Piquant Cranberry Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Empty a 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries into a saucepan and transfer 1/2 cup to a small bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 1 strip orange or lemon zest and 2 tablespoons water to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste and cool to room temperature before serving.

Steps:

• Combine 1 cup water and brown sugar in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add cranberries. Simmer until berries burst, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in thyme, mustard and salt. Cool completely. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Steps:

• Bring the wine to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the figs and let soak until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain, and add the chopped figs to the Base Cranberry Sauce and cook another minute or so. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, and, if desired, stir some of the soaking liquid into the finished sauce.
• Heat the canola oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the ginger and shallots and cook, stirring, until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar, honey, orange juice, granulated sugar, and salt. Cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves and mixture is nice and bubbly.
• Add half the cranberries and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries pop and the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining cranberries and cook another 5 minutes or so.

Steps:

• Combine allspice, cloves and peppercorns in a spice grinder or coffee grinder and pulse until finely ground.
• In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, wine, brown sugar, honey, orange juice, orange zest, rosemary, cinnamon stick and ground spices.
• With the tip of a paring knife, split vanilla pod lengthwise. Use the back of the knife to scrape seeds from pod. Add seeds and pod to pot.
• Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring often, until cranberries have burst and liquid thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and discard zest, rosemary sprigs, cinnamon stick and vanilla pod. Transfer mixture to a bowl and let cool.

Steps:

• In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.