Cranberry & Pear Sauce

This is very popular in Poland, especially in the wintertime, and is served with hot roasts or cold meats and smoked sausages.

• I cannot find any reference to when and why these two fruits were put together but they do make a good combination.
• It is more like a conserve or a salsa  –  it is not a pouring sauce.
• Many years ago I got a recipe from my aunty in Białystok. However I did not get around to to making this until recently, mainly because the pears in my garden are ripe in September but fresh cranberries are not  in the shops in England until around December.
• As I could not use my own pears and I  decided to make this with bought produce.
• The following proportions are used,  2 parts cranberries to 1 part pears (once they are peeled & cored).

• Hard pears, such as Conference pears are best and it is better if they are ripe as they provide sweetness.
• I find that “bought” cranberry sauce is often much too sweet and sickly.
• It is difficult to judge how much sugar to add, I have given the quantities I used, it is easier to add some later, hard to take any away!

Version 1

This will keep for at least a week in a fridge – I pack the sauce into oven sterilised jars.

Ingredients – 1

• 600g Cranberries
• 300g Pears (once peeled and cored)
• 300g Granulated sugar
• 300ml of water

Method

• Rinse the cranberries and drain and put them into a plastic bag, flatten the bag and place it into a freezer for 24 hours.
• The next day, take the cranberries out of the bag and put them into a bowl and cover them with boiling water then leave them for 30 minutes and then strain them.
• Peel and core the pears and then cut them into rough cubes.
• Place the cranberries in a thick bottomed pan and add the pears, sugar and the water.
• Bring to the boil, mixing often then simmer gently for around 30 minutes, still stirring often.
• Pour the sauce into hot sterilised jars – leave them to cool thoroughly  before putting on the lids.

Version 2

This will also keep for at least a week in a fridge – I pack the sauce into oven sterilised jars – it has a “fresher ” taste than version 1.

Ingredients -2

• 600g Cranberries
• 300g Pears (once peeled and cored)
• 70 -100g Granulated sugar

Method

• Peel and core the pears and then cut them into rough cubes.
• Place the cranberries in a thick bottomed pan and add the pears and 70g of the sugar and stir well.
• Cover with a lid and heat gently for around 5 minutes.
• Remove the lid and give the mixture a stir, continue doing this for around 15 minutes, when you check and stir you can test for sweetness and add up to another 30g of sugar.
• Pour the sauce into hot sterilised jars – leave them to cool thoroughly  before putting on the lids.