This cranberry sauce will make even the driest of Turkey's tasty and you'll never use that gross gel thing from a can again! It's REALLY easy to make and so delicious, my family asks me to make it every year.
But first, a funny story on how this recipe came to be. When my cousin and his now husband, Stephen first started getting serious, they would ask me to come over for Thanksgiving. It was so great to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal together as family all the way out here in CA when most of our family were on the East Coast. Stephen, the amazing cook that he is, would insist that I not make anything for the big feast! Being that cooking is my life, that's like putting handcuffs on me! I kept asking and asking, and finally he reluctantly said, "ok, you can bring the cranberry sauce." I was SO delighted that I got to work! I researched all these from-scratch cranberry sauces and tested recipe after recipe! My thought was, this is going to be the best damn cranberry sauce we've ever tasted so I get to cook again! :) Hence this recipe was born! I've combined a few recipes together to make this one and am really happy with the result! Stephen and I have had several years cooking together in the kitchen not only on Thanksgiving, but many weekends as well. He's one of my favorite people to cook with! So, we can really ThankStephen for this recipe!
1 12oz bag fresh cranberries
1 3x1 inch strip of fresh orange peel
1 cinnamon sticks
6 whole allspice
6 whole cloves
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup red Zinfandel wine
Combine all ingredients except cranberries in medium saucepan. bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to about 1 3/4 cups (about 10 minutes). Strain syrup into a large saucepan- THIS part is really important because one year I didn't have a strainer and decided to pick out the cloves and missed some little buggers! You definitely don't want anyone to eat whole cloves in their cranberry sauce! Add cranberries to the syrup and cook over medium heat until all the cranberries are popped. You will need to watch this and stir often so the whole thing doesn't boil over. Trust me it can get messy! :) The key is a bigger pot and a keen eye. Then I transfer to a 8x8 dish and refrigerate until cool.
I usually use a pretty Le Creuset 8x8 pan so it can go right to the dinner table. You can use something like this too https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/le-creuset-heritage-stoneware-oval-gratin-baking-dish_4/?pkey=cle-creuset-red 8" size.
I also make this at least a day ahead so it has time to set. There's no gelatin, so it won't be gel like, but it does seize up a little from the runny like texture when it first comes off the stove. Another benefit of making it a day ahead is there's less to worry about on the big day! Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!
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