Turkey is the easy answer, of course. But while turkey is the official protein of the day, the official condiment/fruit/relish/bright-colored-accent is the cranberry. Whether it's jellied, or a chutney, or relish, cranberries usually end up on the table somewhere.I grew up with the canned jellied stuff, but to be honest, I wasn't that crazy about it. I'd like a little taste of it with some of the bone-dry turkey breast, but a little was enough.
When I discovered a cran-raspberry canned jellied product, I switched to that. That was back in the day when I had never even seen a fresh cranberry, and I loved the flavor that the raspberries brought to the usual jiggle-dish.
But then, when I found fresh cranberries, I started having fun.
Instead of treating the cranberry as something that has to be on the table whether you like it or not, now I'm
This relish is an homage to that first cran-raspberry dish that changed my ideas about cranberry sauce, but it starts with fresh cranberries. Since raspberries aren't in season at this time of year, I opted for frozen berries.
And then I used some of the resulting cranberry sauce in a cocktail. Yeah, you heard me.
Since this post is sponsored by Captain Morgan's as part of their Captain's Table challenge, of course there's rum in everything - including the chef.
Cran-Raspberry Sauce with Spiced Rum
12 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over12 ounces frozen raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum
1 teaspoon salt
Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan and cook on medium heat, stirring as needed, until the cranberries have soften and burst, and the sauce has thickened.
Take the sauce off the heat - and here's where you have a choice. You can serve this chunky and seedy, or you can pass it through a fine sieve to get a smooth sauce. I ended up doing both, and had a pint of the chunky sauce and about 1 1/2 cups of the smooth sauce.
Cran-Raspberry Rum Punch
This can be served as a warm or cold drink. Warm, it's a comforting drink for a cold day. Cold, it's bright and refreshing. Either way, the color is bright and inviting. I suggest using the strained sauce for this.I let my husband sample this, and he really liked it - a lot. That's surprising because he doesn't like cranberries at all. And he doesn't drink mixed drinks. But I had to steal this away from him.
1 1/2 ounces strained cran-raspberry sauce
1 ounce Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum
Hot or cold water, to fill glass
Combine the cran-raspberry sauce, rum, and water in a short, squat glass - if you're serving it cols, you can add ice before you fill with water - your choice.
This post was sponsored by Captain Morgan's as part of their #CaptainsTable challenge. I received rum for use in recipes and a stipend to purchase additional ingredients.
