This Week’s Recipe: Cranberry Stuff

Not only did I want to temper the sweetness of a jammy thumbprint cookie, which I posted about last week, I’d a hankering for a Turkey Grinder Sandwich. Critical for the taste sensation that is this sandwich you need a cranberry sauce. Not particularly enamored with the canned stuff, I made up my own recipe — an easy one-pot wonder!

Here it is!

12 oz. of fresh cranberries
1 tsp. of vanilla extract or the insides of 1 vanilla bean
3 Tsp. of Curacao
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 Tsp. fresh lemon juice
zest of 2 to 3 lemons (depending on their size)
2 tsp. of ginger (fresh or frozen crushed cubes)
1/2 c. of water

Chuck it all into a pot over medium heat and using a spoon you don’t mind might turn purple stir to combine the ingredients. Stir occasionally until you hear the cranberries start popping on their own. Then stir steadily to keep the concoction from burning to the bottom of the pot. Let it boil for five minutes or so until it reaches the desired thickness. (Keep in mind it will thicken up a bit more as it cools.) If you want a less lumpy preserve, as it’s boiling, take a potato masher and squish the cranberries.

Christie: I think Miss Marple would love to slather a bit of this sauce on a nice bit of turkey or chicken for something a bit different! Though I must admit,I used A is for Arsenic in the photo, rather than a book penned by the great lady herself, because whilst I was writing down this recipe I was listening to the Poisoner’s Cabinet podcast and couldn’t resist combine them with Christie and cooking!