Fermented Cranberry Sauce Recipes

FERMENTED CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Zest and juice the orange.
• Wash the cranberries, and remove any that have started to wrinkle.
• Place cranberries, orange juice, and orange zest in a blender.
• Pulse until the cranberries are crushed. It can be thin and smooth or chunky like a relish. I like a roughly chopped mix with some whole berries.
• Scrape the blended cranberries and orange into a glass jar for fermenting. Stir in the honey. Fermenting cranberries will bubble and build up carbonation, so don't cap with an air-tight lid.
• Ferment in a cool, dark location. It should start to bubble and froth after 24 hours. If you want to ferment it for longer than 24 hours, then stir it once a day to mix the floating cranberry pulp into the ferment. It will become less sweet the longer it ferments, so I generally only ferment for one week.
• Cap with an air-tight lid and store in the refrigerator. See the section above for long-term storage advice.
• Depending on how much honey you use, and how much juice you get out of the orange, your sauce may have too much liquid. Simply strain off the excess liquid before serving. The extra liquid is delicious mixed with sparkling water for a cranberry-flavored drink!

PERFECT CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Empty a 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries into a saucepan and transfer 1/2 cup to a small bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 1 strip orange or lemon zest and 2 tablespoons water to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste and cool to room temperature before serving.

CLASSIC CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, 2 cups water, the sugar and salt. Let the sauce boil until it thickens; the water will evaporate and the pectin in the cranberries will be activated as it cooks. Let it boil for at least 10 minutes, and up to 25 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Stir in juice or liqueur, if using, then cover sauce well and chill. Sauce can be made up to this point 1 week in advance and kept refrigerated. A few hours before serving, stir in the pecans, if using.