Holiday cooking in a rural town, during a drought year, during a pandemic has had its challenges. Sometimes you just can’t find what you need, when you need it.
Christmas Dinner isn’t Christmas Dinner to my Irish husband without turkey. And, well, as an American, a turkey dinner isn’t a turkey dinner unless it has cranberry sauce. Enter the struggle.
I hate canned cranberry sauce. It just isn’t my jam. I’m sorry if I offend the canned cranberry lovers out there, but honestly, fresh is best and it takes about 5 minutes longer to make than it takes to open a can and place it in a dish and make it look edible. It really is that easy.
So when I went to pick up my grocery order last night, imagine my dismay when I was told the store was out of cranberries. What? NO! So, I drove to another store. And another. Three stores in, I decided, this wasn’t going to happen. Ack! I can’t have turkey with no cranberries to balance the plate. So, accepting defeat and deciding the fate would be the same at a 4th store (I really did consider driving to a 4th store!), I went to the canned aisle. I decided maybe I could do something with the chunky canned cranberries. Maybe. And low and behold, they were gone too! All that was left was the jelly. The kind that comes out looking like the can. NO. NO. NO. That will not be on my Christmas table. Pandemic or no pandemic.
So I went to the car, very deflated and took a deep breath. And I thought. And I texted my husband about my cranberry debacle. He reminded me that we always have Craisins on hand (we are big fans) and asked me if I could do something with those. At first my gut reaction was no, they are sweetened AND I rely on the water content in fresh cranberries to make my sauce. However, I then thought about it some more. Why couldn’t I use dried Craisins? Challenge accepted.
So this morning I went to work. I didn’t simply want to reconstitute the Craisins with water. Instead, I decided to go with orange juice, since that is such a classic flavor paring. I also decided that since the Craisins had been sweetened already, I would skip adding the traditional granulated sugar and add a bit more flavor punch and sweeten with maple syrup. I mean, why not? It’s Christmas. If it is good enough for Buddy the Elf, why not me? A couple pinches of sea salt (I love Jacobsen’s) rounded out the profile nicely. Things were shaping up nicely. I could have stopped there and had a nice sauce, but decided it need just one last flavor push, so I went to the liquor closet. (Yes, we have an entire liquor closet–don’t judge us!) Orange Curaçao for the win! It added in that final push to the finish line. You can omit it if you want, but honestly I recommend adding it.
The final result is a sauce that isn’t fluorescent red like the cans. Can be made with easy to find ingredients any time of year. It also delivers on flavor.
So until we are out of the pandemic, summer droughts are over, and cranberries abound, reach for the dried. I promise those five extra minutes of prep time are worth it!
Orange Cranberry Sauce Made from Craisins
Course: SidesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy8
servings5
minutes12
minutesWhen fresh cranberries are hard to get, there is no need to turn to the canned. With this recipe, a “fresh” cranberry sauce can easily be made from dried cranberries and ingredients that are easy to get any time of year. You no longer need to save cranberry sauce for the holidays. You can now enjoy it year round!
Ingredients
1½ cups sweetened dried cranberries (Craisins)
¾ cup orange juice
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup water
Generous pinch of sea salt
Zest from 1 orange
2 tablespoons Orange Curaçao liqueur (optional, but highly recommended)
Directions
- Add cranberries, orange juice, maple syrup, water, sea salt and zest to a medium saucepan. Heat to boiling.
- Reduce heat to simmer and cook until the cranberries plump up and liquid is almost fully absorbed, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in Orange Curaçao, and cook for 1-2 minutes longer. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!
