Many people say this is their favorite time of year. The weather gets cooler, the trees change from greens to autumn hues, then winter bareness. It’s also the return of pumpkin spice; coffee, muffins, candles… pumpkin spice everything. And it’s the time to celebrate with our families around the dinner table, a feast of warm and savory seasonal foods.
There’s an ingredient that you can add to your menu that will add zip to your recipes, and I’m not talking about pumpkin spice. Cranberries can brighten every part of your holiday menu. Cranberries come in several forms; they’re readily available and easy to use.
A Berry Good Addition
You may already enjoy cranberry juice on a regular basis; it’s also a great ingredient for holiday cocktails. Dried cranberries are available year-round. They are a healthy snack, often found in the better-quality trail mixes They also make a great addition to a salad, especially with toasted nuts and blue cheese.
Fresh cranberries are too tart to be eaten on their own. Cooking them with something sweet like sugar or maple syrup helps balance the tartness. A homemade cranberry sauce can be a great addition to your Thanksgiving menu. Making it with fresh ginger and orange juice creates a condiment that goes well with turkey and stuffing but here’s a tip about homemade cranberry sauce that most people don’t realize: it’s even better on pumpkin pie. Topping your pie with whipped cream and homemade cranberry relish makes an often ho-hum dessert extra special.
Canned is Okay, Too
Store-bought canned cranberry jelly is usually served in a perfect cylinder with imprinted ribbed lines from the can still intact. There’s a very good chance you know someone who loves this stuff; my father-in-law certainly does. I make a blowout Thanksgiving feast with homemade everything. Even the cream of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole is homemade, but someone still sneaks in canned cranberry sauce for the family patriarch.
At first, I was a little insulted, but I felt better when he had a serving of the homemade sauce along with the magical canned stuff. Hey, you like what you like. I guess I’m not really a cranberry snob, I actually like the canned stuff as a secret ingredient in braised red cabbage.
Even though cranberries are full of vitamin C and have antioxidant qualities, hopefully, you’re cooking with them because they’re delicious. They’re more than just a superfood. They’re a super ingredient that can add a lot of pizzazz to your holiday menu on everything from the drink menu to the salad course and all the way to desserts.
John Selick is the senior culinary manager at Sodexo Healthcare Services for University Hospitals in Cleveland.
