Cranberry Sauce

Cranberries were not something I grew up with, for a start my childhood Christmases were hot and sunny, flavoured by all things summer. Salads and ice creams, beaches and swimming, bare feet, barbecued crayfish and large quantities of locally grown apricots and cherries to name but a few.

Many years ago after living well north of the equator for some time, I decided I would make my own Cranberry sauce. I called my friend Catherine and jotted down the original version of this Delia Smith recipe. I’ve never been afraid to improvise, so over the years, as the quantities I was making and my cupboard’s staple stock has varied, the batches have changed and gradually the recipe has been made my own, always subject to a small change here or there.

For a few years I pretty much had an industrial size operation going, whether raising funds for a children's charity or making homemade Christmas presents. The result was beautiful, farm-like le-Parfait jars filled with my signature and delicious, rich red relish. One of the flats I lived in, had a cold kitchen backing out on to a garden. There was no double-glazing in this room, so it always looked like the perfect wintery scene. The window ledge was the perfect size and temperature to hold my growing wall of cranberry sauce jars.

Nowadays, I’ve scaled down the size of the operation; personal use and perhaps a gifted jar or two. So the original recipe calls for:

450 g Cranberries

110 g sugar

425 ml red wine

2 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar.

1 orange, zest grated and juiced

Bring to the boil, then simmer for about an hour. Cranberries are bitter so making sure you taste and adjust is important. I have been known to go out and buy more ingredients and re-simmer the following day. Tasting when the sauce has cooled down is always a good idea before you do that. Don’t be scared to not be exact with your measurements.

Most of the batches I’ve made with either unrefined muscovado, or light brown demerara instead of the granulated white variety. I did learn tonight that the UK does actually produce sugar beet in East Anglia so you could use sugar at least that hasn’t travelled from too far afield to make it in to the pot. I have been known to only have the darker, less refined varieties to hand.

Cranberries are harvested generally across the Atlantic, mainly in the East coast of Canada and the United States. The darker the berry, the more the phytonutrients. They are bursting with anti-oxidants! Seeing as they get heated, they will loose a lot of their nutritional value but not all. They’re high up there when it comes to health benefits, best fresh and whole- but that’s for another day.

The orange juice will help to counter the tartness of the berries. My old, faithful zester is one of my favourite kitchen gadgets. It makes long strips and I highly recommended a zester as a kitchen tool to get. I recently got treated to the super sharp, microplane citrus zester- a dream to use, producing a fine zest. Keep your fingers safe with this one. This batch has a mix of zest- fine and strips.

Red wine; I grew up in wine country and one thing I’ve leant is not to use a bottle of plonk, if it’s not good enough to drink then I don't cook with it. A generous glug of Port has been a welcome addition, it has a depth of flavour and the higher sugar content countering my sparing pouring of the less sweet, brown sugar.

Tonight’s sauce contains Sauvignon Blanc vinegar as I’m fresh out of good old red wine vinegar. I figure that the same cultivar without having been seeped in its grape skins will do just fine. I have used Apple cider vinegar in the past but I wouldn’t go quite as far as using rice wine vinegar- its a lot milder, less acidic and best for Oriental dishes.

Now my home has a lovely Christmassy smell lingering in the air and I'm off to get some good rest before the working week starts.

Sweet dreams and have a great week! xxx Audette