Ever since I was a little kid (and that was a while back), we had always eaten canned cranberries with our holiday meals. I remember always looking forward to eating that jello-like substance with my annual turkey dinner.
But over the years, my taste for that cranberry gel seems to have diminished. And lately, my wife & I have enjoyed cooking several birds throughout the year. We cook (or sometimes smoke) the bird, have a nice meal & then freeze the rest for turkey sandwiches.
A few years ago, I ran across this recipe for homemade Holiday Cranberry Relish. It’s supposed to be from a chef in San Francisco and it is absolutely delicious! It makes me want to cook more turkey so I can make more of this relish! It’s so good, I find myself eating it all by itself! And it’s really easy to make. This relish is now a regular part our holiday meals. If you enjoy this recipe, you may want to freeze a bag or two of cranberries for use later in the year.
Cranberry Relish:
- 2 cups washed raw cranberries
- 2 skinned and cored tart apples
- 1 large, whole (peel ON) seedless orange, cut into sections
- 1 to 2 cups granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you want your relish to be)
This recipe calls for the use of an old fashioned hand turn grinder. If you don’t have a grinder, you can use a food processor instead.
Make sure to cut the orange and apples into small chunks before chopping. Use short pulses when using the food processor or your relish will turn out mushy. After chopping the orange, apples & cranberries, pick out any oversize chunks for re-chopping.
Add sugar to taste. I like my relish a little tart, so I use about one and a half cups of sugar. After adding the sugar, make sure to let the relish stand at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour to let the sugar dissolve.
This relish keeps in the fridge for about a week and also freezes well. It’s really great on turkey sandwiches!!
Source: Cranberry Relish Recipe
posted by Mountain Republic
At Grandma's Table 
MR this is a GREAT post. I needed just this recipe. Also, when I’m just cooking up a couple of bags of cranberries, I take a potato peeler and peel off the rind of an orange – mmmmmmm. I eat that like I will be eating your relish! I just don’t bother with canned cranberries anymore. I wish I had known years ago how easy it was to cook up fresh sauce. Wonderful graphics, too.
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I take a potato peeler and peel off the rind of an orange – mmmmmmm.
Then, you’ll love this mix, SH! It really is good enough to eat all by itself. And on a turkey sandwich, it’s to die for!
MR
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MR you and I do indeed live parallel lives. I ALWAYS have cranberry sauce on a turkey sand. Whooo Hooooo!
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There is just one small problem with this recipe – it’s the seasonal availability of the cranberry!
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Like you, I freeze a lot of bags of the fresh ones and they keep rather well. I make up batches of the cooked variety and freeze the cooked ones. I would imagine I could freeze this as well. It not only looks good, I love the fact that it is NO COOKING.
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No cooking, really? Wow! I’m so in with this one! Next time I make turkey I’ll be trying this one for sure. I’ve been looking for a good cran-relish recipe to replace the one I lost a few years ago, this one will fit the bill. 🙂
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Hi DF,
This a definitely a good replacement recipe. I don’t know how something so good can be so easy to make. Hope you enjoy!
MR
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Some stores sell frozen fresh cranberries. Not sure if ours does, but I’ll be looking now. 🙂
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I buy them fresh in the bags and then freeze them. After the holidays I notice there are some bags and boxes of cranberries still available.
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