Orange-Cranberry Sauce

Getting ready to dollop cranberry sauce on a turkey sandwich.

A few facts:

1. I love turkey.
2. I love Thanksgiving leftovers.
3. Turkey without cranberry sauce is like a present without a bow.
4. I have never had a canned cranberry sauce that I liked.

Over the years, my sauce has evolved from the basic sugar + water + cranberries into a more unique sauce. Having been asked a couple of times for the recipe, I finally decided to put it in print.


Ingredients

1 lb fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
Juice of one orange plus enough water to equal one cup
2 tablespoons minced (not grated or zested) orange rind
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Instructions

Rinse the cranberries well. Discard any berries that are not ripe or are overripe or blemished. Pick out any tiny stems.

In a medium saucepan, combine the water-juice mixture and the sugar. Add the cranberries, the orange rind and the cardamom.

Bring to a boil. Keep boiling for about 5 minutes. Stay by the stove and stir it so it doesn't burn.

Occasionally, the sauce doesn't "set" properly — it remains runny — in which case, I put it back in a saucepan, bring it back to a boil and boil it for another five minutes.

Serve with any poultry, including on sandwiches. It also makes a nice condiment with cheese! Will keep in a sealed mason jar in the fridge for weeks.