I love a good roast chicken or turkey. But if you pass me some cranberry sauce, chances are I’ll just pass it on without even tasting it. Or I’ll take a teeny tiny spoonful just to be polite and smear it around my plate so I don’t have to eat much of it. (I’m not above such tricks.)
Until now.
Once again, Chef James has turned me into a huge fan of something I used to hate (he’s good at that). This jalapeño cilantro cranberry sauce packs so much flavor and character. It maintains tradition but adds a creative twist that will turn any boring old roast chicken or turkey dinner into a true delight. Plus, he’s updated the recipe using a zero calorie, zero glycemic sweetener that you’d be hard pressed to tell it isn’t sugar. This will definitely be on our table at Thanksgiving.
Did I mention that it’s super easy, fast and….has no sugar?
Ingredients:
- 12 oz bag of cranberries
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup monkfruit sweetener (buy here)
- 1 jalapeño peppers, deveined, seeds removed and minced
- 2 teaspoons lime juice, plus the zest of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
- pinch sea salt (like this)
In a small saucepan, combine cranberries, water, sweetener and jalapeño peppers over medium heat. Stir to mix well.
Bring to a low boil and then cook until sweetener dissolves and the cranberries start to soften and burst, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add lime juice and cilantro.
Put in a glass bowl – uncovered – in the refrigerator to cool. Once cool, cover, and use immediately or within 5 days. Serve chilled.
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This sounds both interesting and delicious. I think I’ll make it for my women’s group early Thanksgiving dinner this Sunday.
Years ago I was headed another holiday dinner when I tuned in to NPR on Thanksgiving morning. Every year Susan Stamberg would give out her cranberry sauce recipe. But that year she also shared a new one from an Indian cookbook author. The story was that she had opened a can of what she thought was chicken broth only to discover it was cranberry sauce instead. So, being from India, she turned her canned sauce into the amazing chutney. I make it every year and it always wins raves. I have also made it by cooking down little kiwi berries and using them instead of cranberries. I’ve added nuts and sunflower seeds to that recipe for extra crunch. It seems to keep forever in the fridge.
Here’s the recipe as I found it on Vermont Public Radio’s vpr.net. It’s a winner, and very simple. For added texture you could cook fresh cranberries down with a healthier form of sweetener to a sauce, then use that instead of the jellied stuff that has sugar and comes out shaped like the can.
Susan Stamberg’s Garlicky Cranberry Chutney
1″ fresh ginger, peeled and very finely minced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 Tbs sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 lb can cranberry sauce with berries (I’ve used both canned types)
1/2 tsp salt or less
Ground black pepper
Combine ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar and cayenne in a small pot. bring to a simmer. Simmer on medium about 15 minutes, or until reduced to about 4 tbsp (1/4 cup)
Add can of cranberry sauce, salt and pepper. Mix and bring to simmer. Lumps are OK. Simmer on a gentle heat for about 10 minutes. Cool, store and refrigerate. It will keep several days, if you don’t finish it all after your first taste!
From Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbook, East,/West Menus for Family and Friends published by Harper & Row, 1987
I found this on Pinterest and made it for my husband for Thanksgiving along with a few other flavors of cranberry sauce and I was amazed (because spice is not my thing) that this one turned out to be my favorite! Thanks for sharing!