Friday, November 26, 2010

Cranberry sauce, no sugar added

In my last post, I talked about how I planned to make cranberry sauce without adding sugar. I think I was successful. With only four ingredients!

2 12 oz. bags of cranberries (fresh, of course)
3-5 onions, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup (or so) apple cider

The first step here is caramelizing onions. If you know how to caramelize onions, skip the next paragraph. If not, here's the deal. Caramelizing onions is all about patience and low heat. And butter. You can use another fat, but everything else in this recipe is a fruit or vegetable and butter works the best, so use butter. I usually caramelize in a cast iron pan because I do almost anything in a cast iron pan. Melt the butter over medium heat and add the onions. Once they begin to brown, turn the heat to low and cover. Continue to cook the onions, assuring that they don't burn, until they are dark brown, soft and sweet. The sugar in the onions will offset the cranberries.

The cranberries are acidic enough that you don't want to cook them in your cast iron. Add the onions and cranberries over low heat and cook until the cranberries the berries burst. Occasionally stir the onions and berries over the low heat for 15-25 minutes. Have a taste, and if the berries are a bit too bitter (or tart) add apple cider about 1/3 cup at a time until it takes the bitterness edge off. Cook 5-10 more minutes, or more if desired, cool and serve or store.

This should serve 8-12 people. Unless they really like cranberries.

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