Cranberry Relish

Imagine a perfectly roasted turkey breast, hot out of the oven, crispy golden-brown skin gleaming with fat. Just the meat is enough to set your mouth watering but you can actually make it even more irresistible with a well-chosen relish. Most people in the US have a very limited view of relish – we just think of the green condiment we get on our hamburgers and hot dogs – but in fact that’s just one variety. The world of relish is actually very broad: you can make it out of almost any fruit or vegetable, and dream up a relish to go with any kind of main dish.

Instead of using pickles as a base, this recipe takes cranberries, apples, and oranges – it’s a little like a more sophisticated version of cranberry sauce, and it pairs beautifully with any kind of turkey or chicken dish. A little bit of optional honey balances out the bitterness of the cranberries: if you don’t want to use any sweetener at all, I’d suggest boiling the cranberries beforehand to tone down the taste. You can leave the peel on the orange or take it off: if you keep it, it adds a little more zest and brightness to the finished product.

To get the proper consistency for this recipe as written, the instructions usually call for a grinder, but if you don’t have one, you can substitute with a blender or food processor. If you do this, though, I suggest pulsing all the ingredients individually and then mixing them in a bowl afterward. If you don’t have even a blender or food processor, you can also do this by hand, but be prepared to spend a while on the chopping!

Cranberry Relish Recipe

Prep Time: 15 min.

Ingredients

• 2 cups raw cranberries;
• 2 apples, skinned and cored;
• 1 large seedless orange, cut into sections; (peel on or not)
• ¼ cup raw honey; (optional)

Preparation

1. Using a blender or food processor, process the cranberries, apples, and orange. Make sure to only pulse rather gently in order to obtain a relish consistency instead of a purée.
2. Alternatively, to make sure you get the right consistency, you can process each ingredient individually and then combine them in a bowl.
3. Add the honey, if using, and combine well.
4. Transfer to a bowl, refrigerate and serve when needed.