26 November 2024: Thanksgiving Cranberries
In the best-laid plans department, this essay was intended for posting on Monday, but we had some last minute changes to our plans for the week and I had to shift gears with the intention of posting it early this morning. But then the electrical company shut off the power to work on our area's grid for several hours, so I'm awfully sorry to be several hours late with it.
The reason it ought to have posted yesterday was because the recipe that follows needs to be made at least 24 hour ahead, and is all the better if it's made 36-48 hours ahead.
Cranberry relish has been a standard in our family for almost as long as I can remember. But the traditional recipe makes more than half a gallon of the stuff and, as our household dwindles—and the number of people at our Thanksgiving table dwindles along with it—making a ton of it, even if most of it is given away, is impractical.
Still, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving at our house without this relish, so over the last few years I've developed a very nice smaller batch that still has all the flavor and texture of the bigger recipe.
Cranberry Relish (Small Batch)
Though this is roughly half the old recipe, it still makes about a quart, far more than a small household will use, but because of all the acid and sugar, it'll keep for about a month, and a half-pint or pint jar of it makes a lovely host gift.
Though this is traditionally served as a tart-sweet relish for turkey, ham, or game, I've never enjoyed meat with a sweet sauce, and prefer it spooned over a baked whole or candied sweet potatoes. It also makes an unusual but delightful winter filling for shortcake.
Makes about 4 cups
1 12-ounce package fresh cranberries
2 medium juice oranges or about 1½ large navel oranges
1 large red sweet apple
1¼ cups sugar
1. Wash all the fruit and dry well. Pick over the cranberries and discard any soft or blemished berries. Slice the oranges in rounds roughly as thick as a cranberry and if there are any seeds remove them. Halve and core the apple and cut it into chunks roughly the same size as the.
2. Cut the orange and apple into chunks roughly the same size as the cranberries and put all the fruit in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse until uniformly chopped fine, then process until it's finely ground. Transfer it to a glass or stainless steel bowl and stir in the sugar. Mix it in well, then cover and refrigerate at least 24 hours to allow its flavors to mature and fully blend (36-48 hours is better).
3. Just before serving, give it another good stir, and serve cold.