Ok. Two weeks and counting to the biggest food holiday of the year! If you’re feeling more concerned about that than excited, then we need to talk! Last week, I talked about getting the gravy fear out of your life by making it entirely ahead of time (aside from adding the drippings to the pan at the very end). This week, let’s talk about step #2 in how to be more prepared than every before - cranberry sauce!
Cranberry sauce is probably the easiest part of the Thanksgiving meal, and yet most people buy it instead of making their own. This will take you only 20 - 30 minutes and most of that time will be you doing other things while the sauce simmers in a pot. Cranberries are abundant in grocery stores at this time of the year, so pick up a bag and make your own cranberry sauce. It will definitely put you in a league of professional Thanksgiving cookers!
A few tips about making your cranberry sauce:
- If the sauce is not thick enough, simply simmer it a little longer to thicken it up. But remember that it will get thicker as it cools.
- If the sauce is too thick, you can thin it with some orange juice, apple juice or even a little water.
- You can freeze cranberry sauce! That means, of course, that you can make the sauce ahead of time and freeze it until Thanksgiving. Just remember to defrost it.
- Homemade cranberry sauce will keep for two weeks in the refrigerator. You know what I’m going to say… that means you can and should make it ahead of time. Do it now!
- Finally, remember to bring the sauce to room temperature before you serve it. It will be more flavorful and you won’t be putting a cold sauce on warm turkey.
Now, if you want to really stand apart from the crowd, give your cranberry sauce your own twist. Here are some ways to do that:
- Add other fruit - pears and apples are natural compliments to cranberries. Peel them first and they will just dissolve into the sauce adding a sweet note and giving body to the sauce. Add 1 to 2 cups of chopped fruit.
- Add some other berries - raspberries and even blueberries can be cooked down with the cranberries. The blueberries will make the sauce darker in color which will peak your guests curiosity. Add 1 to 2 cups, depending on how much of the other flavor you want to taste.
- Spice it up. Finely diced Jalapeño pepper or Serrano pepper will deliver the kick you want, while keeping the flavor fresh. How much to add? How spicy do you want it?
- Add some ginger. Fresh ginger root grated into the sauce delivers a different kind of kick and brings the sauce alive, making it a fresh pairing with the turkey. 1 to 2 tablespoons of freshly grated ginger is sufficient to perk up the flavor.
So, we’re getting the loose ends out of the way. If you made your gravy last weekend, and make your cranberry sauce this weekend, you’re ahead of most people in getting ready for the big day. Next week we’ll talk about prepping your stuffing and brining your turkey. That will leave you with only desserts and a side dish or two to think about.
