A Thanksgiving classic at our house, this recipe come from my mother-in-law Bee. It’s the same consistency as applesauce and a wonderful accompaniment to turkey.
You’ll need some sort of appliance to process the cooked cranberries into a strained puree. A Foley food mill (right) is the original manual method. I have a KitchenAid mixer with a fruit and vegetable strainer attachment. Straining is critical because it removes cranberry and apple skins and seeds.
Ingredients:
- 1 bag fresh cranberries, 12 to 16 ounces
- 1 medium Granny Smith apple
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
Wash the cranberries, and put them in a large pot—a soup kettle is good. Wash the apples and cut each one into about 8 chunks. Don’t worry about the skin, stems, and pits—just throw it all in the pot. Add the water. Bring everything to a boil and cook gently 10 to 16 minutes, until the apples are fairly soft. You can continue right away if you like, or let the hot fruit wait for 30 minutes or so until it’s a little cooler.
The next step is to strain and purée the fruit. Put about a cup of the fruit mixture into the food mill, and turn the paddle clockwise to press the fruit pulp through. The seeds, stems, and peels will remain in the food mill. Turn the paddle backwards to clean out the food mill. Repeat this procedure until you’ve processed all the fruit. Don’t forget to get the good thick purée that clings to the bottom of the food mill.
Now put the puréed fruit back into the pot on the stove, and bring it up to a simmer. Add the sugar and lemon juice. Add the spices, just a little bit at a time (a couple shakes of each), tasting after each addition. Be careful; it’s very hot. Simmer over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand for about a half-hour. Pour into storage container and refrigerate until cold.
I always make this a day ahead. As it chills, it thickens up quite a bit.
At our house, this is such a popular dish that I always make at least a double batch, sometimes triple. We like to dunk slivers of cold turkey in it. We use it as a topping for vanilla ice cream. We stir it into plain yogurt. And we eat it plain in a bowl, just like applesauce.
Credit: My mother-in-law, Bee Kortum, gave me this recipe. She was a Foley food mill loyalist and somewhat disdainful of my automated method with the mixer and attachment. But the end result was the same, and she did approve of that.
