Cranberry Steak and Seafood Sauce

First off, Happy New Year!

I know… it feels like an eternity since I last posted a delicious recipe. I am not tired by any means, but we have been enjoying family time, prepared for the holidays, and my wife’s birthday. It has been busy to say the least, and I will admit that taking a break from making 20+ cookies beat me down a bit. Did I also mention that I am somewhat (somewhat) sick of eating cookies? I did not think I would ever say that lately, but I am. I’m on break from the cookie intake. But during all of the baking, we hosted Christmas dinner and as always I had something in store for the family. This year was Filipino pancit (I ruined it for the first time), roasted garlic potatoes, herb crusted beef tenderloin stuffed with duxelles, garlic and butter shrimp, and a garlic and herb crusted strip roast. All of this was great, but the sauce I whipped up to accompany the beef was the star, at least in my opinion.

See, I bought a big bag of cranberries around Thanksgiving time this year, and I had plenty of them left in the freezer. Of course I whipped up a nice chutney but then I decided to make a cranberry steak sauce that sparked a recipe from the past that my Dad loved which was a cherry steak/bbq sauce.

(Don’t mind the sad picture of my beef. This was an end cut that I used for leftovers. My other cuts were spot on and cut like butter. I miss it.)

This sauce is sweet, tangy, and a bit smokey. It is almost like an A1, but way better. My wife and I loved it and it will be a condiment to add to any fridge. The bit shocker was how awesome this was with the shrimp!

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 2 cups frozen cranberries, defrosted overnight
• 1 whole onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 12 oz light beer
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup of pomegranate flavored red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• small pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tbsp cracked black pepper

I know, when you think about it, there are a few flavor bombs in here but the balance with the brown sugar and cranberries make this stuff shine. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Oh, by the way it is all gone.

Start by heating a sauce pan on medium heat.

Add in the oil, bring it to temperature then add in the onion. Sweat the onions for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times, then add in the garlic. Stir again, then toss in the cranberries. Give another good stir, then add in the brown sugar, beer, worchestershire sauce, dijon, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and cracked black pepper. Stir well.

Once this comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. The sauce will begin to reduce and thicken. This is what you are looking for.

You have two options now. You can pour this into a blender, or keep it in the pot and use an immersion blender. I chose the latter (an immersion blender is an awesome). If you are using a blender just be careful and not only make sure the lid is on right, but that you cover it with a towel for extra protection.

Blend until you have a smooth mixture, then you will strain this through a fine mesh strainer to remove any thick clumps. Use the back of a spoon to push this through the strainer. I do this over a bowl to reserve the sauce.

Pour the sauce into storage container in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve. In my case I used a plastic condiment squeeze bottle and let everyone squirt away.  Sweet, salty, and a smidgen spicy it is everything you want in a great sauce, plus cranberries to boot!

This sauce, hands down is one of the better ones I have made in some time and gives my regular steak sauce a run for its money! Happy New Year everyone!