I’m making this today to bring to our Thanksgiving gathering. For years we ate cranberry sauce from a can, and then a dear friend introduced me to this recipe, and I’ve never gone back. It could not be simpler or more delicious. It is, in fact, my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. Combine a dollop of this on your fork with a bite of turkey and stuffing, and your Thankgiving experience will be taken to a new level. Trust me — bring this to your feast and you will be a Thanksgiving hero.
Fresh cranberries and dried apricots are the stars of this dish, with lots of savory fall spices, and cider vinegar as the secret ingredient.
This is the only chopping required, and it takes about two minutes…
…everything else just gets tossed into a bowl.
Then into a pot with boiling water, a bit of sugar and cider vinegar.
Within a few minutes the cranberries will begin to pop, and the mixture will naturally become a thick and rich sauce.
And voila, fresh and delicious cranberry sauce. The gelatinous blob from a can can’t hold a candle to this!
Cranberry Apricot Chutney
Ingredients:
12 oz fresh cranberries
1/4 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
dash of ground cloves
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, boil the water and sugar, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Meanwhile, chop the apricots, and combine all the ingredients (through cloves) in a bowl. Add the fruit mixture and vinegar to the water, bring it to another boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and serve it warm, or pop it in the fridge in a covered container for up to three days. Eat. Love.
Buen provecho!*
***** * Buen Provecho: This is a beautiful saying we learned in Ecuador when we were adopting our son. There’s not a good literal translation from Spanish to English, because the loose translation — “Enjoy your meal” — doesn’t capture the full essence of the Spanish meaning. The verb “aprovechar” means to make the most of, or to receive the full benefit of something. Thus, when we say, “buen provecho,” it is offering our hope that the eater will receive the full benefits and advantages of the food we’ve prepared. And that’s my wish for my friends and family when I cook for them — that they will receive all the goodness the food offers.