Hello Hello! It has been a long time and I apologize kind of! I honestly just needed to get my blogging mojo back and actually find an interest in blogging again! There is so much saturation in the blogosphere I kind of just felt unsure of my place! But let us not talk about that! Let's talk about my super simple cranberry sauce! I am one of those people who absolutely loves cranberry sauce! I don't mind buying it, but I find that it is more fun to make it yourself. I mean, why not!? Plus, if you make it 19 days before it is going to be eaten, it is great to freeze!
Let me just say upfront, this is going to be like the jellied stuff you get out of the tin from the supermarket. This will definitely be more fluid. If you wanted it more jelly-like I would suggest probably adding gelatin into it, but I don't feel that it is needed. This is more like the "whole-berry" sauce, but without the whole berries in it. Okay that sounds like a good idea, cranberry jelly candies...I may have to do that!
First up, like with any recipe, get all of your ingredients ready or as the professionals and or French call it, your Mise en place. As you can see, it is jut 4 ingredients!
12 Ounces of fresh cranberries
1 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 brown sugar. (light or dark, I don't think it really matters)
You may be think that it is a lot of sugar. Don't worry, I thought the same dang things! Let's be real though, cranberries are suuuper tart! You can always use less sugar though! I am going to have other options below at the end for different diets that are out there! I will not leave you all out! :P
Before you do any kind of cooking, rinse your berries and sort through them to make sure there are no stems or rotten berries in your mix! I had a few stems and a few really sort berries, so make sure you do that!
Combine your sugars and the orange juice in a medium sauce pan and put the heat on medium, I think on my stove that would be a 5.Melt the sugars before you add the cranberries in! Is there a reason to it? Probably not, but you want the sugar to be fully melted so it doesn't make your sauce grainy.
If you use the brown sugar, people are going to think you are making a gravy! It is always fun to trick them! :P Muhhahaha. Anyways, after this point you really just have to keep an eye on them to start popping. Figure, it should take about 10 minutes, mine didn't take that long, but each stove is different! So just make sure to keep the occasional eye on your pot!
Be careful when they start to pop though! There could be some splatterage! I have never experience that, but be careful anyways, it is hot sugar and those berries are hot themselves!
You will be able to tell that they are popping, think of popping bubble wrap..that is kind of what it sounds like! Oh so satisfying right?! Here is where you make your decision on where to take your cranberry sauce. Do you want it to be "whole berry" or do you want it to be like the jellied? If you want it whole berry, just let it cook a little longer and then transfer it to a container to cool..if you want it jellied, keep reading!
You're going to need to bust our either your food processor or blender. I on the other hand used my Magic Bullet. You are also going to need a fine mesh sieve and a ladle. Pour or ladle your mixture into your vessel of choice and start blending up! I did mine in batches because it was hot and my Magic Bullet wont handle the entire load at once.
Because you are blending it, it will get a little whipped, which just makes it tastier in my opinion! Anyhoo, from this point on you can start telling people you are serving them the blood of your enemies! I mean, that is what it looks like! Why not give people a little scare while you are at it! You need to have some kind of fun during the insanely stressful holiday season!
You can let this drain on its own, but it will take longer so just use your spoon or ladle! It actually went quicker than I thought when I used the ladle. I was just expecting there to be seeds at the bottom of the sieve, so I was pretty surprised when there were fibers in there as well! Don't even ask me what they are, because ya girl does not know!
See what I mean?! It is weird and oddly satisfying to have gotten this out of the berries and it not being in my dang sauce! I wont lie, there are a few seeds here and there that got through the mesh, but there aren't that many, so I can't complain. The sauce is also insanely dang smooth!
This isn't all of it! Don't worry, the rest of it was sitting in its insanely unattractive tub awaiting the freezer because I don't want it to go bad before Thanksgiving. My Dad and I may be the only ones who eat this, so that just means more for us! >D Also, see what I mean about it looking like blood? This would be a tasty and awesome thing to use at a Halloween party, or even for blood for a costume! I so should have thought of that! Bummer that Halloween is over already!
Anyhoo. You're done with the whole recipe! There is not a single thing else to do except serve it or freeze it!
Oh, I do want to mention, Cranberries have pectin in them, which means that the more you let it sit, the thicker it will get. Pectin is found in many types of fruit and berries and it thickens things naturally, without having to add gelatin to it or something else. The longer you cook it, the thicker it will get, I didn't cook mine as long as I should have, so I do have a runnier than usual sauce, but it is still thick! For it to get thick, you have to leave it at a rolling boil for at least a minute. So that is something to think on!
Now, per what I said earlier.
If you are Vegan you can eat this!
If you are on a Paleo diet, substitute the sugars out for Honey or Maple Syrup. However the recipe is a little different.
1/2 cup OJ
1/2 honey or maple syrup
Allergic to Oranges? Use only water, that is an option as well! You don't have to use orange juice, I just find that it gives it another depth of flavor.
This recipe is Gluten Free as well! Rejoyce!
You don't eat white sugar? Just do the same as the Paleo diet. Use Honey or Maple Syrup instead of the sugar. :)
Just remember, you can customise this any way you want too! You don't have to follow my recipe! You can use any kind of juice, or just water, you can add spices to it! You can even add orange peel or any other kind of peel that you want!
If you try it please tweet or instagram me a picture! I would love to see what you all do or come up with! Have fun!
Autty
Let me just say upfront, this is going to be like the jellied stuff you get out of the tin from the supermarket. This will definitely be more fluid. If you wanted it more jelly-like I would suggest probably adding gelatin into it, but I don't feel that it is needed. This is more like the "whole-berry" sauce, but without the whole berries in it. Okay that sounds like a good idea, cranberry jelly candies...I may have to do that!
First up, like with any recipe, get all of your ingredients ready or as the professionals and or French call it, your Mise en place. As you can see, it is jut 4 ingredients!
12 Ounces of fresh cranberries
1 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 brown sugar. (light or dark, I don't think it really matters)
You may be think that it is a lot of sugar. Don't worry, I thought the same dang things! Let's be real though, cranberries are suuuper tart! You can always use less sugar though! I am going to have other options below at the end for different diets that are out there! I will not leave you all out! :P
Before you do any kind of cooking, rinse your berries and sort through them to make sure there are no stems or rotten berries in your mix! I had a few stems and a few really sort berries, so make sure you do that!
Combine your sugars and the orange juice in a medium sauce pan and put the heat on medium, I think on my stove that would be a 5.Melt the sugars before you add the cranberries in! Is there a reason to it? Probably not, but you want the sugar to be fully melted so it doesn't make your sauce grainy.
Be careful when they start to pop though! There could be some splatterage! I have never experience that, but be careful anyways, it is hot sugar and those berries are hot themselves!
You're going to need to bust our either your food processor or blender. I on the other hand used my Magic Bullet. You are also going to need a fine mesh sieve and a ladle. Pour or ladle your mixture into your vessel of choice and start blending up! I did mine in batches because it was hot and my Magic Bullet wont handle the entire load at once.
Because you are blending it, it will get a little whipped, which just makes it tastier in my opinion! Anyhoo, from this point on you can start telling people you are serving them the blood of your enemies! I mean, that is what it looks like! Why not give people a little scare while you are at it! You need to have some kind of fun during the insanely stressful holiday season!
You can let this drain on its own, but it will take longer so just use your spoon or ladle! It actually went quicker than I thought when I used the ladle. I was just expecting there to be seeds at the bottom of the sieve, so I was pretty surprised when there were fibers in there as well! Don't even ask me what they are, because ya girl does not know!
See what I mean?! It is weird and oddly satisfying to have gotten this out of the berries and it not being in my dang sauce! I wont lie, there are a few seeds here and there that got through the mesh, but there aren't that many, so I can't complain. The sauce is also insanely dang smooth!
Anyhoo. You're done with the whole recipe! There is not a single thing else to do except serve it or freeze it!
Oh, I do want to mention, Cranberries have pectin in them, which means that the more you let it sit, the thicker it will get. Pectin is found in many types of fruit and berries and it thickens things naturally, without having to add gelatin to it or something else. The longer you cook it, the thicker it will get, I didn't cook mine as long as I should have, so I do have a runnier than usual sauce, but it is still thick! For it to get thick, you have to leave it at a rolling boil for at least a minute. So that is something to think on!
Now, per what I said earlier.
If you are Vegan you can eat this!
If you are on a Paleo diet, substitute the sugars out for Honey or Maple Syrup. However the recipe is a little different.
1/2 cup OJ
1/2 honey or maple syrup
Allergic to Oranges? Use only water, that is an option as well! You don't have to use orange juice, I just find that it gives it another depth of flavor.
This recipe is Gluten Free as well! Rejoyce!
You don't eat white sugar? Just do the same as the Paleo diet. Use Honey or Maple Syrup instead of the sugar. :)
Just remember, you can customise this any way you want too! You don't have to follow my recipe! You can use any kind of juice, or just water, you can add spices to it! You can even add orange peel or any other kind of peel that you want!
If you try it please tweet or instagram me a picture! I would love to see what you all do or come up with! Have fun!
Autty
