Seeing Red Cranberry Sauce
This cranberry sauce is spicy, brilliantly red, and extremely easy to make. It is adapted from a Los Angeles Times recipe in 1995 and is part of a collection of treasured family recipes compiled by my mother. Be sure not to overcook the cranberries—that little pop when you bite one is part of the pleasure. It is best made up to 3 days ahead, allowing time for the sauce to mellow while getting one Thanksgiving task out of the way early.
Seeing Red Cranberry Sauce
Seeing Red Cranberry Sauce combines fresh cranberries with cinnamon, cloves, allspice and orange zest for a bright, gently spiced holiday side. Make it up to three days ahead to let the flavors mellow.
Ingredients
- 3 whole allspice berries
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
- ¾ cup warm water
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries
- Zest of 1 orange
Instructions
- Soak the whole spices in the warm water for 1–2 hours.
- In a medium nonreactive pot, bring the spices, water and sugar to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove the allspice and cloves, but leave the cinnamon sticks in the pot.
- Add cranberries and cook just until they begin to pop, about 3–5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in orange zest. Let cool. Refrigerate for up to 3 days before serving.
- Serve cold or slightly warm.
