A do-ahead Thanksgiving side: Spiced cranberry chutney

Although Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday, some of my American friends and I celebrate it here in London every year.

A few years back, after cooking a turkey curry, I learned the hard way never to mess with the traditional roasted turkey, the star of the show. Since then my contribution is always to spice up the sides, quite literally. This year I've narrowed my focus to cranberries.

There are only a handful of cranberry farms in the UK, partly because they can only grow under very special conditions, like acidic peat soil and fresh running water that are more commonly found in the United States. So when I see them in London supermarkets, I get very excited.