Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Hot Hot Hot Cranberry Sauce

I love fresh cranberry sauce, and don't get me wrong, I love the jellied kind in the can, too! Cranberry sauce is the one thing I can fool around with the recipe on the holidays to change things up! So this time I looked and found one made with cherries and cranberries. It sounded very good. Like a jam recipe I used to make, except this had the addition of ginger. I left out the ginger! Then there was one with jalapeno's that looked good to me. I love the combination of sweet and hot. So why not? I played around with the recipe and ended up not using ginger and adding a half of a jalapeno. It turned out to be the hottest jalapeno I ever tasted. Yeah, you guessed it. I rubbed my eyes. I scratched my nose. All with jalapeno hands! OUCH! This would have killed Grandma for sure. Good thing we warned her ahead of time!  This time anyway :)

At first I thought, this is pretty disgusting tasting, the amaretto together with the really hot jalapeno, but I kept tasting it, and it grew on me. The big kid liked but it was too hot, the picky one didn't even try.  The Griller can't have cranberries but I know if he could he would have liked it but with a lot less heat. Wouldn't even offer it to Grandma. So I packed it up to schlep it to our friend's Thanksgiving feast! Too hot for most, but whoever had it, found it somewhat addicting. Not sure why, but we ended up finished the whole batch. I'll make it again. But I would check the jalapeno first!




Cherry-Cranberry Sauce
Source: original recipe SELF - November 2010 by Jennifer Iserloh
adapted There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 bag (15 ounces) frozen or fresh cranberries
1 bag (10 ounces) frozen cherries
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
some fresh orange or clementine slices
1/4 cup amaretto (next time I'll try it without it!)
1/2 -1 jalapeno, minced (depending how much heat you like!) I used a frozen jalapeno and grated it with a microplane

Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook cinnamon, stirring, about a minute. If using, carefully add the amaretto and cook until liquid thickens and reduces by half, about 1 minute. Add cranberries, cherries, sugar, 1/4 cup water and a 1/2 cup orange juice. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, add some clementine slices and simmer until cranberries break apart and sauce thickens, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

22 comments:

  1. Thank you so much! This may be the solution for me. I have a nephew that eats almost nothing unless it has Jalapeno peppers in it, the hotter the better. I'll give this a try and might even increase the peppers.

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  2. I do believe this would make a perfect glaze for a pork loin roast or ham. I do love cranberries!

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  3. Great idea! Thanks :)I love them, too!

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  4. Hey,

    Beautiful cranberry sauce...Love the deep rich colour...:)

    Dr.Sameena@

    http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com

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  5. Coming from New England I am a huge fan of the cranberry. This sounds yummy and I always love a little heat.

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  6. Thank God you didn't give it to Grandma! She would begin to think you were trying to get rid of her!
    Not a "hot & spicy" person - so no hot peppers for me...

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  7. Carol, that sounds delicious, we love jalapeƱo peppers. Why would you leave out the Amaretto next time?

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  8. When I first had it all in the pot, the smell of the amaretto, I don't really know why, but that first whiff, I didn't like it, but then when I tasted it, something just clicked and I loved it.

    Thanks for the comments! The original recipe had no jalapeno. I threw it in after a friend on a forum posted a different recipe for cranberry sauce with jalapeno's. From the Food Network. Had lime and jalapeno's! So I added one to this recipe.

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  9. Been there, done that - ouch! What a great combination, even though you paid for it dearly ;)

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  10. Love your cranberry sauce. It looks great Carol! Can't wait to give it a try.

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  11. This would be wonderful spread over cream cheese :-). It's great that despite the heat you were able to finish it up. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  12. I like all things cranberry too but not sure about the heat. I am a sissy! :)

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  13. How unfortunate for me that we do not have cranberries here. This looks sauce looks so yummy!

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  14. Sorry it has been so long my friend. I have just been so busy with the kiddos and getting ready for Christmas. I am hoping to get back in a blogging routine soon.
    Wow now that sounds wonderful. I love that you added cherries with it. What a great recipe for Christmas. Thanks for sharing and have a fabulous day!

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  15. I think I would love it if I left out the jalepeno - I like my cranberry sauce tart and fruity.

    You are supposed to wear vinyl gloves when you cut up a hot pepper you silly girl - just teasing!

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  16. You are trying to kill me with those peppers. Come over for some shrimp! :)

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  17. I recently did the pepper-hands face touching...so awful! It's funny that some jalapenos can taste like bell pepper and others can knock your socks off. In any case, this sounds really good to me. The combo of flavors is great. Nice twist!

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  18. I remember the first time that my mum used jalapenos and rubbed her eyes - she danced around the kitchen swearing that she was going blind!

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  19. It looks and sounds so so good. I LOVE hot but not to the point of HURT. :)
    I will try this soon.

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  20. Hmm, this might be very nice with roast pork.

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  21. Yumm, never had cranberry sauce, maybe should give a try :) Can really feel how much pain you would have gone thru with the hot chilli in the eyes. ouch!

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  22. Very interesting. Never would have occurred to me to add heat to my cranberry sauce. Guess it's a matter of trying less first, right?

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