Cranberry Relish

This week I’m doing a series of Thanksgiving recipes before I announce some big news next week. Get ready!

I’m going to call this series “Thanksgiving Revisited: How to spice up your Thanksgiving dinner.”

It includes a lot of the usual food themes but with a little twist or two.

First off, is the wonderful irreplacable cranberry dish. Most people have a nice cranberry sauce. I have to admit, that cranberry sauce out of a can might be the only thing that I really truely eat out of a can and love. Well, that and chick peas.

But what I love about this cranberry dish is that you can make it now and it will be even better on Thanksgiving. It improves with age! Just like my skin.

Here is what you will need: Fresh cranberries, 1 orange, 1/2 lemon, freshly ground nutmeg, freshly ground cloves, and some raw cane sugar. (You can use regular sugar too. If you use something like agave or stevia just keep in mind that it will reduce the shelf life).

Combine the cranberries and sugar in a blender or food processor.

Add the nutmeg!

And the cloves!

Next slice up the orange into wedges.

Then cut those wedges in half.

And drop ’em in the blender with the cranberries and sugar.

Next slice half a lemon..

…and cut that into wedges too, then cut the wedges in half

.

Drop it all into a blender, peel on and everything. Though I would cut off the stem end of any orange or lemon since that black stem end will be a bit bitter.

Give it a nice blend. It will take about 60 seconds or so. You want it to be textured but completely blended.

Next you’re going to store it. I love doing it in a mason jar because it makes a nice gift if you need one in a pinch. And you can bring it to a party or Thanksgiving dinner at someone’s house.

Pour it all into the jar. This is what the consistency will look like… textured yet uniform. And a fabulous color!

Tie a fun bow on it and it is all ready to give as a gift or set on the table at Thanksgiving dinner once it sits for a few days.

Give this a try! It’s a cinch to make, doesn’t require any cooking, and you can do it way in advance so you can take one thing off of your list already.

Print Recipe

“Cranberry Relish”

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Total Time10 minutes mins

Servings: 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh cranberries rinsed and picked over
• 1 large navel orange peel on, cut into small wedges
• 1/2 lemon cut into small wedges
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup sugar

Instructions

• Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse just until combined but still somewhat coarse.
• Refrigerate overnight in a covered bowl or mason jar with a tight-fitting before serving. This relish will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator, improving with age.