cranberry | Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

Trader Joe’s FRESH ORGANIC CRANBERRIES (cranberry sauce – easy recipe)

(RECIPE AT BOTTOM)

I just saw lovely fresh organic cranberries in stock at Trader Joe’s now (November 2023)

This year the organic ones are $2.99 a bag (1 lb). The regular ones, $2.29. Both are very good prices this year! Frankly for the fairly small price difference between the regular and organic I would get the organic ones.

How easy is it to make your own cranberry sauce? It will take you maybe 1 or 2 minutes of “work”, if you call “add water and sugar” work.

I will not bore you again with my rant about never serving anyone Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce from a can again — but really its super easy to make your own fresh cranberry sauce!

Here is the link to my original post including recipe how to make cranberry sauce that every Thanksgiving becomes the topr post here.

Trader Joe’s: https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/fresh-organic-cranberries-075744

“Our Organic Cranberries are harvested in the fall and shipped to your neighborhood Trader Joe’s. There are so many uses, you’ll want to grab more than one bag to simmer into a super sauce, bake into breads and muffins, deck out your Thanksgiving tablescape, garnish glasses of chilled sparkling wine…”

EASY BASIC CRANBERRY SAUCE RECIPE : Put all the berries into a heavy pot. Add one cup water, then add one cup of sugar. (I like organic cane sugar but use any kind you have) Bring this to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and just let it cook like that for 15-20 minutes until the cranberries start to “pop”. Once the start to pop its done.

(TIP : you can use orange juice for the liquid, or mix or 1/2 juice 1/2 water)

When the sauce cools it will thicken a lot as cranberry skin contains a great deal of pectin. I like adding some fresh lemon juice too (optional) after it’s done. You can make this days in advance. Take it out and let it come to room temperature before serving. I promise you, your guests will rave at how good your sauce is.

TIP: Fresh cranberries freeze well. You can buy an extra bag and freeze it. No one says cranberry sauce doesn’t go well with foods besides turkey. Its great with grilled chicken and other things too.

TJ’s Fresh Cranberries (and RECIPE)

Every year this post becomes the most popular post around Thanksgiving, ENJOY~

FRESH VS. CANNED CRANBERRY SAUCE

To me the greatest sin one can make for Thanksgiving is not making the cranberry sauce from scratch and just opening up a can.

There is simply no comparison to MAKING YOUR OWN CRANBERRY SAUCE fresh, and no reason not to. It’s literally the EASIEST thing in the world to make. If you do it this year, I promise you everyone will say how wonderful the cranberry sauce is. Seriously it could not be easier to make. Recipe follows….

If you’ve never made your own cranberry sauce and are used to opening a can of that jiggly jelly stuff (ugh!) you owe it to your family to make it this year. The “work” involved may take you about 1 minute, plus maybe 15 minutes just letting it do its own thing cooking. TIP: Make it at least an hour ahead of eating so it can be served at room temp (hint, even better do it one or two days before to get it out of the way). It will set up beautifully in the fridge. Take it out of the fridge an hour or so before eating.

EASY “RECIPE” : Open bag. Dump berries in a pot. Add one cup water* and one cup of sugar. Bring to a boil. Basically that’s it. When it boils, just lower the heat down to a simmer and let it alone until the cranberries “pop” in about 15 to 20 minutes. When the berries have popped, they’re done so just turn off the fire. DONE! Let it cool for 30 minutes or so. As it cools it will thicken up (cranberry skin contains a great deal of pectin, a natural thickener).

If this easy recipe seems “too easy” for you and you want to get a tiny bit fancier and more creative, here are things you try… * Instead of water, you can use orange juice. A bit fancier? Grate in a little orange zest. Even more creative? This year I added a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and a pinch of fennel seeds and some lime juice. Ginger can be nice in a cranberry sauce.

Once you try this you will be shocked at how easy it is to make and how infinitely better this fresh sauce is over the canned stuff. At the time of this writing a 12 oz. bag cost $1.99, a decent price. (UPDATE: 2018, a bag was $3.49 at TJ’s) Update 2: 2022, a bag was back down to now $2.29. UPDATE 2023: Organic ones are $3 a bag so buy those!

You can even buy an extra bag of berries and throw it as is in the freezer where it can keep for a few months if you want it outside of just Thanksgiving. It goes great with grilled chicken breasts.

Once you make your own, you will realize how easy it was to make and and like me, will never buy the sauce in a can again, or even TJ’s pre-made stuff.

Now go, and sin no more…

#DIY #CranberrySauce

RECIPE VARIATION: Indian Cranberry Chutney. In a saute pan, melt a tablespoon butter, and add some chopped garlic, a quarter chopped onion and saute stirring for 3 minutes. Add a teaspoon of TJ’s curry powder (or more to taste) and cook one minute. Add the zest of one orange and its juice with 1/4 cup of water and 1/4-1/2 cup of brown sugar or Palm Sugar (or more or less to taste). Add the package of cranberries and simmer 25-30 minutes stirring frequently. If you want heat add a few dashes of Cayenne or your favorite Hot Sauce (PeriPeri, Green Dragon.…) to taste.