This recipe went through quite a metamorphosis on its way to this post. The original inspiration came from a dish that Kyle’s aunt brought to the family Thanksgiving dinner this year. It was basically a cream cheese dip layered with a cranberry jalapeño salsa that has been gaining in popularity on Pinterest over the last several weeks, and rightly so. Its use of tart cranberries in concert with the spice of jalapeño and the acidic bite of cider vinegar made this a brightly colored—and flavored—dip a wonderful addition to the Thanksgiving table. It also served as a wonderful counterpoint to the heavier fare that dominated the table, cream cheese notwithstanding. (ahem) While lauding its success, his aunt also lamented how labor-intensive the salsa was. It was a lot of dicing and mincing. A lot. And the recipe she used basically forbade the use of the food processor because it broke everything down to a soupy consistency and ruined the texture of the dish. Whatever. The thought of hand dicing an entire bag of roly-poly cranberries sent that original recipe careening into the “Oh-HELL-No!” category.
Rather than abandon the concept altogether—because frankly, the flavor combo was just too delicious to give up on—we started looking for another way to showcase it. Naturally, Savory Jam was the answer. (But seriously, isn’t it always?) We just needed a good spring board recipe for the adaptation and found it over at epicurious.com.
Their Cranberry Chutney was the perfect template, and only needed a few tweaks to render it a proper entry for our Savory Jam Chronicles. Perhaps most importantly, the amount of sugar was basically cut in half. We opted for brown sugar over white, since it imparts both caramel and molasses notes to the finished jam.
Jalapeño took the place of the ginger and garlic, and balsamic vinegar came to the aid of the cider vinegar to impart a deeper, more complex acidity to the mix. Boom! Welcome to Jam Town.
Aside from slicing the shallots and dicing the peppers, much of preparation of this recipe is passive. You just add ingredients to the pot, stir, add, stir, pour in the cranberries, stir a bit, then you’re just waiting for those tart little jewel-toned lovelies to “pop” and give up their juices.
If you’ve made any of our other Savory Jams, you know that all that remains after that is to stir occasionally until the mixture cooks down to a jam-like consistency. The great “cheat” about using cranberries is that they have a fairly high pectin content, so as the jam cools, it’ll thicken even further, making it perfectly thick and jellied.
One thing that you will sacrifice from the original salsa is the brightness of flavor, but since this jam can be made ahead by almost a week–making it a King among homemade condiments–you’ll more than make up for it in convenience. Take that, you silly salsa. This is the perfect topper for softened cream cheese, and this recipe yields enough jam for two 8 oz. blocks, so you can share one with your friends and hoard the other as a treat for all of your hard work getting on the “Nice” list this year. The struggle is real, take your rewards where you can get them.
While the dip is an ideal, easy use of this jam, there are other ways to enjoy it. It makes a fantastic relish for sandwiches made with leftover turkey. If you’re feeling a little frisky, you could even spoon it over vanilla ice-cream. (Hey, don’t knock until you try it. It takes sweet and savory to a wonderfully spicy new level.) Also, since we can’t have Tater Tot Poutine for breakfast every morning (Bossy doctors), this is really great served on a bagel with a little schmear for a tasty breakfast on-the-go. Be adventurous and enjoy!
Adapted from Epicurious.
- 3 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1½ tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 (12-oz) bag fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese (to serve, optional)
- Cook shallots in oil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 - 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then add jalapenos. Cook, stirring occasionally, until jalapenos are softened, another 5 minutes or so.
- Stir in sugar, vinegars and cranberries. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries pop, and their juices have reduced to a jam-like consistency, about 15 - 20 minutes. Cool.
- To serve, place cream cheese on a small serving platter and top with half of the jam. Serve with crackers or baguette slices.
Susan says
I’m curious, all the spicy jams and jellies I’ve made or tasted have very little heat. How do you make it spicier?
Kyle & Melissa says
Hi Susan,
To make the jam spicier, you could either 1) double the amount of jalapeños, 2) use a spicier pepper, such as a habanero, or 3) leave the seeds with the jalapeños as you add them to the recipe (the seeds contain much of a pepper’s heat).
If you try any of these methods, please let us know how they turn out!
Enjoy!