I must confess that in our family, we are fans of the jellied cranberry sauce and take a certain amount of pride in sliding it straight out of the can whole and slicing it up to serve just as is. None of this mashing it around to pretend it’s homemade in any way, shape or form. It’s completely different from this fresh orange cranberry sauce so I think there is a place for both in my life. Neither requires any cooking. Both are ready at a moment’s notice. I’m not going to pick a favorite but if you turn your nose up at the jellied stuff, give this a try.
I could have sworn I watched Paul Hollywood make his version of this on a Great British Bake Off Christmas master class but I’ll be danged it I can find it online to give you the link. If anyone out there has it, I'd be happy to hear from you.
UPDATE: I am much obliged to my friend, Nicky, with whom I watched that episode. She has just informed me that it was Mary Berry who made the fresh cranberry sauce, not Paul. Turns out it wasn't from the GBBO master class at all but Mary Berry's Absolute Favorite Christmas Favorites, which we watched that same day. Mystery solved!
For those who celebrate, may you enjoy a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow full of good food, family and bountiful blessings!
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 170g fresh clean cranberries
1/4 cup or 60ml vanilla wine syrup or rich (double sugar) simple syrup with a small splash each of sherry and vanilla
Pinch fine sea salt
1 orange
Method
Peel and seed your orange, making sure you remove all the pith and the hard bits in the middle with a sharp knife.
Put everything in a food processor and chop till finely ground.
Enjoy!
Need a little inspiration for the Thanksgiving feast still? Here are some of our Cajun family favorites.
Nanny's pecan pie
My grandmother's maque choux or spicy Cajun corn
My grandmother's green beans and new potatoes
Extra rich creamed potatoes
And for Friday when you have leftover turkey and gravy? Make my easy turkey potpie with store-bought puff pastry.
