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Cranberry & Port Sauce, the perfect accompaniment to your Christmas turkey and unbelievably simple to make.

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I’m going to admit that in the past I’ve usually bought my cranberry sauce to serve alongside my Christmas turkey, but this year I decided that it was high time I got on and made my own.

I’m in charge of dinner this Christmas and I’m planning to make it as low effort as possible whilst still trying to make quite a few things from scratch. I love cooking and could happily while away a few hours in the kitchen cooking a roast, but that’s not what I’m planning on doing on the big day. I want to be in the lounge with my family and a glass of something delicious, opening presents and listening to cheesy Christmas music 🙂 . The great thing about this cranberry and port sauce is that it can be prepared a few days in advance and stored in the fridge ready to get out and pop onto the table, so no effort on Christmas day. Another great thing is that it’s incredibly simple to make, chuck all of the ingredients into a pan, bring them to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes – all that’s needed is the occasional stir. The last great thing about it is that it’s yummy, the port adds a lovely rich flavour which I think goes perfectly with the sharpness of the cranberries.

By luck, on the day I was planning to photograph this recipe a preserving starter kit turned up on my doorstep, a little early Christmas present from Ball Preserving. Their jars are really pretty (can you see the lovely diamond pattern on them in the pictures), which means that you can pop them straight out onto your Christmas dinner table without worrying about decanting them into another dish.

There’s a bit more to the preserving kit than just the pretty jars though, it makes filling and sterilising jars easy and safe (as there’s no need to be handling hot jars) and contains all of the equipment you need. There’s full instructions included but essentially you fill the jars with your hot filling, pop them into the specially designed basket and then boil them to sterilise them, ready to store. I didn’t need to use the full preserving kit for this cranberry sauce as I only make small batches that will be used up quickly, but I’m really looking forward to trying out some of the many recipes on the Ball website as I love homemade jams and chutneys.

Cranberry & Port Sauce

Active Time: 5 minutes (+ occasional stirring)

Total Time: 25 minutes

Makes about 400ml sauce

Ingredients

• 300g cranberries (fresh or frozen)
• 75g dark brown sugar
• 180ml ruby port
• Zest of 1 orange – finely grated

Method

1. Put all of the ingredients into a saucepan (300g cranberries, 75g dark brown sugar, 180ml ruby port, zest of 1 orange). Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer for about 20 minutes until the liquid has reduced to a syrupy consistency. Stir occasionally.
2. Serve or store in jars in the fridge for a few days.

Free From/Suitable For…

• Suitable for Vegetarians & Vegans
• Gluten-Free
• Dairy-Free
• Egg-Free
• Corn-Free
• Nut-Free
• Soy-Free

The ingredients for this recipe are easily available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.

I’m sharing this with the following blog challenges… #CookBlogShare with Sneaky Veg, #FreeFromFridays with Le Coin De Mel & Free From Farmhouse and #TheFoodCalendar for Christmas.