Ditch Your Grandmothers Cranberry Sauce Once And For All With This Easy To Make Blueberry Sauce
To some, The Holiday Classic is a fruit and spice filled fragrant delight to complement your deliciously roasted poultry. To others, it resembles an off gelatinous blog that just won’t give up it’s signature tin can shape, no matter how hard you try to hide it.
I of course have had my fair share of both and decided to try something a little bit different this year, forgoing the cranberry altogether.
This recipe is inspired by the Flavor Matrix, by James Briscione. It’s a great book that uses science to explain how you can pair ordinary household ingredients that you may not think would go together, to create extraordinary flavor. The recipe in Question: Blueberry & Horseradish Jam.
- 1 Pack (8oz) blueberries
- 2 oz horseradish grated (prepackaged is okay)
- 1 lemon (zest & juice)
- 1 orange (zest & juice)
- 1 cup apple juice
- 2 oz dried blueberries
- 1 TBSP cardamom pods
- 1 Pack reduced-sugar pectin
For this recipe you will need a medium sized pot.
Add apple juice, lemon, orange zest and juice and cardamom pods to pot over medium heat. bring to a light boil and add fresh and dried blueberries, and horseradish, reduce heat to low, let simmer until blueberries begin to burst and liquid looks slightly thickened. Remove Cardamom pods. Add pectin according to instructions on packet. simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat.
I took a few liberties of course to make this my own. The original, while delicious reminds me of a more fresh, and fruity cocktail sauce. I wanted something a just a little bit more unconventional.
This lead me east, far far east. I happened to have a bottle of Mae Ploy Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce hanging around, a staple in my kitchen and decided to play with that.
The result was amazing and just as easy if not easier than the original recipe. You can tweak the spices and herbs involves to better suit what you decide to serve this with. Can be served cold or warm.This sauce goes great with pulled pork on sandwiches, Nearly any grilled meat and yes, even most fish and seafood dishes, but for now I’ll give you my cranberry sauce killer recipe.
You’ll Need:
- 1 Pack (8oz) fresh blueberries (dried is okay too)
- 3 oz horseradish grated (prepackaged is okay)
- 1/2 cup Mae Ploy Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce
- 1 orange (zest & juice)
- 1 cup apple juice
- 3 Sprigs Thyme
- 1 TBSP cardamom pods
- 1 medium sauce pot
- 2 tsp salt
- Corn Starch Slurry (optional)
Okay this is where it gets fun, it’s finally time to make the sauce. I’ve played around with this recipe quite a bit and found that you can actually throw all the ingredients into the pot at the beginning (NOT the corn starch). Simple throw all ingredients except for the corn starch into pot over medium heat. let simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
Berries should begin to burst and the liquid will take on a deep purple hue, you can now remove thyme sprigs. If you wish to thicken the sauce from here place 1TBSP corn starch in separate bowl. Add liquid from pot into bowl until easily mixable. Slowly pour corn starch mixture back into pot while simmering. Stir on medium heat for an addition five minutes. Remove from heat. Serve warm or cold.
You’ll find that this sauce is a great accompaniment to your holiday dinner, with more depth and flavor than the traditional cranberry sauce.
