The Cast of Characters: Orange Juice, Pure Maple Syrup (not pancake syrup!), Cranberries, and Cranberry (or other) Juice.
Wash 1 bag of cranberries under cool water, then dump into a medium saucepan, and if you could please use a pan that you didn’t get quite clean from the last dish you cooked, I’d sure appreciate it. I need validation this morning.
As opposed to tomorrow morning, of course, when I certainly won’t need validation. At all.
Pour in 1 cup of cranberry juice, or whatever kind of juice you use.
Pour in 1 cup of maple syrup. Not Mrs. Butterworth’s. Not Log Cabin. Only the real stuff here, baby.
Next, add in a splash (3 tablespoons or so) of orange juice. You could also do orange zest, lemon zest, lemon juice, or anything similarly citrusy.
Stir together…
Then turn the heat on high.
Bring it to a boil…
And when it really starts rolling, turn the heat to medium low.
Continue cooking over lower heat…
For about ten minutes, or until juice is thick. Turn off the heat, and if you’re concerned about aesthetics, remove the foam from the top of the mixture.
If you’re like me, don’t.
In any event, grab a jar…
And pour in the mixture. I use a wide-mouth funnel because I’m a cannin’ fool and have them lying all over the place. Just store the jar in the fridge until you’re ready to serve the turkey!
There’s that foam I was talking about. It doesn’t bother me at all. But I’m lazy that way.
If you panic and the last minute, you can always skim it off after it’s in the jar.
Mmm…not that the foam detracts from this lovely, red delight.
The juice is nice and thick. The flavor is all-cranberry, all the time…but with a hint of sweetness.
It’s what cranberry sauce was meant to be.
I wish you Happy Cooking, everyone!
Love,
Pioneer Woman
