Cranberry-Port Gelée

Cranberry-Port Gelée

From Canal House, Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen

The best resource you’ll find for the world of food and cooking on your computer is food52. This portal is beautiful, smart, interesting and filled with more information and resources than I have time to explore. It’s the Bergdorf Goodman of food sites. (You’re now in a .99 store.) Canal House is a great story and resource and this recipe heralds from their site. Who said Philadelphia was only good for …

This is a cranberry jelly, like the one in the can, but for sophisticated palates. If you’ve been having a staring contest with your juniper berries, you’ll win. If you don’t have any, go buy some. This recipe is worth the investment. I have a bottle of inexpensive blended port that I used. You can use red wine or Madeira.

If you have a Chinois (“China cap”), the Bentley of fine mesh sieves, this would be ideal. But a really fine mesh sieve/strainer works perfectly well.

The yield is about what you’d get in a can. The return is handsome.

It sets up in a couple of hours, but you can make it a few days before you’ll serve it.

This is a gorgeous and sophisticated condiment. It pairs with fowl or meat. It’ll compliment a chunk of country paté and it'll dress up your chopped liver.

This jelly will be sitting pretty aside our Thanksgiving pork roast! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

peace and love,

jane

Cranberry-Port Gelée

Ingredients:

1 cup port (or Madeira or red wine)

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 Tbsp. juniper berries

10 black peppercorns

12 oz. fresh cranberries (1 bag) or about 4 cups – you may substitute frozen cranberries

Procedure:

Into a heavy saucepan, put port, sugar, juniper berries and peppercorns.

Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil.

Add cranberries and return to a boil. Lower the flame and cook over medium-low heat for approximately 10-15 minutes, until berries have burst and are very soft.

Strain the sauce through a fine mesh sieve, pushing the berries against the sides with a rubber spatula, into a bowl. Scrape the outside of the sieve with the spatula to remove the thicker part of the strained jelly.

Once you’ve completed straining, whisk the thicker into the thinner liquid, mixing them together.

Pour into a lovely serving bowl.

Cover and refrigerate. This will set up in two to three hours. It can be made several days in advance.