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

Next Food Network Star winner Melissa d'Arabian wants to save you money for Thanksgiving -- $20 for gobble grub!

We know you've been procrastinating -- rustle up a Thanksgiving menu on the fly and with facility.

Do you believe in utilizing bird innards?

What's a better complement to turkey: cranberry sauce or gravy?

Skip the fowl, make penne with mushrooms.

Kim Kardashian makes Carl's Jr. sexy.

Diddy offers party-hosting tips, because, you know, you'll definitely want to throw a post-turkey-day shindig.

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

Food Network releases its 2010 schedule, which includes pathetic chefs and more screwball Brian Boitano.

Move over, Two Buck Chuck; 7-Eleven is bringing the wine game.

Momofuku's David Chang chats about TV, culinary trends and how In-N-Out Burger is better than Taylor's Automatic Refresher in San Francisco.

Is the freneticism of Thanksgiving a good thing, or does it make you run for the hills -- you decide?

When devising your Thanksgiving menu, don't leave sides out in the cold -- invite Caramelized Onion Cranberry Sauce to the table.

Put your stomach where your mouth is -- grub on bugs!

And for dessert, try The World's Best Apple Pie.

When it comes to cranberry sauce, I've always been partial to the canned stuff. I like the shape that the can makes, and I like the simplicity of it - just crank it open and give it a couple of jiggles. However, this year, when I went to pick up the standard can, I happened to read the label and discovered that my beloved Ocean Spray is made with high fructose corn syrup. Despite those commercials that the corn refiners started running earlier in the fall, trying to convince the public that HFCS is just fine, I've been trying to avoid it. So back on the shelf went the can and I determined to make my own sauce, albeit as close in consistency to the canned version as possible.

I cooked down a bag of cranberries with some maple syrup, Meyer lemon juice and zest and some cherry cider (I would have used cranberry juice, but I didn't have any) until the berries were all popped and juicy. I then ran the whole mess through a food mill to smooth it out and get rid of the skins (I know that they are very healthy, but I wanted a can-like consistency and so they had to go). I toyed briefly with pulling out a mold (I have a few from my great-aunt) but decided that was overkill and just chilled it in a glass bowl so that you could see the bright redness.

The resulting cranberry sauce was pleasantly tangy, but with a discernable sweetness. It was still cloudier than the canned sauce and not quite as set, but I continue to be happy with the results. After a couple of days in the fridge, it's become like jam and I'm considering making more to can and give away as holiday gifts. More specific details, like measurements, after the jump.

This recipe, modified from one that I found in Frederica Langeland's A Passion for Preserves, makes a tart, sweet, and lightly spiced Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. It can be sealed in mason jars or eaten fresh.

1 pound cranberries
1 cup white grape juice
1 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon allspice, bruised. Put all three spices in a muslin bag.
1 orange, washed, finely sliced, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups sugar

Rinse and pick over the cranberries. Place them in a saucepan with the apple cider, and bring to a boil. Add the spice bag and cook for five minutes. The cranberries should burst.

Add the orange and raisins to the berries, stir well. Add the sugar slowly, stirring until dissolved. Boil for twenty minutes, or until thickened to thick syrup consistency. Remove from heat.

When cool, remove the spice bag. If you wish to can, ladle into sterilized jars and seal. Otherwise, allow to cool and serve with sliced turkey. Enjoy!

Sure, you can have one of those silly, jiggly mounds of cranberry sauce still shaped like the can it came in, but why not delight in fresh cranberries seasoned with tasty port, courtesy of Bon Appetit and Epicurious?

Cranberry Sauce with Port and Cinnamon

Ingredients:

1 cup ruby Port
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
1 cup dried cranberries
1 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

• Bring the port and cinnamon to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add dried cranberries, simmer until slightly softened (about 3 minutes). Then add the fresh cranberries, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.
• Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until sauce thickens, the color darkens, and the berries collapse -- stirring often (about 20 minutes).
  
• Transfer sauce to bowl, remove cinnamon sticks.

This can be made 3 days ahead -- cover, chill, then bring to room temperature before serving.