Need Help on How to Prepare Fresh Cranberries!

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amaysngrace
amaysngrace Posts: 742 Member
in Food and Nutrition
On Monday, I had purchased 3 pounds of fresh cranberries, they were on sale for 2.99. Now, the problem is that I have never bought this many cranberries before. In fact, the only time I eat cranberries is out of the can, as a sauce to put on top of dressing at Thanksgiving. I have also had dried cranberries in my salad. However, I need to know where to begin. I would like to eat them in my oatmeal this morning, and I don't know if I should boil them or just pop them in my oatmeal and eat them. Any suggestions on how to prepare fresh cranberries and how to freeze the excess?

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  • Katla49
    Katla49 Posts: 10,385 Member
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    Allrecipes.com has recipes for sauce, salad, chutney, and nutbread. I'm sure other web food sites also have lots of good ideas. I don't have personal experience with fresh cranberries, but I use fresh blueberries in my morning cereal and mixed in with other fruit in fruit cups. They are very good. I also use frozen blueberries in baked goods and pancakes. I suspect cranberries would be useful in both situations.
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
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    Fresh cranberries are very tart (at least to me) I wouldn't be able to eat them just like that. Normally I will boil them with a bit of water and some sugar until I get a thick 'sauce' and use that. If you have a dehydrator you could probably dry them like raisins but I am not sure how that process works. I used to make cranberry muffins with the fresh cranberries too but again they were just too tart for me to enjoy it very much.

    I'd also suggest to check out allrecipies or one of the other recipe sites online ;)
  • tarabole
    tarabole Posts: 166 Member
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    They are also good for smoothies. I have a recipe for a 'fat burner smoothie' from a raw vegan cookbook that calls for cranberries and grapefruit among other things.
  • msienkiewicz
    msienkiewicz Posts: 14 Member
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    When I bought too many cranberries last year I just put the extra bag in the freezer. After defrosting they worked as well as the original cranberries in my cranberry-nut bread recipe.

    If you have only had cranberries before as sauce or as the (sweetened) dried cranberry craisins they would probably be too tart to eat just as they are. As Katie49 suggested you can look for some recipes on various web sites. I've made the orange-cranberry sauce from the recipe on the Splenda website (had to cut my sugar intake) and it turned out fine.
  • Alliwan
    Alliwan Posts: 1,245 Member
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    Fresh cranberries are very tart (at least to me) I wouldn't be able to eat them just like that. Normally I will boil them with a bit of water and some sugar until I get a thick 'sauce' and use that. If you have a dehydrator you could probably dry them like raisins but I am not sure how that process works. I used to make cranberry muffins with the fresh cranberries too but again they were just too tart for me to enjoy it very much.

    I'd also suggest to check out allrecipies or one of the other recipe sites online ;)

    yes you can dehydrate them just fine. i do this every year when the cranberries get down to $.99 a pound. We use them in muffins, crockpot/steel cut oatmeal, yogurt, salads, etc. '

    You can boil them in sugar water first, which you have to boil them/blanch them before you dehydrate them anyway. But my daughter loves them tart so we dont.
  • ckish
    ckish Posts: 358 Member
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    It's funny you should ask. My next BlogTalkRadio.com broadcast is on that very subject. My favorite ways to use them include cranberry pudding thickened with tapioca and sugared cranberries. The pudding is delicious warm or cold. The sugared berries are a great snack and look like mini snowballs but really don't have much sugar at all. The fresh berries can be frozen as is. I load up my freezer with them so I can have them year round. I will post the recipes to my website soon. www.MyMothersSecrets.com
  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
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    All I've ever done with cranberries is make sauce. Toss a bunch into a sauce pan and add some sugar and a touch of water and let them cook down till they've begun to pop open. I some times add some vanilla and orange zest too for a little added flavor. Makes for a nice side with a sandwich at lunch.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Cranberry sauce is super easy. Basically add 12 oz. (washed) berries to a saucepan with 1 C. water and 3/4 C. sugar. Boil a few minutes ......Done! Splenda works fine. If you want a gelled texture, you press the sauce thru a sieve to remove the skin.

    Ocean Spray has tons of recipes here:

    http://www.oceanspray.com/Kitchen/Ocean-Spray-Recipes.aspx
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Cranberry orange relish ..........MMmmm

    1 navel orange
    1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
    ½ - 3/4 cup white sugar

    Grate 2 teaspoons of zest from orange; discard remaining peel and (white) pith from the orange. I tend to use more peel (I just remove the pith & throw everything else in a food processor).

    Divide orange into sections. Place orange sections, orange zest (or peel), cranberries, and sugar in a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Transfer relish to a bowl and cover; refrigerate to allow flavors to blend, at least 2 hours.

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