One of my favorite things about blogging is that I learn something new every day. Since my kitchen assistant Lilja joined the team, we’ve been talking about food and bouncing ideas off each other all the time. When I was planning to do a cranberry dish for Thanksgiving this year, Lilja proposed her favorite cranberry relish.
What is cranberry relish
Lilja told me it’s a very easy dish that’s made by blending cranberries, oranges, and sugar. It’s something they serve on their Thanksgiving dinner table every year, instead of the traditional cranberry sauce.
It was the first time I’d ever heard of such a thing and I thought the idea was so bizarre. I decided to test it out immediately because it would literally take just five minutes to put together.
The result blew my mind! It is refreshing, fruity, and sweet, with a tangier and more citrusy taste than fruit spread. I think it is perfect for pairing with heavy Thanksgiving dishes, to balance things out.
Ingredients
Classic cranberry recipes usually use cranberries, oranges, apples, and sugar. Sometimes nuts and added spices. In this recipe we want to keep it simple with a bit of an Asian twist.
We used just four ingredients – cranberries, clementines, ginger, and sugar.
You can replace the clementines with oranges if you like.
To ensure the ingredients are chopped better in the food processor, you should coarsely chop the ginger and citrus. I quartered the clementines because they are very small in size. If you’re using a regular orange, you should cut it into 1” (2 cm) pieces.
Blending
Some recipes call for blending each ingredient separately, I found it unnecessary. As long as you chop the ingredients in advance, you can blend everything together in one go.
Once you add everything into the food processor, be sure to use “pulse”. You should observe the texture while pulsing, until the fruit is finely chopped, but not to the point where it becomes mush.
Serving & Storage
You can serve the relish immediately after blending. You can also store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days before serving. The longer it sits, the better the flavors will blend.
You can freeze the relish as well, but the mixture will become a bit watery after thawing.
You can also use the cranberry relish to replace your regular fruit spread. Try it in your yogurt, on pancakes, or with crackers. I found it very nice alongside roast dishes (beef, chicken, or pork) as a sauce. And of course it pairs perfectly with your Thanksgiving turkey!
More Thanksgiving recipes
- Easy Milk Bread Rolls
- Sticky Rice Stuffing (A Chinese-Inspired Thanksgiving Recipe)
- Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup
- Curried Vegan Green Bean Casserole
- Chinese Brined Turkey (Extra Juicy and Crispy on All Sides)
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Chinese Cooking Made Easy
Are you new to this website? This free email series is a great place to start. I’ll walk you through a few of my most popular recipes and show you how and why they work. You’ll quickly start to cook better Chinese food in your own kitchen.
Cranberry Relish with Ginger
Ingredients
- 1 bag (12 oz. / 340 g) fresh cranberries
- 6 oz. (160 g) clementines , chopped (or oranges) (about 4 small clementines, or 1 large orange)
- 1 thumb ginger , coarsely chopped
- 1 cup sugar
Instructions
- Combine the cranberries, clementines (or orange), ginger, and sugar in a food processor. Pulse until the fruit is finely chopped. Transfer to a big bowl.
- The relish is ready to serve now, but you can let it sit for a while so the flavors can blend better. Until you’re ready to serve, keep the bowl covered with plastic wrap. You can store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Serve it on the side of roast meat or use it to replace jam.
Nutrition
Have a question or feedback? Add a Comment
Did you make this? I want to see! Tag @OmnivoresCookbook on Instagram, and rate the recipe below.
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
Bethany
Wow, this looks so good! You leave the peels on the clementines?
Maggie
Yes, I leave the peels on the clementines. The clementine peel is quite thin and delicious. It won’t taste bitter at all once you blend everything together and add a lot of sugar in it.