I don’t know about you, but I grew up with cranberry sauce right out of the can for Thanksgiving. You know…the jellied sauce with the ridges.
It’s somebody’s birthday this year.
This year marks the 110th birthday of the canned jellied treat. Invented in 1912 by Massachusetts farmer (and future founder of the Ocean Spray Cooperative) Marcus Urann, cranberry sauce is a solid American Thanksgiving tradition. Ocean Spray sold an amazing 75 million cans of the stuff last year. Just Wow!
In recent years, though, home cooks have gone a bit rogue with the holiday treat–making their own and experimenting with all sorts of additions.
I love the stuff and usually make mine following a sweet spicy recipe I’ve used for many years. (You can find that sweet recipe here.)
I’ve also experimented with other “takes” on the treat. Here is a recipe that incorporates jalapenos into the sauce: Cranberry Sauce With Jalapenos.
Here is still another: Cranberry Relish With Jalapenos.
Today, I’m featuring yet another idea, a piquant Cranberry Chutney recipe from David Lebovitz. (You can find the original recipe here: Cranberry Chutney.) It’s homemade, piquant, and edgy with a vinegary bite.
Wishing you a happy holiday.
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
Cranberry Chutney
Ingredients
- 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries
- 1 C. diced dried fruit (I used raisins and apricots)
- 1 tart apple (peeled, cored, and finely diced)
- 2/3 C. firmly-packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 C. orange juice
- 4-6 T. apple cider vinegar (to your taste--the vinegar bite of the apple cider vinegar moderates as the sauce ages)
- 1 T. honey
- 1/4 t. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 t. ground dried ginger
- 1/8 t. ground cloves
- Pinch red chile flakes
- Pinch of salt
- 1 generous T. whiskey (optional)
Directions
- Step 1 Combine all the ingredients (except the optional whiskey) in a large sauce pan.
- Step 2 Set your stovetop to the medium-high setting and cook the cranberry mixture until the berries pop, the diced apple pieces are cooked through, and the mixture becomes juicy. This should take about 10 minutes.
- Step 3 Remove from heat. Stir in the whiskey.Cool. Serve.
