This has been a tradition in my family for the last 20 years, ever since my mom clipped the recipe out of the newspaper in a feature about Southwestern-Style Thanksgiving. My sister still loves the weird can-shaped gelatinous stuff, but none of that for me! And this cranberry sauce is awesome on leftover turkey sandwiches, as well as on English muffins with butter for breakfast*.

You may want to adjust the amount of sugar to your liking. It partly depends on the tartness of the batch of cranberries, and part is just personal taste. I like mine spicier than I do sweet, and I use more chipotles than the recipe calls for. And if you have leftover peppers from my Chipotle Tortellini recipe, this cranberry sauce is the perfect use for them!

15-20 minutes cooking time; 15 minutes cooling time.

Servings: As a condiment, it should serve at least 16. A little spoonful is enough for big flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 small can of chipotles in adobo sauce (but only use 1 or 2 peppers!)
• 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from the can of chipotles (you may have to take all the peppers out of the
can to get the sauce)
• 1 bag of fresh cranberries, rinsed
• ¼ cup of brandy or bourbon
• ¼ cup brown sugar (or more to taste – you can always add more sugar as it cools)
• ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup water

Directions:

1. Combine 1-2 chipotle peppers, 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce, cranberries, bourbon/brandy, sugar,
lemon juice, and water in a medium saucepan.
2. Bring to a simmer over low-medium heat, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. The
cranberries will start to pop and open up once they are heated thoroughly.
3. Turn off and cover; let the sauce sit for 15 minutes to cool down and thicken up.
4. Taste to see if you want more sugar. Stir in additional sugar one tablespoon at a time.
5. Remove the peppers before processing/serving (optional).
6. Put the sauce in your food processor and pulse until the desired consistency (smooth or course,
depending on your preference). I usually just mash it a little in the pan with a fork instead, but I like
mine with large cranberries chunks. I also leave the peppers in, but I like mine really spicy!
7. Chill in the refrigerator, then serve with Thanksgiving dinner. You can make this sauce well ahead of
time. I think it tastes better the next day when the smoky chipotle flavor really comes through and it
picks up heat.

*After Thanksgiving, mix any leftover sauce with one stick of softened butter for a delicious chipotle-cranberry butter. Spread it on toasted English muffins, cornbread, or dinner rolls. Or mix it with cream cheese and put it on bagels.