Tantalize your taste buds with the vibrant and delectable flavors of cranberries, now available in frozen form for your cooking convenience. Frozen cranberries offer a burst of tartness and a treasure trove of nutrients, making them a versatile ingredient for a variety of culinary creations. From the classic tangy cranberry sauce, perfect for complementing your Thanksgiving turkey, to the refreshing and revitalizing cranberry sorbet, a palate-cleansing delight, this article presents a delightful array of recipes that showcase the versatility of frozen cranberries. Embark on a culinary journey as we explore the diverse possibilities that frozen cranberries bring to your kitchen, transforming them into mouthwatering dishes that will leave a lasting impression.
Let's cook with our recipes!
FROZEN CRANBERRY SALAD
I grew up in rural northwestern Montana, where my three sisters and I made meals and prepared food for 4-H contests. I've always loved cooking, and as the administrator of a retirement residence, I enjoy planning special events.
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Lunch Side Dishes
Time 10m
Yield 24 servings.
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, Miracle Whip and sugar. Fold in the whipped topping; set aside. , In a large bowl, combine the pineapple, nuts, coconut and cranberry sauce. Add cranberries if desired. Gently combine with cream cheese mixture. Spread into a 13x9-in. dish or three foil-lined 8x4-in. loaf pans. Cover and freeze. , Remove from freezer 10-15 minutes before serving. Cut in squares or slices. Serve on lettuce leaves.
Nutrition Facts :
HOT MULLED WINE
For a festive holiday drink or something to keep you warm during those cold winter months, you'll love trying this warming wine.-Taste of Home Test Kitchen
Provided by Taste of Home
Time 4h15m
Yield 5 servings.
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Place cinnamon sticks, cloves and rosemary on a double thickness of cheesecloth; bring up corners of cloth and tie with string to form a bag., In a 1-1/2-qt. slow cooker, combine the wine, cranberries, sugar, bourbon, orange juice and zest. Add spice bag. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until heated through. Discard spice bag. Serve warm.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 129 calories, Fat 0 fat (0 saturated fat), Cholesterol 0 cholesterol, Sodium 1mg sodium, Carbohydrate 31g carbohydrate (29g sugars, Fiber 1g fiber), Protein 0 protein.
HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY SAUCE
Cranberry sauce brings a bright jolt of red to the Thanksgiving table. Melissa Clark teaches you the basics.
Provided by Melissa Clark
Number Of Ingredients 0
Steps:
- Cranberry sauce is one of the first things you can cross off your Thanksgiving list. Make a batch before you even start defrosting the turkey.Homemade cranberry sauce keeps for about a week. Cover it well and store it in the fridge.Don't be tempted to freeze cranberry sauce; the structure will break down, and you could lose the gelling.A raw sauce has a shorter shelf life than a more stable cooked one. You can make it a day or two ahead. If you see liquid starting to pool, drain it off and give the sauce a good stir.
- Sweetened with sugar and seasoned with orange juice, this is the most traditional way to make cranberry sauce. It's also one of the best. Place one 12-ounce bag fresh or thawed frozen cranberries in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and pour over these 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup fresh orange juice. Stir to combine. Cook until sugar is entirely melted and cranberries begin to burst in the heat, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir again, add the zest of one orange, and cook for 2 or 3 minutes longer, turn off heat, cover pan, and allow to cool. Put cranberry mixture in a serving bowl, cover, and place in refrigerator until cold, at least 2 hours, or until you need it.• If you are using frozen cranberries, there is no need to defrost before cooking. • Pull the sauce off the stove once you hear or see the first few cranberries burst. You want some of them to burst but others to remain whole for the best texture. • The sauce can be made up to 1 week in advance; keep refrigerated, and do not add the nuts until Thanksgiving Day, a few hours before serving. • If your sauce doesn't set after you've chilled it, put it back on the stove and simmer it for another 5 minutes or so, then let it cool and chill. That should do the trick.
- A shimmering cranberry jelly need not come from a can. This homemade version is bracing, syrupy and pleasingly wobbly. A touch of Lillet makes it sophisticated as well.In a heavy saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups Lillet, 1/2 cup orange liqueur (like Grand Marnier), 2 cups sugar and, if you'd like, 2 tablespoons juniper berries for a dash of spice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add two 12-ounce bags of fresh or frozen cranberries (about 8 cups) to the pot and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until all the cranberries burst and are very soft, at least 10 minutes. Strain the sauce into a bowl through a sieve, pushing on the solids with a rubber spatula to extract all the liquid. Discard the solids. Stir the liquid and transfer to a pretty serving bowl or a mold. (A funnel or liquid measuring cup with a spout can be useful for transferring without splashing the sides.) Cover and refrigerate. It will firm up within a few hours, or can be made several days ahead. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. If you chilled the jelly in a mold, you'll need to turn it out. To do so, place the mold in a large bowl. Carefully pour hot water into the bowl so it comes up the sides of the mold, melting the jelly just enough to release it from the mold. After 3 minutes, try unmolding the jelly onto a serving dish. If it doesn't come out, return to the bowl and try again 2 minutes later. Repeat until the jelly is released. If necessary, return it to the refrigerator to firm up before serving.• Make it nonalcoholic, or play around with the flavor: Use 2 cups of orange juice, red wine, port or Madeira instead of the Lillet and the orange liqueur. • You can serve the jelly directly from a simple glass bowl, but the fun here is using different shaped molds. A small ornate Bundt pan is nice, and you can fill the center with sour cream or diced fresh pineapple. Pouring the jelly into clean empty cans is an amusing sleight of hand: "canned" cranberry sauce. Or pour the mixture into a plain metal bowl, then unmold it onto a fancy plate and surround it with a combination of dried cranberries and toasted pecan or walnut halves. • Make sure the water your use to unmold your jelly is quite hot, not just warm. The idea is to melt the outer jelly layer enough so that the whole mold can slip right out. • To avoid drips, after dipping the cranberry jelly mold into the hot water, dry the outside of the mold with a kitchen towel before turning it onto your plate.
- Raw cranberry sauce, or cranberry relish as it is also known, is snappier and fresher than the cooked kind. Even better, you can make it in under 10 minutes.This bright and bracing mixture doesn't really need a recipe - just a food processor. Put half of a navel orange (peel, pith and all), a cup of fresh cranberries, and half a cup of toasted walnuts or pecans (if you'd like), in the food processor and pulse together until everything is finely chopped. Add sugar by tablespoons until it tastes good. The white parts of the orange give the fresh sauce a pleasant bitterness that mellows over time. • If you don't have a food processor, you can make this with a meat or nut grinder. Or even a knife will work, though it will take you a while. Don't use a blender, which will reduce everything to juice.• Don't overprocess the mixture. Pulse it just until it comes together. The chunky texture is part of its charm.• Make this within 48 hours of serving. Unlike other cranberry sauces, it won't get better sitting for longer than that, and if you use nuts, they will lose their crunch. If the liquid starts to pool, drain it off and give the whole thing a stir.
- Classic cranberry sauce satisfies the traditionalists in your clan, but going rogue is easy if you've got the urge. Here are some ideas for jazzing up the flavor and texture.• Nuts add richness and crunch. Try pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts, pine nuts, pistachios or whatever your heart desires. Toast them first, then add them within a few hours of serving so they don't lose their snap in the fridge. • Chopped dried fruit adds sweetness and a pleasant chewiness to cranberry sauce. Stir them into your sauce after it has cooked but while it's still warm. • Dried cranberries, strawberries and cherries intensify the berry factor; you don't need to chop them. Dried apricots and pears add color and a honeylike flavor; slice into bite-sized pieces before stirring into the sauce. Candied ginger adds a gentle bite; chop it finely before using so it's well distributed into the sauce. • Figs and dates give cranberry sauce Mediterranean verve. Slice them before adding. You could also add a few drops of rose water or orange blossom water to the sauce as well. Cranberries are more sour than sweet, and you'll need some kind of sugar to balance out that acid. Changing up the sweetener is a way to tweak the flavor of your sauce. • White sugar, which most recipes use, leaves you with the cleanest and purest cranberry flavor. Brown sugar adds a caramel richness, though it muddies the vivid scarlet of what may be the only colorful thing on the table. • Liquid sweeteners, including honey, maple syrup and agave, can also be used, but you'll have to reduce the liquid in the recipe to make up for the addition. Or let the mixture simmer for an extra minute to cook off some of the moisture. Rule of thumb: when it looks like loose jam, pull it off the heat. It will thicken as it cools. • If you want something on the tart side, start out with less sugar than the recipes calls for, then add more to taste.Liqueurs, spirits, wine and fruit juices add depth to cranberry sauce, and can be used in place of some or all the water in any given recipe. If you're adding something sweet, you may want to reduce the added sugar in the recipe. Be aware that most but not all of the alcohol will cook off during the simmering. • Orange is a classic cranberry match in the form of orange juice or Grand Marnier. But other flavors work well, too. • Consider apple cider and applejack, brandy, Bourbon, Chambord, red or white wine, vermouth or a fortified wine such as port, Madeira or Lillet. Adding aromatics turns the usual jamlike cranberry sauce into more of a complex chutney. • Fresh chiles and fresh ginger bring sharpness and heat. Mince chiles and discard the seeds, or finely grate the ginger, then add to the pot along with the cranberries. • Sweet spices (cinnamon, clove, allspice) give a perfumed warmth. Stir in ground spices to taste at during the last minute or two of cooking. If you want to use whole spices, wrap them in cheese cloth so you'll be able to discard them easily later, and add them along with the cranberries to they have time to infuse. • Herbs like bay leaf and thyme can add a woodsy note. Wrap them in cheese cloth or tie them into a bundle with kitchen twine, and add them with the cranberries. Discard after cooking.• Freshly grated citrus zest lends brightness. Add them to taste after you've pulled the cranberry sauce off the heat.
Tips:
- Always start with frozen cranberries. Fresh cranberries can be used, but they will not cook as evenly.
- Rinse the cranberries before cooking to remove any dirt or debris.
- Use a large pot or Dutch oven to cook the cranberries. This will allow the cranberries to cook evenly and prevent them from sticking to the pot.
- Add sugar or other sweetener to taste. Cranberries are naturally tart, so you may want to add some sugar or honey to sweeten them up.
- Cook the cranberries until they are soft and have burst. This will take about 15-20 minutes.
- Let the cranberries cool slightly before serving. They can be served warm or cold.
Conclusion:
Cooking frozen cranberries is a quick and easy way to enjoy this delicious and versatile fruit. Cranberries are a good source of vitamin C and antioxidants, and they can be used in a variety of dishes, from simple side dishes to festive desserts. Whether you are looking for a healthy snack or a special treat, cooking frozen cranberries is a great option.
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