Cranberry sauce is a strange food. It tastes great and we love it — but seemingly only once a year. I mean, while I insist that my cranberry sauce be great, I basically only eat it for one week a year. The color is beautiful, the flavor both tart and sweet. I love the combination of flavors of the cranberry sauce on roasted (or smoked) turkey. I also serve my cranberry sauce chilled. I enjoy the contrast between the warm turkey and cool sauce. But as I said, only one week a year. I’m going to have to work on that.
This recipe is a family treasure and one of our favorite parts of Thanksgiving. It makes about 1 quart of cranberry sauce, and freezes well.
Ingredients
12 oz. bag of whole cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
8 oz. crushed pineapple, in juice (about a half a can)
1/8 cup honey
1 cup water
Zest of ½ large orange
1 tsp. sea salt
Directions
In a 3 or 4 quart pot, bring the water to a boil and add the sugar. Reduce heat to medium and stir.
When the sugar is dissolved, add the cranberries and cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, you should be readily able to use the back of a wooden spoon to burst the cranberries and turn them into a chunky sauce.
Turn off the flame. Using a micro plane or other zester, add the orange zest to the pot. Add the crushed pineapple, honey and sea salt. Stir, pour into a 1 quart container, and chill.