Christmas on Your Thanksgiving Table: Spiced Cranberry Sauce

My mom, the Kitchen Goddess, puts together an awesome Thanksgiving spread.  One dish that we never did without was her cranberry sauce.  I think cranberry sauce tends to get a bad wrap, something that most people really think is just ok and a traditional dish to have.  I never hear anyone getting really excited about it.

But....I get really really excited about this cranberry sauce.  It's special.  It throws you into the holiday season.  It tastes like Christmas. It smells like Christmas.  It makes your whole house smell divine while it cooks.  It is excellent with turkey.  It is fantastic to eat like jam on fresh biscuits or rolls.  If you enjoy cranberry sauce, or you have always wanted to enjoy cranberry sauce, or you're a skeptic - please try this dish.

What makes this dish so Christmas-like?  Oranges, cloves, and candied ginger!  Heaven.  Here's the full list of goods:

Cranberries, sugar, oranges, crystallized ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves

What is cardamom? I'm glad you asked.  Cardamom is used in many Indian dishes as well as Scandinavian dishes, which is why my mother cooks with it, being Danish and all.  It is the secret ingredient to her pancakes.  It is also a common spice in the popular and tasty Chai tea.  Cardamom  is an expensive spice, but oh so tasty and a little goes a long way.  It pairs very well with the "fall spices" like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg and it makes people stop and wonder what magic you have infused your dish with.  For these reasons I highly recommend the splurge.  If you choose not to use it, you could add some nutmeg to the sauce for the good fall spice flavor.

Crystallized, or candied, ginger is another addition you don't want to skip out on.  (You could do ground ginger...but again, not really the same.) If you have trouble finding it, check the bulk sections of your local grocery stores, especially places like Whole Foods or Sprouts.  Chop it up finely.

Set aside your measured spices and then zest two whole oranges.  And here is what makes this cranberry sauce so incredibly aromatic and flavorful!

1 tsp Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 tsp cardamom, 2 tbsp crystallized ginger, and orange zest of 2 oranges!

Measure out three cups of sugar and set that aside. Peel the two oranges that you just zested and chop them up.  Use a sharp knife to trim off as much white pith as you can.  Take two more oranges and squeeze the juice into a two-cup measuring cup.  Add water to the juice to total 2 cups of liquid. 

The prepped ingredients.  Your kitchen will already smell super yummy.

Combine all ingredients, except cranberries, into a large saucepan.

Bring to a boil.  Throw in the cranberries!

Bring it back to a boil.  Keep stirring until cranberries begin to pop.

Now the intoxicating smells will waft throughout your home to bring joy and delight to all!  Put the lid on and turn down the heat to low.  Simmer for about an hour.  If you happened to use frozen cranberries, as I did today, then take the lid off for the last 10 minutes since they will be juicier. 

Bonus: While you're waiting and cleaning up, go ahead and throw some of those orange peels into your garbage disposal while you run it for a fresh smelling sink. 

Here's the best part. After an hour, taste it!...Then taste it again...and maybe again.  Add any extra sugar or spices that your heart may desire.  (This is a pretty sweet sauce!)  When you are satisfied, take it off the heat and allow to cool before transferring to containers and moving it to the fridge.  It will have a thickened, syrupy consistency and will set in the fridge to become more jam-like.  You should make it at least a day before Thanksgiving for it to set and all the flavors to mingle together in glory. 

Here it is the next day after it has had time to set!

 Enjoy, friends!

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
4 cups cranberries, washed and picked over
3 cups sugar

4 oranges - and this is what you do with them:
2 cups liquid: Juice from 2 oranges + water = 2 cups
Zest from 2 oranges
Orange sections from the 2 zested oranges, chopped

2 tbsp crystallized (candied) ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:
Combine all ingredients, except cranberries, into a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil. Add cranberries and continue to stir until berries begin to pop and it is back to a boil.  Put the lid on and allow to simmer for about an hour. **  Taste and add sugar if desired.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Chill until ready to serve.  This is best to make one day before serving.

**UPDATE - I've found that this recipe followed exactly can occasionally make some fairly runny sauce.  To increase the consistency to a more jelly-like texture, remove the lid around the one hour mark and allow to simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes.  This makes it about the consistency of fruit preserves.   Increase the time without the lid on even more if you like it really thick or you're using frozen cranberries.  Expect it to stiffen a little more once it's been chilled as well.