Ready for a cranberry sauce that will punch your mouth in the face and call your momma a dirty hooker? I thought so. Even better, a diabetic can enjoy this tasty relish all the same.
Before you ask, no, a fancy chef did not pass this down; it wasn't picked out of a magazine either. A wise sage once taught this Short Order insider how to make ordinary homemade cranberry sauce, and over the years I've added and taken away countless ingredients. Once tried grapefruit juice instead of orange. It didn't come out like expected, but maybe you can give it a whirl and tell us how it worked out.
Here's the recipe (a kitchen dummy proof recipe, at that):
Prep and cook time: 1 whopping hour
Serves 6-8
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cup sugar substitute (I used Splenda but any kind will work)
1/4 cup of red wine (I used a Cabernet Sauvignon)
1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 navel orange for zest and juice (okay, so it doesn't have to be navel, but whichever you choose, make it good and juicy)
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon (as a cinnamon fanatic, I always give it a few extra shakes)
Directions: Simmer the cranberries and zest on low to medium heat for about 20 minutes. Pour in the wine and navel's worth of juice, stir gently and cover. At the 40 minute mark, add sugar substitute and cinnamon, stir gently, cover, and leave on the burner for another 20 minutes. Strain the liquid into a separate bowl and then add to the cranberries to make the consistency you prefer.
My advice is to make this a day or two in advance so all the flavors have time to nuzzle and cozy up to each other.
Your home will smell like a candle -- the kind Pier 1 would kill for.
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