Savory Cranberry Pomegranate Red Wine Sauce

Oh cranberries. You so photogenic.

I love homemade cranberry sauce for so many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that I never make it the same way twice.  

The basic formula is a 12-oz bag cranberries to 1/2 cup liquid to 1 cup sugar; however you can use any sweetener and any liquid you'd like. Cranberry Orange with a splash of Grand Marnier? Yup. Cranberry Raspberry? Cranberry Apple Walnut Celery? Yup yup and yup. I like to remember to add something sweet, salty, chewy, and crunchy to my cranberry sauces for a perfect balance of flavors. I also like my cranberry sauce much less sweet than the formula above and generally cut the sugar in half or more. Just taste a little bit when it's done cooking and adjust for sweetness if you'd like. Enjoy and have fun with it!

This one uses pomegranate seeds for some lovely texture, crunch and sweetness.

This particular cranberry sauce is very savory and not very sweet; it would be a great accompaniment to ham, pork, or turkey and an even better spread for the day-after sandwich. The maple syrup and dijon is a great one-two punch of sweet and pungent that makes for a lovely balanced sauce. 

Savory Cranberry Pomegranate Red Wine Sauce

• 2 cups raw cranberries
• 1 cup dry red wine (I used Tempranillo)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 cup raw pomegranate arils

1. Cut the pomegranate in half and submerge the halves in a bowl of cold water. Using your hands, dig the pomegranate arils out of the pomegranate. When all the arils are free, pour the arils and water through a colander and pick out any pieces of pomegranate membrane still remaining. 

2. Combine the cranberries, red wine, sugar, salt and pepper in a saucepan.

3. Cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, until thickened. The cranberries will start to swell and pop and will then continue cooking until the whole sauce is a gorgeous uniform garnet color. 

Cooking...

Still cooking...

Voila! Cranberry Sauce!

4. Stir in the maple syrup and dijon mustard.

5. Stir in the pomegranate arils.

Note: The cranberry sauce will thicken a lot in the refrigerator as it cools. Makes my mouth water just looking at it!

Enjoy and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!