Tangerine Cranberry Sauce

Cook’s Notes: A holiday favorite side dish to be sure. This version has less added sugar than the traditional recipe, but it is still sweet. The tangerine juice adds a nice citrus note.

1 cup tangerine juice
3/4 cup sugar
12 0z bag whole cranberries, rinsed, drained, and picked through
1 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

Combine juice and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil; add cranberries, ginger, and cinnamon. Return to boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover and cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate until serving time. Makes about 2 cups.

Adapted from the recipe on the side of the bag (link)

Spiced Honey, 32 oz batch

Cook’s Notes: Very easy. Our friends call this “Love Honey”…because everyone says, “I LOVE this honey!” when they taste it. This spiced honey blend is great in oatmeal, yogurt, on toast, in tea, in hot apple cider, on crumpets, with fruit, or in baking. This recipe makes enough to fill 4 jars (8.1 oz each) with a tiny bit left over. The honey looks as dark as chocolate syrup with all the additions.

Safety note: Boyajian brand citrus oil for cooking is sold at CostPlus. Do NOT use essential oil in this recipe.

32 oz honey
3 T pure vanilla extract (not imitation flavoring)
2 T ground cinnamon powder
1.5 tsp ground clove powder
1 tsp orange oil for cooking
1/2 tsp lime oil for cooking
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1/4 tsp ginger powder

Blend ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir well to combine. Pour into clean jars or squeeze bottles and seal tightly. Let sit for three weeks; occasionally rotate or shake the jars to mix the contents.

Source: Adapted from Scott Cunningham, The complete book of incense, oils, and brews.

Best Recipe: Cranberry Chutney

Cook’s Notes: This has become my favorite cranberry sauce, and it’s been featured on our Thanksgiving table for more than 10 years now. It just isn’t Thanksgiving without it. The lemon adds a bright note, the ginger melts in, and the onion and garlic balance out the sugar in a savory way. I modified and combined several recipes to come up with this version, which is now our family standard. Rick Rodgers’ book Thanksgiving 101 was a key source.

12-oz package fresh cranberries
1 apple, cored and diced
1 c sugar
1/2 c crystallized ginger, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped (1/2 to 1 c)
1/3 c raisins, golden or regular
3 T lemon juice
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp cranberry or Dijon mustard
1/4 lemon peel, chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red cayenne pepper or Mild Chili Spice Mix
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Rinse and pick over the cranberries, removing mushy ones.
You don’t have to peel the apple first. Dice into small pieces.
Chop the onion and the crystallized ginger.
Using an apple peeler, carefully peel just the rind (leaving the white pith behind) from your 1/4 lemon. Chop the peel.

Combine all ingredients in large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often.

Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes until berries have burst. Stir occasionally. Simmer until mixture thickens, about 45 more minutes. The chutney will be a gorgeous ruby red.

Yield: About 3.5 cups. Serve with poultry, rice, or on bread. Also good over cream cheese (spread a cracker with cream cheese and top with a dollop of chutney).

Source: Rodgers, Rick. Thanksgiving 101. Publisher: Broadway; 1st edition (October 6, 1998), 196 pages. Buy from amazon or abebooks.

Fresh Strawberry Jam

4 c strawberries, halved
1 c sugar
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla

Combine strawberries and sugar in a medium non-reactive saucepan. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Bring to simmer over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until berries cook down and jam thickens. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.

Resources: Modified from multiple sources, including recipes in Cooking Light, June 2004; and Gold, Rozanne. Christmas 1-2-3: three-ingredient holiday recipes. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2002

Cook’s Notes: This spread is fabulous on slices of warm pound cake served with vanilla ice cream. It’s the perfect taste of summer. No canning equipment or pectin is needed: Store in a plastic container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Makes 2 cups. To make sauce instead of jam, simmer for only 10 minutes.