Cranberry Sauce with Port and Dried Figs

The dried figs add a chewy sweetness to this delicious sauce.

1 2/3 cups ruby Port
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
8 dried black Mission figs, stemmed, chopped
1 6-inch-long sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar (optional)

Combine first 6 ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Discard rosemary. Mix in cranberries and if you like a sweet sauce, 3/4 cup sugar. (I doubled the amount of figs and left out the white sugar. You could also experiment with leaving out the brown sugar and putting in extra figs.) Cook over medium heat until liquid is slightly reduced and berries burst, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Cool. Transfer sauce to bowl; chill until cold. (Cranberry sauce can be prepared 1 week ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)

Makes about 3 1/2 cups.

Bon Appetit
November 2001

Marianne Mueller

Last modified: December 27, 2005