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Holy moly! Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Say whaatt?! As if the calendar pointing it out to me wasn’t enough, my sister, with her not-so-subtle methods, asked me her usual question around this time of the year – “can you cook the Thanksgiving meal for us?” My brother just had to chime in and ask for stuffing. I feel so used…
So to kickstart November, I have a super easy, super tasty cranberry sauce for ya ;). While most of the people in my family prefer to drown their turkey in gravy, I prefer the tangy, sweet, and bright cranberry sauce. I’m always the odd person out in my family when it comes to eating.
Cranberries are also on my mind lately as they were last month’s superfood at the hospital. This month it’s butternut squash, and you know I’m already conjuring up a recipe in my head.
The sauce can be made in advance and refrigerated, and you’ll see that it thickens up over time. I call it a sauce, but it’s more like a cross between a sauce and a jam. Since I was going to be adding it to a panini, I didn’t want it to be liquid-y. To prepare, simply combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have bursted and the mixture is thickened, about 20 minutes.
Nothing to it, right? Fresh always tastes better! Since we Tim hasn’t roasted the big bird yet, I used deli meat for the panini to give you an idea of one of the ways you can enjoy all those glorious leftovers to come.
The inspiration for this panini comes from the Monte Cristo sandwich, which is battered and fried and served alongside preserves. Instead of ham, I substituted Canadian bacon and decided to forgo the frying part to make mine a little more figure friendly. I’ve been obsessed with gruyère cheese lately and have been finding all kinds of excuses to eat more than my fair share. This instance was no exception. However, on this occasion, cranberry sauce was invited to the party.
The verdict? How could this not be good? Now I’m really, really looking forward to some Thanksgiving leftovers ;)…and the actual day when I will be laboring away, of course. Being with family more than makes up for it, though.
Monte Cristo Panini w/ Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
Cranberry Sauce
- 12 oz fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 3/4 cup water
Panini (for one)
- Slices of hearty bread
- Butter
- Oven roasted turkey
- Canadian bacon
- Grueyere cheese
Instructions
For the cranberry sauce
- In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and simmer mixture, stirring occasionally until cranberries have bursted and mixture has thickened, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish, cover, and chill for at least 2 hours.
Panini
- Spread butter on each slice of bread. On one slice add cheese, turkey, Canadian bacon, thickened cranberry sauce, and more cheese. Top with the other bread slice (there should be cheese next to each bread slice).
- Cook in panini maker. If you don't have one, heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Put the sandwich in the skillet and place something heavy on top to press it down. Cook until bread is golden and cheese melts.
- Slice and serve alongside more cranberry sauce if desired.
Mmm yum! I’m including your recipe in my Thanksgiving leftovers round up and borrowed a photo for it (linked back to this post, of course). I hope this is okay! Please let me know if you’d like it removed. Thanks!
Hi Leila! Thank you so much for including my recipe in your round up! Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving 😉
I have some sort of stomach bug right now, and nothing has looked good to eat to me, until I ran across this amazing looking panini. Serious yumminess going on!!! I have a strawberry tarragon sauce on my blog, and it’s SO good with grilled cheese 🙂 Well done!!!
Oh No! So sorry to hear you’re not feeling well :(. Hope you feel better soon! Mmm…strawberry tarragon sauce!! Heading over there right now 😉
HI MJ! I love turkey paninis made from leftover Thanksgiving turkey. It’s one the best things about cooking for the family, leftovers. Thanks for sharing this during Our Little Family Adventure’s Thanksgiving Menu Planning Event. I’ve added a link to your recipe on my planning post. ~Nicky
Hi there, I stumbled across your blog and fell in love with it… especially your turkey panini! I recently made a Thanksgiving inspired panini with roasted turkey, sage aioli, cranberry pepper jelly, goat brie cheese, all one homemade crusty pumpkin bread that has been fried in herbed compound butter, and it was delish! I can’t wait to make your version this month now 🙂 If you want, here’s a link to my post for my thanksgiving panini…
https://www.piecelovecooking.com/2013/11/thanksgiving-panini-with-roasted-turkey.html
Thanks for the yummy recipes,
Juliana from Piece, Love, & Cooking
I’ve actually never had cranberry sauce before, but I’m thinking it might have to happen this year, just so I can make this panini. Looks amazing!
I adore homemade cranberry sauce! As a kid, my family would do canned cranberry sauce for holidays which I always hated. Once you make it yourself, I don’t think you could ever go back. 🙂 The sandwich looks awesome!
OMG Total yum! That Panini looks delicious! Pinning!
I love the notion of Thanksgiving, but will confess to being a little relieved that we don’t have it here in Australia. It’s so close to Christmas! The idea of doing two big rounds of celebrations is lovely, but kind of daunting in a kitchen sense 😛
I know what you mean, Kari. Fortunately, I normally prepare the Thanksgiving meal and that gets me off the hook for Christmas ;). My father’s in Sydney right now and I so wish I could’ve accompanied him…:( Hope you and Mr. Bite are doing well!