Updated 2022
Are you Team Cranberry Sauce or Cranberry Relish?
I’m Team Cranberry Relish.
No matter what you call it, you either like cranberry relish or don’t. And when you do, you either eat gelatinous preformed cranberries out of a can or fresh tangy, zesty cranberry relish. Or you opt-out.
Growing up, Mom made a homemade chunky cranberry relish every Thanksgiving and served cranberries out of the can. We were an equal-opportunity cranberry family. 😉
Mom’s recipe included fresh cranberries, lemon, and orange zest, and I don’t know what else. I remember that she served the relish in a small cut-glass bowl. The canned stuff was always on a silver tray, not real silver, but I didn’t know any different as a kid. She’d place her cranberry relish on the table with a flourish. I knew her relish was something special by that simple little gesture.
As much as I loved all the attention she gave her relish, and as much as I liked the splash of color on the otherwise neutral-colored foods on the Thanksgiving table, every year growing up, I’d wrinkle my nose to her “just try a little bit,” words of encouragement. I couldn’t understand why anybody would eat an orange or lemon rind, let alone the bright maroon lip-puckering concoction. Instead, I’d plop a slab of canned cranberries on my plate and watch with interest to see who ate from the glass bowl.
It would be decades before my youth’s chunky, tart cranberry relish would grace my Thanksgiving table. And even though this isn’t Mom’s exact recipe, and my husband wrinkles his nose at my Cranberry-Bourbon Relish, I make it every year as an homage to Mom and to now to Kentucky, the place I call home. I even serve my Cranberry-Bourbon Relish in a cut glass bowl.
Cranberry relish. It’s not just for Thanksgiving anymore. Thanks, Mom.
Cranberry-Bourbon Relish
Serves 6 to 8
Traditional Cranberry-Bourbon Relish recipe is punched up a notch with a splash of dusty, mellow bourbon. Take this relish to the next level—top it with goat cheese crumbles, toasted walnuts, and lemon zest.
Ingredients
1 (12-ounce) bag of organic fresh cranberries, washed and drained
1 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup apple juice
1/8 cup bourbon
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Zest one large navel orange
Zest one large lemon
Dash ginger
Dash cinnamon
Goat cheese crumbles, walnuts, toasted (optional)
Directions
- Add all the ingredients (except the optional goat and walnuts) in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir.
- Cook until the sugar is melted, occasionally stirring, bringing the relish to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook an additional fifteen minutes, or until the relish thickens and the berries begin to explode.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let the sauce cool for an hour.
- Serve in a cut glass bowl with optional toppings if desired.
- Cover and refrigerate for up to four days or freeze in small portions for several months. Leftover relish is amazing on grilled gouda cheese, baked salmon, or grilled chicken.
