My Carolina Kitchen’s French Cranberry Sauce

From My Carolina Kitchen - Sam Hoffer

A citrus twist on a classic – serves 12

The is our traditional cranberry sauce flavored with red wine with a citrus undertones. I call it “French” cranberry sauce because of the wine, even though the French don’t have a cranberry sauce that I know of.

1 (12 ounce) package of fresh or frozen cranberries

2 cinnamon sticks

1 cup dry red wine, preferably French

¾ cup to 1 ½ cups sugar, or to taste (I use 1 cup)

2 oranges, navel or tangerines

Put the cranberries (no need to thaw if they’re frozen) in a sauce pan with the one of the cinnamon sticks, red wine, and sugar. Zest the oranges and set aside half of the zest for a garnish. Add the remaining zest and the juice of both oranges to the cranberry mixture. Stir the cranberry mixture and bring to a boil. Partially cover the saucepan and simmer about 15 minutes, until the cranberries have burst. Remove from the heat, let cool, and discard the cinnamon stick. The sauce will firm up as it cools. It can be refrigerated, covered, for up to five days. At the last minute, using a microplane rasp style grater, grate a little cinnamon “dust” over the cranberry sauce and garnish with the remaining citrus zest. Serve at room temperature.