This photo taken Oct. 31, 2009 shows homemade cranberry sauce. Homemade cranberry sauce, while lacking that familiar sound and shape when putting out canned, gives you a truly flavor packed condiment with little effort. From foreground, spicy cranberry salsa, dried fruit cranberry compote and cranberry chutney only take 10 to 15 minutes to make and are a step well above their canned cousin.(AP Photo/Larry Crowe)
The easiest way is to simply follow the directions on the back of a bag of fresh cranberries, which usually involves dumping the cranberries, a somewhat scary amount of sugar and a bit of water into a saucepan and boiling until thick.
Getting more creative — and more flavorful — isn’t hard. These three quick recipes are jammed with flavor. The first, a cooked chutney-style sauce that sports warm, spicy flavors, is the easiest. The second offers a sweeter take; it’s studded with dried fruit.
Or for something a little different, try the third, a spicy uncooked cranberry salsa. The heat of the jalapeno is just enough to complement the other flavors of the meal without competing.
CRANBERRY CHUTNEY
Start to finish: 10 minutes, plus cooling
Servings: 8 to 10
12-ounce jar mango chutney
12-ounce bag fresh cranberries
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch salt
In a medium saucepan over medium-high, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and let stand or refrigerate until cooled and thickened.
Matt Lee and Ted Lee like to smother their pan-fried pork loin chops in a quick mushroom chutney sweetened with prunes. The recipe, which comes from their new cookbook “The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern,” comes together in just 25 minutes.