Alberta High Bush Cranberry Sauce with Liqueur Infusion:
Ahhhh, another version of cranberries that I'd never heard of until a food friend, Steven told me about them. "There are cranberries in Alberta." he said. "AND they make a wonderful cranberry sauce."
I was skeptical. Until one day he brought some into the office courtesy of his foraging family member earlier in the year: Autumn harvest: vintage 2015.
He more than kept his promise and proved his story of a wonderous red berry from the Foothills of the Canadian Rockies. He brought me a 3+ cup bag of these frozen red round gems known locally as high bush cranberries. About 5 to 8 mm in diameter, these pearl-sized berries have a slightly tannic, mouth-puckering cranberry-like taste. Thin-skinned and full fruity flavour with a pleasant forest earthiness and full of pectins, they cook up very nicely and have all the nuances, pucker and texture for a fine "cranberry" sauce. These wild and organic berries are loaded with anti-oxidants as evidenced by the dark crimson colour of the finished sauce. Read on for photos and my recipe.
The high bush cranberry as described by Valerie Lagonja in her Blog, ACanadianFoodie.com She refers to them as kylina to the Ukranians and pembina to the French.
So I wait and plan to make them into a wonderful whole berry sauce for our next turkey dinner. It's my dad's 79th birthday... and he likes turkey!
Well that day has come. I've got my hands on an 18 pound beauty of poultry. It's a free-range organically fed turkey from a small local hobby farm, Diamond Willow near Calgary, Alberta.
The family dinner is planned for this weekend with the centerpiece of a perfectly seasoned herb roasted turkey, stove-top prepared stuffing with pan drippings, roasted yams and mixed veggies, and much more to celebrate the BIG day. AND of course my experimental version of Alberta wild high bush cranberry sauce.
The piece de resistance might possibly come from this simple-to-prepare essential partner to the best of the best turkey, the cranberry sauce. Some love the stuff, others loathe it but as for tradition in our family and millions of others, a roast turkey is somehow incomplete without the cranberry sauce.
This special sauce from Alberta cranberries, of all things is rare. So I needed to preserve the unique fruitiness of the berry while ramping it up a notch with my original recipe as follows:
So here's my recipe: Alan Chong and his High Bush Cranberry Sauce with Liqueur infusion.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups High Bush Cranberries (frozen)
1/2 cup date palm sugar
1/2 cup water
pinch of sea salt
15 ml Cointreau liqueur
Method:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine date palm sugar (seen here in large lumps) with water and bring to gentle boil until sugar is dissolved (about 5 minutes) to create a simple syrup.
Immediately add the high bush cranberries and pinch of sea salt to the saucepan.
Stirring occasionally and lightly crushing about half the berries releasing the pectins necessary to congeal the sauce. Continue cooking for 4-6 minutes until a rolling boil is maintained for 1 minute.
Then immediately remove from heat. Add the Cointreau and stir into the sauce.
Careful most of the alcohol will boil off and may splash up.
Careful most of the alcohol will boil off and may splash up.
With a spatula, pour all this yumminess into a heat-safe serving bowl.
Use a clean canning jar and lid or other glass or ceramic sealed container for
keeping refrigerated for up to 4 weeks.
It's brilliantly crimson, mildly tart and tannic with hints of earthiness and a hint of citrus from the liqueur infusion. The date palm sugar imparts another level of subtle flavour and unique sweetness that I find less harsh than plain white sugar, cane or otherwise. This special sauce is a perfect home grown and wild accompaniment to a perfect roasted turkey dinner gathering. A healthier option to a much sweeter commercial cranberry sauce. Also, there's something special about knowing the source and story behind that great food.
Truly unique and festive yet perfect for any turkey or special occasion with poultry as the main.
Try this same recipe with fresh or frozen cranberries, lingonberries or red currants.
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We just harvested our first cranberries. Your sauce sounds very intriguing but what did you do about the relatively large pits/seeds or did you purchase cranberries that were already pitted?
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