While cranberry sauce is traditionally associated with Thanksgiving and Christmas, I eat it year-round. In fact, I batch cook it and freeze it for use throughout the year.
Each fall, I eagerly await the cranberry harvest on PEI. The photo below was taken on a day that Mikita Farms in Farmington, PEI was wet harvesting their cranberry crop. Produce just does not get any fresher than this!
In the fall, I buy a huge bag of cranberries for the freezer as I use them in several recipes, including cranberry-orange sauce.
These gems turn into a rich jeweled-toned cranberry sauce.
Any time I am cooking a chicken dinner, chicken pieces, or have a craving for cranberry sauce, I head to the freezer for a small container of the sauce as it just seems to make the meal.
I hope you enjoy my recipe for cranberry-orange sauce. This is not a sickeningly sweet sauce although you can add a bit more sugar if you have a really sweet tooth! Adding some apple and orange juice to the sauce gives it an extra flavour boost and both fruits complement the cranberry flavour well. While the sauce is lovely without the Cointreau, it does add to the flavour of the sauce.
The method I use for the sauce is to make a simple syrup by boiling the sugar and water and then adding the cranberries, apple, and orange juice. I don’t care for runny cranberry sauce so I have learned this tip from my mother: Occasionally stir the sauce as it is cooking but make sure you stir it several times as it cools as this will help to thicken the sauce.
Don’t save this zesty cranberry-orange sauce for the holidays; enjoy it year-round!
Zesty Cranberry-Orange Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
½ cup apple, finely chopped
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tsp finely grated orange rind
1½ tbsp Cointreau (optional)
Method:
In medium-sized saucepan, bring sugar and water to boil. Boil, uncovered, for 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
Add cranberries, apple, and orange juice. Bring to a boil. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring periodically throughout the cooking process for about 15 minutes or until mixture thickens.
Remove saucepan from heat and add orange rind and Cointreau. Stir several times as the sauce cools to help it to thicken.
Store, covered, in refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for longer storage.
Yield: Apx. 2 cups.
A mildly tart and flavorful sauce that pairs well with roast turkey and any poultry dishes
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
- ½ cup apple, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1 tsp finely grated orange rind
- 1½ tbsp Cointreau (optional)
Instructions
- In medium-sized saucepan, bring sugar and water to boil. Boil, uncovered, for 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
- Add cranberries, apple, and orange juice. Bring to a boil. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring periodically throughout the cooking process for about 15 minutes or until mixture thickens.
- Remove saucepan from heat and add orange rind and Cointreau. Stir several times as the sauce cools to help it to thicken.
- Store, covered, in refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for longer storage.
- [Copyright My Island Bistro Kitchen]
For other great cranberry sauce recipes from My Island Bistro Kitchen, click on the links below:
Red Wine Cranberry Pear Sauce
Cranberry Rhubarb Sauce
Cranberry Blueberry Sauce
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