Recipe: Best-Ever Cranberry Sauce
Like many favourite recipes, this has come about through trial and error and when the lack of a certain ingredient has necessitated an inspired substitution. This recipe is more than enough for a large dinner party. I make no apology for that - it can easily and successfully be frozen so making a large batch is both sensible and time-saving.
Ingredients:
1 large bag of cranberries, fresh or frozen (preferably thawed but this is not necessary - it just slows down the cooking a bit)
2 tablespoons of white sugar (I use caster simply because it dissolves more quickly)
3 tablespoons of water
The juice and flesh of 2 satsumas or clementines
A squirt of lemon juice
A tablespoon of ready-made cranberry jelly (it sounds like a cheat but it helps to thicken the sauce)
Method:
Place the cranberries, water, juices, flesh and sugar in a deep saucepan. You can halve the clementines and then squeeze both the juice and the flesh into the pan - it should fall in quite easily.
Heat gently while stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Bring to the boil. The sauce mix will seem quite volatile (this is why you use a deep pan) and will make a popping sound once it reaches a good temperature. This is the sound of the cranberry skins bursting and it will allow the flesh to mix with the rest of the sauce. At this point stir in the cranberry jelly and then stir occasionally, making sure it doesn't stick. Do not allow all the cranberries to disappear - ideally you want a few whole berries to remain.
When the sauce is ready you can store in a fridge for a few days, freeze some or all of it, and serve it either cold or warm.