This cranberry orange compote is everything I like about homemade cranberry sauce and the opposite of everything I dislike about canned cranberry jelly. It’s chunky so that you can actually recognize the star ingredient. It maintains the bright sourness of the cranberries and bitterness of the orange rind. It’s subtly sweet without being cloying. You can punch it up or not with a cinnamon stick or two or some finely minced ginger. And it only takes 20 minutes to cook up in a single pot.  It’s the simplest dish you can make for the Thanksgiving table and it just begs to be made in advance, even a week or more before the big day. In the world of make your own versus store bought, this is one of the items that tops my list.

I’m not even going to tell you about the aroma in my kitchen. You’ll just have to make this to see for yourself.

Yield: about 3 cups

What You Need:

• 1 dry quart (approximately 16 ounces) fresh cranberries

• 1 navel orange

• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

• ¼ cup apple cider

• 1-2 sticks cinnamon 

• ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, finely minced

In addition to a turkey side dish, spread this compote on sandwiches, use as a topping to Sweet Potato Waffles and other baked goods, or as a pie or crumb bar filling.