Canal House's Cranberry-Port Gelée
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Author Notes: A DIY cranberry jelly for anyone who loves the stuff in the can (and even the ones who don't). Thanks to natural pectin in the cranberries, the gelée sets up all on its own, without gelatin or agar. Adapted very slightly from Canal House Cooks Every Day (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2012) - Genius Recipes
Makes 2 cups
- 1 cup port (or red wine or Madeira)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon juniper berries
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries (about 4 cups -- frozen can be substituted)
- Put the port, sugar, juniper berries, and peppercorns into a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Add the cranberries and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the cranberries burst and are very soft, about 10 minutes more.
- Strain the sauce into a bowl through a fine-mesh sieve, pushing the solids through the screen with a rubber spatula. Stir the thin and thick portions of the strained gelée together.
- Transfer to a pretty serving bowl. (A funnel or liquid measuring cup with a spout can be useful for transferring without splashing the sides.)
- Cover and refrigerate. It will firm up within a few hours, or can be made several days ahead.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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3 months ago GregoryBPortland
Nice idea.
3 months ago chefjim
Halve a ripe avocado and remove the seed, carefully scoop the 2 halves and place on plate putting a scoop of the cranberry gelle in the center where you removed the seed, crack sea salt and black peppercorns on top to taste. Adds a beautiful and delicious garnish to any plate.
6 months ago Skinny bitches
This is delicious. I can't believe how easy it is to make. I made it the day before thanksgiving to serve with my pork tenderloin roast. I did not have juniper berry in hand, so I took Kristen's suggestion by infusing with orange rind and a pinch of dried thyme since I don't have fresh ones. My guests loved this so much!! I think I may have to can some as gifts for Christmas :D
6 months ago gretch374
Made this yesterday with merlot and rosemary. I don't know what it's supposed to taste like, but this was divine. Thank you for this recipe, it's brilliant. I'll be using the leftovers as the best jelly known to humankind.
6 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
Fantastic! Good to know rosemary pulls its weight.
6 months ago Jennywren
Just made this exactly as written and it is fabulous. The port, peppercorn and juniper berries add such a nice woodsy like touch. As I was pushing it through the sieve I was thinking this would be a great side with game dishes like venison, wild boar or duckling as well as turkey Thank you so very much for sharing this recipe. It's a keeper!
6 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
Great point about game meats! I totally agree.
6 months ago ThreeCatPat
Love this! Made a test batch two nights ago, and just made tomorrow's 'real' batch. The frugal part of is uncomfortable with discarding the solids, however. I put the leftovers in a food processor but the juniper berries and peppercorns are pretty strong as crushed solids. Maybe put them in cheesecloth to get the flavor so they can be easily extracted?
6 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
Great idea for anyone who wants to keep a little more texture in the gelee. Thanks!
6 months ago gretch374
I'm getting ready to make this right now. I can't find juniper berries in our little town, and am planning to use a couple sprigs of rosemary. Do you think that will work? Thank you! I can't wait to taste it!
6 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
I think that could be nice -- let us know how you like it!
6 months ago Bevi
I used a mid-range port and doubled the recipe. Per HLA I reduced about 3 oz. I added the tiniest pinch of Five Spice powder to the juniper berries and peppercorns. It is in its mold and appears to be on the way to setting up beautifully. I placed Plastic wrap right up against the gelee. So far, so good!
6 months ago Bevi
This was delicious, a huge hit, and the reduction was just the right amount for a double batch. This is a keeper!
6 months ago Kelly D
I'm a novice home canner - and I BELIEVE, but I'm not sure, everything in this is high acid enough to safety water-bath can this receipe - any expert home canners that can verify?
6 months ago hardlikearmour
hardlikearmour is a trusted home cook.
This is safe for water bath canning. Here's a link to the Virginia Tech Extension information about boiling water bath canning. http://pubs.ext.vt.edu...
6 months ago Kelly D
Thanks. I knew the cranberries were safe/high acid - I just wanted to make sure the addition of the port/alcohol didn't lower the acid level to an unsafe level, as I have no idea about the acid level of port wine.
6 months ago artsycella
Just made this in prep for Thanksgiving. It tasted absolutely lovely out of the pan. Like others here, I didn't have juniper berries on hand and didn't relish a trip to Whole Foods or the like, so I just added in a few cloves instead. I was tempted to throw in some star anise, but chickened out at the last minute. Next time!
6 months ago GregoryBPortland
Juniper berries are dried. You seen them in a lot of cooking from Alsace and Germany (think Chou Croute Garni). I found them at a shop that specializes in bulk spices. Forget trying to find them in a supermarket (maybe Whole Foods or other really upscale supermarkets). One final observation about this recipe. You have to have strong arms to push the puree through the mesh of a fine strainer. It's worth it.
6 months ago hardlikearmour
hardlikearmour is a trusted home cook.
I made this last night using Shiraz port and a Chinese 5 spice seasoning blend (cinnamon, star anise, fennel seed, black pepper, and cloves). It's a gorgeous color and tastes fabulous. Mine didn't gel up as much as I'd like - it's a thick sauce rather than a jelly. The silver lining is I can incorporate it into cocktails.
6 months ago hardlikearmour
hardlikearmour is a trusted home cook.
Made a second batch, and let the port/sugar mix reduce by 2-oz before adding the cranberries. Gelled beautifully & the spices had a bit more time to infuse.
6 months ago GregoryBPortland
I thought I had read the recipe correctly, but discovered that I put all the ingredients together in the pan and proceeded to cook it for 10 minutes. It turned out fine. I'm wondering why bring all ingredients to a boil except the cranberries, and then add the cranberries and cook 10 minutes. The pulp gelled into this gorgeous cranberry glee within a half hour. One other problem--I only had tawny port in the house. Made no difference. This is an ace side dish and one that I'll put on the table next to my cranberry relish for the jelly fans. I am a huge admirer of the Canal House books!
6 months ago Mimi desjardins
Are Juniper Berries fresh, or do you find them in the spice aisle in a jar? I've never seen them except in the backyard!
6 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
We use them from jars in the spice aisle -- lucky you, having them in the back yard!
6 months ago clessy
What's a good substitute for juniper berries?
6 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
While not direct substitutes, some strips of orange rind or sprigs of a wintry herb like thyme could add some flavor and aroma in place of the juniper berries.
6 months ago AlexValich
I added some whole cloves instead and it seemed to work pretty well and gave it that late fall spice I wanted.
6 months ago Thartge
What about an Alternative to alcohol? Unsweetened cranberry juice?
6 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
You could try that, but you'll want to adjust to taste after straining -- it will probably need more sugar. A bit of balsamic vinegar might give it some of the tangy sweetness of port too.
6 months ago AlexValich
This tastes wonderful and very easy to do. I made this last night with red wine, which made it thinner. I found if I took the post strained mixture and reduced it by a 1/3 in a pan on low heat (for about 10 minutes) it actually set up in the fridge just like the canned stuff we all grew up on. I actually have it setting up in an empty can right now to try and fool my culinary challenged parents into eating it next week.
6 months ago mtrelaun
Best comment ever!
6 months ago Kelly D
Re: having it have it set up in an empty can, check out: http://www.foodinjars.com...
6 months ago ChefCitron
Thank you, Kristen!
Gobble! gobble!
6 months ago ChefCitron
Looks delicious! Would you suggest a Ruby Port kr. Tawny Port for this? Thanks!
6 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
I think I'd go with ruby, but as you can see Hirscheimer and Hamilton are pretty flexible in their recommendations -- any full-bodied red wine or Madeira will work too. Don't use anything crazy expensive though, because cranberry is still the dominant flavor here.
6 months ago Bevi
I used a Tawny Port and it was perfect.