Fancy Cranberry Sauce Recipes

PERFECT CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Empty a 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries into a saucepan and transfer 1/2 cup to a small bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 1 strip orange or lemon zest and 2 tablespoons water to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste and cool to room temperature before serving.

FANCY CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Lightly coat a 4-cup mold or Bundt pan with nonstick spray. Stir gelatin and ½ cup warm water in a small bowl and let sit 10 minutes.
• Set 2 Tbsp. cranberries aside for serving. Bring cardamom, bay leaves, salt, cranberry juice, 1½ cups sugar, and remaining cranberries to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Continue to cook, stirring often and reducing heat as needed to avoid scorching, until cranberries burst and juices begin to look syrupy, 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat and pick out cardamom and bay leaves; discard. Stir in gelatin mixture (gelatin should be completely dissolved). Slowly pour cranberry mixture into mold. Chill until completely set, at least 12 hours.
• To serve, dip mold in a bowl of warm water and hold 30 seconds. Remove and place a platter upside down over top of mold. Invert jelly onto platter.
• Just before serving, toss orange zest, remaining 2 Tbsp. cranberries, and remaining 3 Tbsp. sugar in a small bowl to coat. Scatter over jelly.
• Do Ahead: Jelly (without sugared cranberries and zest) can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

FANCY CANNED CRANBERRIES

Steps:

• Open the cans of jellied cranberries and slice the cylinders into 1/2-inch-thick rounds.
• Scatter the rounds on a large platter, and top with citrus slices and a little thinly sliced red onion. Squeeze lemon juice over everything, and sprinkle with flaky salt, black pepper and mint, if using.

SIMPLE "FANCY" CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring water and sugar to a boil.
• Add remaining ingredients, return to boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until berries burst.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Remove ginger root, refrigerate until cold (preferably over night to allow ample time to gel).
• Even after cooling, this is a bit runny for some people's taste. You can solve this by either reducing the amount of liquid added, or by boiling some of it off.