My sister has not only forgotten ever making a raw cranberry relish

[conuly]

but she appears to have developed the odd belief that it is the physical process of cooking that makes cranberries sweet enough to be palatable, rather than the addition of sugar.

I don't know what to make of this, but my cranberry relish I just made will knock her socks off.

Comments

[offcntr]

Is this the famous Mama Stamberg recipe (actually from Craig Claiborne) that includes grated onion, sour cream and horseradish? Cuz that stuff rocks.

[conuly]

It is not!

I made one with a bag of cranberries, 1 unpeeled lime, 2 unpeeled tangerines (they were very small), a jalapeno pepper, and a half cup of dark brown sugar.

I made another with a bag of cranberries, 1 granny smith apple (cored), 1 quince (also cored), some grated ginger, a pinch of cinnamon, and quite a lot of turbinado sugar to taste.

[spikethemuffin]

My family's is: roughly equal portions of raw cranberries and apples (12 oz. cranberries: ~4 apples or 16 oz. cranberries: 5-6 apples), roughly chopped into a hash. Sprinkle with lemon juice and macerate in scant sugar overnight or up to one week. (Pecans may be added, but err on the long side, temporally speaking.) Make cherry flavored Jell-o (brand is not important but flavor is) for molding, either one large or two small boxes (enough to make 6-8 servings). Sugar free is fine. Mix in and chill. It's also socks-knocking.

[conuly]

Gelatin, eh?

[spikethemuffin]

I think it's actually slightly better with the right carrageenan "vegetarian Jell-o," but that tends to clutter the conversation and send it down rabbit holes.

[movingfinger]

I like raw cranberries. They need to be fresh-fresh to be good, though.

[havocthecat]

Raw cranberry relish? That sounds like a thing I would like a recipe for? Do you have it?

[conuly]

Yes.

I made one relish with a bag of cranberries, one lime and two tangerines (whole, unpeeled), half a cup of dark brown sugar (muscovado, actually, but regular brown sugar will work), a small red onion, and a jalapeno. Buzz in the food processor until everything is evenly chopped - I had to pull out some of the peels from the citrus and chop them by hand.

I made another using a bag of cranberries, one granny smith apple and one quince (cored), about half an inch of grated ginger, a pinch of cinnamon, and copious amounts of raw sugar to taste. Same food processor method, next time I think I'll use more ginger and less cinnamon. I also added a small amount of orange juice to make it a little more liquidy. I could've used another juice for similar effect.

Both relishes improve after the flavors mingle overnight. Oh, and I tossed in a handful of chia seeds as well, but I buy that in six pound bags and toss handfuls into everything. It's hardly necessary unless you're dying to up the fiber content.