Successful Kitchen Experiments: Cranberry Compote

Holy crap, folks!  My experimental cranberry compote turned out great! Sorry for lack of specific measurements...I'm more of a throw-stuff-in-until-it-works kind of cook. :-)


You will need:
1 bag of cranberries
1 cup (loosely packed) of dark brown sugar
powdered cinnamon
powdered cloves
1 whole orange
1 carton of orange juice
1 large apple, grated with its skin still on

-Empty bag of cranberries into a saucepan.
-Sprinkle dark brown sugar over them
-Dust heavily with powdered cinnamon
-Dust moderately with powdered cloves
-Add about a teaspoon of zest from the orange's peel (eat orange later for vitamin C)
-Add a splash of cognac or port, depending on whichever you happen to have on hand
-Pour in orange juice until berries start to float (think milk:cereal ratio) and stir everything up

-Cook over medium heat
-When the OJ bubbles and the cranberries start to pop, add grated apple
-Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently
-When stirring, make sure you scrape the edges of the pan, as wayward apple bits will try to stick to it.

-Compote is done when the sauce soaking the berries takes on the consistency of runny apple butter.
-Especially good on white meat turkey and/or biscuits!