Cranberry Sauce with Orange Jam

It’s easy to forget about Thanksgiving in Paris. There are no stuffing mix bags clogging aisles in supermarkets. If you asked a clerk where the canned pumpkin is, they would look at you like you were fou (madness). And if you open the newspaper, you will not come across any sales on whole turkeys. In fact, it is quite the opposite; a friend saw a 5 kilo turkey, an 11 pound bird, on the market the other day for €68kg, or €340 ($424).

(Though I think if you spent over four hundred dollars on a turkey, you wouldn’t forget it for a long, long time.)

I suggested that the turkey seller might have forgotten a comma because whole turkeys are, indeed, available in Paris, and are actually excellent as many are a farmernot the chubby whippers you see in the states. The only thing to watch out for is that one turkey may not be enough if you are feeding a large crowd, say a group of more than six people.

Savvy Americans know to order a whole turkey in advance from their butcher and – get this: You can ask them to cook it for you. Yes, since butchers usually have spits with roasted chicken on them, it’s usually no problem for them to slide a turkey on them. This is especially nice because most people in Paris only have one oven and it’s hard to tie up the whole day with just one bird in it when you have so many other things to bake and cook.

The reason I’m sharing this recipe today, rather than days ago when everyone was struggling to post recipes, shop and prepare their menus, is that I kind of forgot it’s Thanksgiving. In fact, I didn’t really forget, but I wasn’t swept up in the frenzy because this week, and today, are like any other week or day in Paris.

People go to work and school, banks and shops are open, and no one is setting their alarms for them no vendredi noir (Black Friday), although this is starting to happen in France since the government lifted their restrictions to allow more sales than those the government ordered twice a year, as they did before the economy took a downturn. (Tomorrow, I suspect that at least one vendor selling an expensive turkey in Paris will have to offer a serious discount if he wants to sell that bird.)

So we are celebrating tomorrow evening with some friends who are having dinner. I’m going in and doing some baking, as well as bringing a nice bottle of Sauternes. I also happened to have a few cans of cranberry sauce that I had brought back from the states, which I was planning on bringing, just for fun.

I sent a photo to my hostess and she immediately wrote back, threatening to blackmail me by making public the photo of my canned contraband. I beat her to the punch, put it on Instagram. But when I noticed that out of the four ingredients in the can, two were industrial sweeteners, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Luckily I had a stash of fresh cranberries in my freezer, because if turkey was €68 a pound, I would have had to dig deeper into my pockets if I had to buy fresh cranberries in Paris on Thanksgiving.

I candied some organic orange slices (which were normally priced), simmered syrup with the sharpness of cider vinegar and a hit of dark rum, then I added my precious cranberriescook them until popped. Stir in the candied oranges, then pack it up, ready to go – I’ll get a recipe right under the wire.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Cranberry Sauce with Orange Jam

Note that the orange slices may fall apart as they get closer to done. Not to worry; they’re just going to be torn apart later. If you want, you can substitute 3/4 cup (180ml) orange juice for the water in which you cook the cranberries. I use dark rum, but whiskey, bourbon, or an orange-flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau, work well instead. You can double or triple the recipe if you like.

Ingredients

• 1 big naval orange preferably unsprayed, or another variety, with the seeds removed
• 3/4 glass (180ml) water, plus 3/4 cup (180ml) water
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup, packed (90g) light brown sugar
• 2 spoons dark rum
• 1 attach the cinnamon
• 1 1/2 spoons cider vinegar
• 1/8 a spoon ground allspice
• 1 cup (110g) fresh or frozen cranberries

Instructions

• Cut off both ends of the orange. With a sharp, serrated knife, cut the orange into 1/3-inch (1cm) pieces.
• In a medium non-reactive saucepan, cover the orange slices with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook at a low simmer for 10 minutes. Drain. Return the oranges to the saucepan. Cover again with water, bring to a boil, and cook for another 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
• Return the orange slices to the saucepan, add 3/4 cup water and granulated sugar. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook until the liquid is reduced to a thick syrup. While cooking, turn the oranges a few times in the reducing syrup so that they are evenly sweetened.
• As the liquid cooks, close to when there is very little left in the pan, monitor them closely turning them frequently to avoid burning them. Remove from heat once most of the liquid has evaporated. Tip the orange into a colander and let it cool.
• In the same saucepan, add the other 3/4 cup water, brown sugar, rum, cinnamon stick, vinegar, and allspice. Let it boil, add the cranberries, then reduce the heat slightly and cook until the cranberries pop and start to break. Cut the candied orange into pea-sized pieces and add the candied orange to the cranberries. Cook for about a minute, then remove from heat.

Notes

Serve: Remove the cinnamon and serve the sauce hot or at room temperature.

Storage: The sauce can be made up to a week in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.

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