Best Jellied Cranberry Sauce!

I know Thanksgiving is over, but this Cranberry Sauce is good all year long and works well with so many dishes beyond turkey. Think: Pork Roast, Chicken, or even an elevated Meatloaf. My husband, Jerry, loves cranberry sauce from the can (and I think it is other-foodly) so I wanted to find a recipe that works for us both and this one is fantastic; easy to make; and keeps well for up to 2 weeks. I found this recipe on ‘The Food Network’s’ website and made just a couple tweaks. I will give you the recipe as I found it online, but I omitted the ground coriander, used more orange zest and used a whisker less sugar.

Ingredients:
1 pound cranberries (about 4 cups), thawed if frozen
2 oranges
2 cups sugar (I used 1 3/4 cups.)
1 tsp. ground coriander (I omitted.)
Kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Ingredients ready to bring to a boil.

Preparation:
Put the cranberries in a saucepan. Remove wide strips of zest from 1/2 orange. I used the zest from both oranges. Add to the saucepan with the juice of both oranges. Add the sugar, coriander (if using), a pinch of salt and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries burst and the sauce thickens, 15-20 minutes.

…coming to a boil.

Remove from the heat and remove the orange zest. Stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.

Look at that beautiful color!

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a serving dish, pushing the sauce through with a rubber spatula.

Refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours. I made mine 2 days in advance.

Because I wanted my sauce to look more like it actually came from a can, I put my strained cranberry jelly in a round bottom mold. To unmold gently run a knife along all edges of the mold. Place a warm, moist towel on the bottom of the mold and give the mold a very easy tap. Mine slid right out. I will continue making this sauce every Thanksgiving and throughout the year!

Here are some scenes from our wonderful, fun-filled Thanksgiving feast: