Mama's Cranberry Salad Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

Why is my cranberry salad runny? ›

Mistake #2: Your Cranberry Sauce Is Too Runny

But what if you've been cooking it forever and it's still not right? You may have added too much liquid to the cranberries. In addition to pectin, cranberries contain water, which means you only need to add a splash of liquid to get the cooking going.

Fresh cranberry juice is often blended with other delicious fruits, and the leftover pulp is just as wonderful. Put that pulp to use with this festive Cranberry Chutney! Delicious spread on crostini with brie cheese or served alongside turkey, pork or chicken.

Try reducing the sauce down even further so more of the liquid cooks off and the mixture thickens. If that doesn't work, add a thickener like gelatin, pectin or a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch whisked into juice or water). Let the sauce cool before refrigerating to completely set.

Is it safe to eat cranberries raw? Cranberries are generally considered safe whether they are cooked or raw. However, because of their notoriously bitter, sharp taste, most people prefer not to eat them raw or unsweetened. This bitterness is due to the high tannin content of cranberries.

Cranberries provide a good source of various vitamins and antioxidants. Historically, Native Americans used cranberries as a treatment for bladder and kidney diseases, while early settlers from England used them to treat poor appetite, stomach complaints, blood disorders, and scurvy.

Because cranberries do something unlike any other small berry when put in water: they float! Water is used only for harvesting, not ripening, so the fields are flooded only for a few days during the harvest period. This is an essential technique used by our cranberry farmers come harvest time!

Aspirin: Like aspirin, cranberries contain salicylic acid. If you take aspirin regularly, as a blood-thinner, for example, or if you are allergic to aspirin, you should not take cranberry supplements or drink a lot of juice. Other medications: Cranberry may interact with medications that are broken down by the liver.

Cranberry juice is rich in vitamin C, which helps keep your immune system healthy and functioning properly. It fights against oxidative stress from free radicals and helps kill harmful bacteria. Some studies also link low vitamin C intake to poor immune function.

Some syrups that would be great include orange, pineapple, coconut and strawberry. These syrups will give you more flavors while also sweetening it up to make it a bit more drinkable. This is probably one of the most common ways to make cranberry juice taste better.

Will my cranberry sauce thicken in the fridge? ›

Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools. To store, let cool completely, then transfer to a resealable container and refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.

The first thing you need to remember when it comes to making fruit salad is that you need to drain the fruit co*cktail. Draining the fruit co*cktail is important because unless it's drained of as much liquid or syrup as possible, your fruit salad may and will be thin and watery.

Fresh cranberries are harvested from September to early November and usually remain on produce displays until the end of January. When shopping for fresh cranberries, look for bags or containers of fruits that are plump, firm, and deep red with no signs of wrinkling.

Fresh Cranberries

A fresh berry will "bounce" when dropped. Small air-filled chambers inside a cranberry cause the fruit to bounce and to float. Discard cranberries that are shriveled, soft, wrinkled or have surface blemishes. Fresh cranberries are usually good stored in the refrigerator for two weeks.