Beyond the sauce: How to use cranberries more creatively this season

A number of years ago, when my book “California Home Cooking” (Harvard Common Press, 1997) was first published, a critic writing in the New York Times took me to task for including cranberries among the ingredients I used in a variety of recipes.

“Hey, stay in your own state!” is how she put it.

The statement revealed more about her than it did about the book, as she failed to read the material that accompanied the recipes.

Cranberries were very important during the early years of colonization in Northern California. They had long been grown in Russia and settlers around Fort Ross were not willing to do without them. Thus, cranberries were sent by train car from southwestern Oregon, where they are still grown, and quickly became a vital part of California cooking.

Bandon, Oregon, produces about 30 million pounds of cranberries each year, supplying nearly all of Oregon’s needs and about 5 percent of the nation’s. The fruit is celebrated on the second weekend of September, in the city’s Cranberry Festival, which began in 1947.

Cranberry bogs are gorgeous. When the flowers first appear, a bog can look like a sea of green and white, with flowers that resemble tiny swans. When the fruit is ready for harvest, the bogs glow crimson, a vast scarlet sea, sometimes stretching all the way to the horizon.

The state of Wisconsin produces more than half of our nation’s cranberries and Massachusetts follows, with about a third of nearly 400,000 pounds grown nationwide each year.

Cranberries are mostly water and a cup contains just 49 calories. Nutrients include Vitamins C, E and K1, manganese, potassium and copper.

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A simple green salad, maybe with thinly sliced red onion and toasted pecans, dressed with cranberry vinaigrette is an easy and delicious way to add seasonal flavor to your holiday table. You can also use this dressing on salads of thinly sliced red onion, peeled and sliced citrus, rice salads, wild rice salads and salads topped with sliced smoked turkey.

Cranberry Vinaigrette

Makes 11/3 cups

1/3 cup cranberry vinegar (see Note below)

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

- Pinch of ground allspice

- Pinch of granulated sugar, plus more as needed

- Generous pinch of kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

½ cup hazelnut oil

1/3-½ cup peanut oil

Put the vinegar, orange zest, allspice, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Add several turns of black pepper and taste the mixture. If it seems flat – i.e., the flavor of cranberries hasn’t quite blossomed – add another pinch of sugar and another pinch of salt.

Whisk in the oils.

Use right away or cover and refrigerate for a day or two.

Note: To make cranberry vinegar, rinse a 12-ounce package of cranberries and pick out and discard any soft ones. Put the cranberries into the work bowl of a food processor and pulse several times, until they are reduced to small bits. Transfer to a quart glass jar and fill the jar with white wine vinegar or Champagne vinegar. Cut two squares or circles of wax paper or parchment paper slightly larger than the jar’s opening and set it on top of the jar. Add the lid and ring and set in a cool, dark place for at least 2 days and as long as 10 days. Strain through several layers of cheesecloth and store in a bottle with a cork, not a metal closure.

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Oysters on the half shell are a favorite during the winter holidays, from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. A mignonette dresses them up deliciously, and this one mirrors the flavors of the season.

Cranberry Mignonette

Makes about 1 cup

1 small shallot, minced

1 teaspoon minced serrano chile

3 tablespoons fresh cranberries, minced

1/2 teaspoon grated orange or tangerine zest

3/4 cup cranberry vinegar

1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange or tangerine juice

3-4 generous pinches of kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

Put the shallot, serrano, cranberries, orange zest, vinegar and orange juice into a small bowl and stir.

Add several very generous turns of black pepper.

Use right away or refrigerate, covered, for 3 to 4 days.

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If you like a bit of bold heat on your holiday table, try cranberry salsa instead of cranberry-orange relish or cranberry sauce. It is excellent with roasted turkey and sweet potatoes. For a simple appetizer, spoon it over mozzarella fresca or burrata. It is also wonderful over sliced avocados.

Cranberry Salsa

Makes about 21/2 to 3 cups

1 package (12 ounces) cranberries, rinsed, soft berries discarded

2 serranos, minced

1 small red onion, cut into small dice

- Grated zest of 1 orange

1/4 cup sugar

- Kosher salt

2 tablespoons vinegar (cranberry, raspberry or red wine)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon minced fresh sage

- Black pepper in a mill

Put the cranberries into the work bowl of a food processor and pulse until the berries are evenly minced. Transfer them to a medium bowl, add the serranos, onion and orange zest and toss. Add the sugar, season with salt, add the vinegar, olive oil, cilantro and sage and toss again. Taste and correct for salt and acid balance, adding more olive oil if the mixture is too tart. Season with black pepper, transfer to a serving bowl and let rest 30 minutes before serving.

Store, covered, in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

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Many people, myself included, think the best reason to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal is the leftovers. From turkey sandwiches to turkey-barley soup, turkey gumbo and turkey risotto, the feast improves the day after the main meal and continues to do so until the last bit of stock is gone. If you like your turkey sandwiches slathered with mayonnaise, you might try this one, with its flavors of the season. It is more subtle than cranberry sauce, which some people love but others find too sweet.

Cranberry Mayonnaise

Makes about 1 ½ cups

2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

1 teaspoon kosher salt

- Several turns of white pepper in a mill

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 cup mildly flavored olive oil or avocado oil

3 tablespoons cranberry vinegar

1 tablespoon freshly squeeze tangerine or orange juice

Put the egg yolks, salt and pepper into a wide, deep bowl and use a balloon whisk to beat the mixture until the eggs are pale and thick. Begin adding the oil a teaspoon at a time, whisking it in completely before adding more. As the sauce thickens, you may add progressively more oil and, finally, the vinegar and juice.

If the mixture seems too thick, thin it with a tablespoon of water.

Cover and refrigerate for two hours before using. It will keep for several days.

Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date, including “The Good Cook’s Book of Oil & Vinegar.” Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com.