Dec

easy Cranberry (Whiskey) Apple Sauce – peace. love. quinoa

Dec 13

OK, I realize that you may be thinking I’m a little late out of the gate with a Cranberry Sauce recipe. Thanksgiving has come and gone, and no one is thinking about cranberry sauce anymore. Except for me. I am. Because I discovered that it’s complimentary to many different food items and meals besides the traditional Thanksgiving feast.

In fact, I made this Cranberry Whiskey Applesauce for Thanksgiving and then made it AGAIN because it was so good…. (and because I had leftover ingredients). I served on the side of a rice and beans dish last night, it’s good with waffles, it’s good with butternut squash and kale, it’s good with a lentil loaf, it’s good atop pumpkin cornbread, waffles, pancakes, basically, everything. It’s good with everything.

AND, it’s still the holiday season so I still consider myself relevant with this recipe. So there.

I’ve made applesauce before and I’ve made cranberry sauce before, I’ve even made Cranberry Applesauce before, but this was the first time I added whiskey. The reason that adding whiskey appealed to me is because I was cooking for my boyfriends parents who are Irish… and they love them some whiskey. In fact, when they were here visiting we all got drunk-ish on whiskey shots one afternoon. Shamefully, I couldn’t even take one shot – I had to sip. They kept talking about how “smooth” the whiskey was, while I tried my hardest just to keep up. Sigh. I’ve got a lot of work to do if I’m going to be a part of that family.

So anyway, I knew that I could not invite an Irish family in to my home on the holiday without having a bottle of whiskey on hand. I went to Trader Joe’s and found a CO local whiskey, Tin Cup. It’s got some relation to Stanahan’s whiskey (which is da bomb) but I don’t quite remember what the relation was. The Tin Cup is like Stanahan’s little sister, or anyway that’s how I see it…. It’s also more affordable than Stanahan’s! (like)

So the recipe….

easy Cranberry (Whiskey) Apple Sauce

Author: peace. love. quinoa

Ingredients

6-8 apples*, chopped
3 cups cranberries
¼ cup apple cider, apple juice, or water
½ cup raw turbinado sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup whiskey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick
a pinch of sea salt

Instructions

Put all ingredients in a large pot and simmer on low-medium heat for about an hour or two.
Once the cranberries and apples have softened, move the pot away from the heat and let it cool slightly (this could take another hour).
Either mash the sauce with a masher for a chunkier sauce OR put the mixture into a blender and puree for a smoother sauce.
Serve warm, chilled, or at room temperature.

Notes

*I prefer to use a sweet apple variety (like Honeycrisp) to compliment the tartness of the cranberries.

3.2.2807

Tagged with → Apple • cranberry • gluten-free • holiday • sauce • Thanksgiving • vegan • whiskey