I have liked cranberry sauce for as long as I can remember. Long before I even thought about trying any of the other Thanksgiving delicacies -- sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy -- cranberry sauce would occupy a good three-quarters of my plate.
It was a good 31 years before I gave much thought to the fact that cranberry sauce came from, like, an actual fruit. That it probably didn't spring from nature in a can-shaped tube that made a pleasing shlurp sound as it exited the can and hit the bowl.
Nope, cranberry sauce comes from cranberries, and they are seriously good for you! High in vitamin C and fiber, cranberries are also well-known for their antioxidants, which have an anti-bacterial effect on the body. That's why you always hear people talking about drinking cranberry juice to ward off urinary tract infections.
Last year I came across a recipe for homemade cranberry sauce, and it looked really simple. My experience says that if store-bought is good, homemade is usually better, so I decided to give it a go. All I had to do, the recipe said, was buy a bag of cranberries, throw some water, sugar, and cranberries in a pot and cook them for a few minutes. So I did, and it was good!
I was excited when I saw the bags of fresh cranberries a few weeks ago.
I wanted to see if I could make homemade cranberry sauce without the 1 cup of white granulated sugar that the recipe calls for. Cranberries are naturally very tart, so you can't just go reducing the sugar all willy-nilly. You've got to find a way to get some sweetness in there without relying on sugar.
For my first batch, I simply reduced the sugar by half, and used brown sugar instead of white. The result was some pretty tart cranberry sauce.
For my second round, I decided to mix it up. Instead of water, I used apple juice. Then, I replaced the sugar with 2/3 cup of this:
I've been using this on everything lately! In my oatmeal, fruit-based syrup, etc. It's about one and a half times sweeter than sugar, but has a low glycemic index. That's a fancy way of saying that it doesn't cause a spike in your blood sugar like regular sugar does.
While I was heating the 1 cup of apple juice and 2/3 cup agave nectar, I added some cinnamon and just a dash of ground cloves. Also some vanilla, because I think vanilla makes everything better.
When it started to boil, I added the cranberries. To complement the apple juice, and add even more sweetness, I grated up an apple and added some raisins, too. Here's how it looked:
Cooking cranberry sauce is like a mini Fourth of July right in your kitchen. As soon as the cranberries get hot enough, they start exploding! O.K., exploding is a little dramatic, but they do pop and it makes a fun sound. All you do is wait for about 2/3 of the cranberries to explode, then transfer the cranberry sauce to a bowl and refrigerate it for a few hours. It's really runny when you take it off the heat, but the pectin in the berries makes the sauce gel as it cools.
My second round of cranberry sauce turned out so well. Plenty sweet, and the cinnamon and cloves were a great addition, too. I've been having it for dessert for a few nights now!
So the Monday Nutrition Tip is three-fold:
1) Cranberry sauce comes from an actual fruit!
2) You can make a low-sugar version of cranberry sauce at home.
3) Cranberries are good for you! Try to eat them more than just Thanksgiving day.
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Edited to include a more handy recipe (for those that don't want to extract a recipe from the post!)
(Agave nectar can be found at Wal-mart in the cereal aisle next to the real maple syrup.)
1 bag of cranberries (washed, pick out the smushed ones)
1 cup apple juice
2/3 cup agave nectar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 apple, grated
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp. vanilla
Put the apple juice, agave nectar, cinnamon, ground cloves, and vanilla in a pot and bring to boiling.
Add cranberries, grated apple and raisins. Reduce heat to simmering.
Cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until about 2/3 of the cranberries have popped.
Put the sauce in a bowl and cool for several hours. It will gel, but might still be a little more runny than you're used to.
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