Orange Candied Ginger Cranberry Sauced

My measuring cups are taking a vacation for a week or two - they got a pretty good workout last Wednesday and Thursday. However, I did make plenty of tasty things to keep this blog in business while they (and I) recover. 

We'll start the Thanksgiving recap with the saucing of the cranberry sauce. I've never really been a fan of the whole cranberries sauce from the can - my sweet taste buds clearly out number my tart ones so the tartness never wins and the consistency of the whole cranberry sauce is a turn off. To the contrary, I am a fan of the jellied cranberry sauce and for some weird reason the can shaped consistency does not bother me.

In search of pumpkin and bourbon recipes, I came across links to cranberry and bourbon recipes. Bing! I knew what I was going to make for the Thanksgiving dinner with friends! As I've gotten older, I have begun pushing myself to try things that I may have previously decided that I didn't like. I've never had homemade cranberry sauce, so I was excited to find out my feelings about a non-canned version. By the way, "bing" is one of the noises in my head when I happen upon a good idea, as is "Ha!" and "Woo!" 

There are lots of cranberry sauce recipes out there. Many of them have bourbon as an ingredient and I was also tempted by other recipes that had orange zest and candied ginger - it seemed like a good idea to try to combine a few recipes. Then I happened upon this one with triple sec. Since bourbon has already made several appearances on this blog, I felt it was important to share the spotlight with our brandy/Cognac based friend triple sec, invented in France in 1834, but now made in Haiti.

Crystallized ginger is a candied form of the root, somewhat similar in candiedness as dried pineapple - it's chewy, sweet, coated in sugar but has the ginger zing to it. It might be a challenge for some to find it in their grocery store and may also turn away those thinking "How the heck am I going to use the leftover ginger? Just another thing to clutter my cupboard and potentially spill and create a sticky mess!" Well, you can also make yummy ginger shortbread cookies if you have any leftover ginger. Perfect on a wintry day with a hot cup of tea. I'm pretty sure you can find crystallized ginger at most large grocery stores. I think I got mine at Whole Foods, but I also see that Wegman's has it, perhaps even in bulk! I would steer clear of this McCormick product. I suspect it is uber expensive for such a small quantity.

Cooking up the sauce was pretty easy and quite stimulating to the senses! Fresh cranberries are the most beautiful red colors in the world. The wafting smells of candied oranges from the pot reminded me of making lollipops with my mom when I was younger. The most difficult part of cooking was finding the simmer setting on the dial on my stove. Too far one way was a boil and too far the other was....well, nothing. Even with this challenge, the recipe was forgiving, and little extra boiling didn't seem to hurt it. 

The final product was delicious - much more on the sweet side (which is probably why I liked it so much) but balanced by the tartness of the cranberries and the zing of the ginger. There was a good amount left over after Thanksgiving. I don't think this is because it wasn't good - I think my friends didn't realize how good it was because they are used to the canned stuff. Or, maybe it was the 13 other dishes on the table. Friday morning, we put the leftover cranberry sauce on pumpkin pancakes, soooo good! A far better use for it than accenting a turkey. I also plan to try it with some oatmeal tomorrow morning. You could also add it to yogurt, or put it on toast, or a bagel with cream cheese. 

Orange Candied Ginger Cranberry Sauced
Source: Whole Foods Market
Makes 2 and 1/2 cups

Ingredients
1/2 cup orange juice*
1/2 cup triple sec or orange liqueur 
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 (12-ounce) bag fresh or frozen and thawed cranberries
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 cup crystallized (candied) ginger, finely chopped, divided
1 tablespoon orange zest*

*you can zest one good sized (large?) orange and then squeeze about 1/2 cup of juice out of it

Directions
Put juice, triple sec, and brown sugar into a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring often, until sugar has dissolved. Add cranberries and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add ground ginger and about a third of the crystallized ginger and simmer, stirring often, until cranberries have popped and sauce is thickened to desired consistency, about 10 minutes more.

Remove from heat, stir in zest and all but a few pieces of the remaining crystallized ginger. Set aside to let cool to room temperature. Garnish with reserved crystallized ginger and serve. 

Nutrition Info (provided by Whole Foods)
Per serving (about 1/2 cup): 280 calories (0 from fat), 0g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 1g protein, 72g total carbohydrate (4g dietary fiber, 61g sugar), 0mg cholesterol, 25mg sodium