Curried Raisin Cranberry Sauce

I’ll start this post with a confession; for me the jury is still out on any Cranberry sauce, I’m not sure why but I just can’t seem to like this dish. Through the years I have had many variations of it to no avail. From the good old can with the rings still on it, (Yuk) to recipes handed down generation to generation, until I stumbled upon this one. This one I like, and found myself asking for seconds.

 Back when I owned my own restaurant we would cook Thanksgiving dinner for all the staff and their friends that didn’t go home for the holiday. We would close the place down, me and two of the other managers, (my two best friends) would arrive early and cook all day long… No one should go without a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, right?   Around 2 o’clock everyone would start showing up, we would open the bar, turn on Football, and start serving appetizers. The full feast would be served at 6; we went all out with two 25 pound turkeys and all the trimmings. These are some of my fondest memories of Thanksgiving. Always stress free and always a great time. Below is the recipe we perfected over a five year period. Super easy, with a 10 minute prep time for best results make it a day ahead of time.

Curried Raisin Cranberry Sauce- Serves 12

Sugar- 2 cups

Cider Vinegar- 1 cup

Port Wine- 1 cup

Orange Marmalade- 1 ½ cups= 1- 20 ounce jar

Raisins- 1 cup

Ground Cinnamon- 1 ½ tbsp

Curry Powder-3 tsp

Salt- 1 tsp

Fresh Cranberries- 2 (12 ounce bags)

Method to the Madness

1)      Pre-heat oven to 325.In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, vinegar, port, marmalade, raisins, cinnamon, curry, and salt. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Add the cranberries, and mix well.

2)      Spray a 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Pour in the cranberry mix and cover with foil. (this can be done a day ahead of time or a few hours in advance)

3)      Bake covered for 60 minutes, until cranberries are soft, and some of them burst. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

4)      ENJOY!!