Almighty Dad | A stay at home dad blog

I wrote a whimsical post yesterday about the merits of real cranberry sauce. Apparently that was a big hit. Well, since I really love cranberries, I don’t see any harm in continuing the trend for one more day. More cranberry recipes! My sources for these new and unique cranberry variations are This Month’s Food Network Magazine, my sister, Ashley and Food and Wine Magazine. First my sister’s awesome cranberry relish recipe.

Cranberry Relish (My sister’s recipe)

1 large seedless navel orange (finely chopped in a processor)

1 lb fresh cranberries

1 ½ cups white sugar

½ cup apricot preserves

8 ounce can crushed pineapples (drained)

lemon juice

Put cranberries, two table spoons of water and sugar into a heavy saucepan, and cook over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the cranberries begin to burst (about 10 minutes). Transfer the cranberries to a bowl, add apricot preserves and mix thoroughly until melted. Stir in the chopped orange and pineapple. Add lemon juice to taste then refrigerate for several hours. Presto!

Cranberry Horseradish Cream: I’ve never tried this but it looks pretty good (from The Food Network Magazine)

Simple Cranberry Sauce (yesterday’s recipe)

¾ cup sour cream

1 to 2 teaspoons horseradish

Fold the sour cream and horseradish into the Simple Cranberry Recipe and chill.

Spicy Cranberry Salsa: Wow! The Food Network really nailed this one. Looks wonderful

Simple Cranberry Sauce (again, see yesterdays article)

1 cup raw cranberries

1 thinly sliced Jalapeño

1 tablespoon Lime Juice

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons cilantro

Chop the raw cranberries in a processor and add it to the simple cranberry sauce. Stir in the sliced jalapeño, the lime juice, honey and salt. Save the cilantro and add it right before serving.

Jellied Cranberry Sauce with Fuji Apple: This is for the folks who prefer their cranberries looking like Jell-o (Food and Wine Magazine)

12 ounce bag fresh cranberries

1 large Fuji apple, peeled and diced

1 cup sugar

¾ cup water

Line an 8×4 loaf pan with plastic wrap and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Combine the apple bits, water, sugar and cranberries in a saucepan, and boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until the cranberries are totally broken down (about 15 minutes). Scrape the goop into the prepared loaf pan and refrigerate for 3 hours. Flip the pan onto a serving plate and remove the plastic wrap. Garnish it up with some rosemary sprigs, nuts or whatever else you want and serve.

There you have it, folks! A cranberry concoction for everyone. It was also suggested to me that some people like cinnamon in their cranberry sauce or cranberry relish. That sounds like an excellent idea and one that I will enthusiastically try. Cranberry sauce is quite forgiving and tastes good, as you can see, with a variety of flavors — spicy to tart and, more traditionally, sweet. I encourage experimentation. Cranberry sauce is the sort of dish that lends itself, with some special modifications, to being a special family recipe. Have fun with it!

Related posts:

1. Cranberry Thanksgiving
2. Friday’s Story #6 — Part 2
3. Unnecessary Baby Products – Part 2
4. Friday’s Story #6 — Part 3