All Things Cranberry

Cranberries. My favorite fruit! Oh how I love them. Let me count the ways. They are truly the one seasonal fruit. You can’t really buy them out of season. And they are native to North America. And they’re grown in the Northeast. So. If you recall, I talked all things cranberry on Facebook Live this past weekend. I explained all the things I just mentioned, plus how to grow them yourself. Spoiler alert: you don’t need a bog! Then I showed how to make cranberry ketchup (or chutney, whichever you prefer). You can watch the video below and it’s also linked to my video page here on the blog. I’m also including the recipe below!

But before we get to the recipe, I got the recipe from Food in Jars by Marissa McClellan. And if you’ve been around here long enough you’ll know that I modified the recipe and will explain how in the ‘Tips & Tricks’ section below.

The Recipe:

Cranberry Ketchup
Recipe from Food in Jars

Ingredients:
4 pounds fresh cranberries
2 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 cups apple cider vinegar
4 cups light brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
1 tablespoon allspice berries
1 tablespoon celery seed

Instructions:
1. Prepare a boiling water bath and 6 half-pint jars according to the proper water bath canning process (page 10 of the book). Place the lids in a small saucepan, cover them with water, and simmer over very low heat.
2. Combine the cranberries, onions, and 4 cups of water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook until the cranberries pop and the onions are soft, about 25 minutes.
3. Position a food mill or sieve over a large pot or bowl and press the cranberries and onions through. Discard the seeds and skins in the fool mill and return the pulp to the pot.
4. Add the cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper to the pot. Combine the cloves, crushed cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, and celery seeds in a spice bag or tea ball, or bundle them in a piece of cheesecloth and secure tightly with kitchen twine and add to the pot. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring regularly, until the mixture is quite thick, about 30 minutes.
5. When the ketchup is finished cooking, remove the spice bundle and discard. Ladle the ketchup into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Tips & Tricks

1. I initially did not run my cranberries and onions through a food mill. I decided to keep it chunky. But then as I was getting everything ready to can, I just ran an immersion blender through everything. I found the cranberries that were still whole were very tart when I bit into them. If you don’t mind having the cranberry skins and tart berries, just keep everything whole and make chutney instead.
2. If you are making chutney, you will end up cooking everything longer than 30 minutes. You want the liquid in the pot to be syrupy.
3. You can easily cut the recipe in half if you don’t have 4 pounds of cranberries. All the main ingredients are easily divisible. For example, if you have 1 pound of cranberries, I would use a little more than 1/2 cup onion, 1/2 cup ACV, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup water.
4. What do you do with cranberry ketchup? Put it on meats or use it like a ketchup on burgers, chicken sandwiches. In the pic above, I spread it on an english muffin and then topped it with an egg and pickled ramps! YUM! And as a side note, the eggs are from our chickens and we foraged for the ramps and pickled them ourselves. Maybe next year I’ll have my own homegrown cranberries too!
5. I ended up with 12 half-pints of canned cranberry ketchup!

What’s the Fuss about Cranberries:

If you want the quick info on cranberries, here’s what you need to know:
1. Cranberries are native to North America
2. They’re high in antioxidants and are good for kidney health
3. They’re normally grown in bogs when they are commercially produced, but if you grow them in your backyard, you don’t need a bog. The bog helps with high volume harvesting. Watch the video to find out more (I explain how it works). And to see what a cranberry plant looks like, see this post. If you are growing them in your back yard, they like acidic soil and they do tend to need more water than normal.
4. Cranberries are a member of the Heather family and are related to blueberries (who also like acidic soil).
5. Cranberries have lots of uses: fresh: make cranberry bread, muffins, scones, add them to pies. Dried: add them to salads, cookies, trail mix, oatmeal. You can even dehydrate your own cranberries or make your own cranberry juice. And fresh cranberries freeze incredibly well!

That’s it friends! Now you know all about the cranberries and what to do with them. What’s your favorite way to use cranberries?

Linking up with the Simple Homestead Blog Hop.

’til next time
-k
xoxo