Cranberry Compote

If at all possible, I will never eat regular cranberry sauce again. It’s not that I don’t like cranberry sauce (including the canned stuff–tell no one), it’s just that this stuff is so good I COULDN’T  STOP eating it. I ate it with my turkey. I ate it with my mashed potatoes. I ate it all by itself on a spoon. I know that I will put it on a turkey sandwich for lunch or better yet, I will slather it on some toast for breakfast.

I’m calling this a cranberry compote, but it can also be called a cranberry sauce. If I blitzed it in the blender and added a little balsamic vinegar and some walnut oil, I could call it a salad dressing. As a matter of fact, I’ll probably try it that way, too. Or, if I blitzed it in the blender with some frozen yogurt and a little orange juice, it would make an outstanding smoothie. Gosh, I’m a regular genius. Shall I go on?

The best plus of all–this is way easy to make.

Print Recipe

Cranberry Compote

This is a wonderful compote which could easily be used in place of traditional cranberry sauce. It starts with lots of fresh ingredients like oranges, cranberries, apples, pears, ginger and freshly ground nutmeg. Cook them all together for the most wonderful accompaniment to a Thanksgiving dinner.

Author: Terri @ that's some good cookin'

Ingredients

• 1 large orange
• zest from large orange
• 1 12-ounce package fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
• 1 large granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
• 1 large ripe pear (I used Bosc, peeled, cored, and diced)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Instructions

• For the orange: After removing the zest from the orange, remove the remaining pith from the orange, section, then dice the sections. (See this post for tutorial on sectioning an orange with a knife.)
• Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring as needed, until cranberries have burst and mixture has reduced and thickened. It may be necessary to lower heat as the compote starts to thicken so that it will not burn. Allow to cool; remove cinnamon sticks.
• May be served warm or at room temperature.

Notes

May be made a few days ahead. Store covered in refrigerator.