Cranberry Relish

Photo by: Lucy Alexander

My mother was an Adele Davis devotee so naturally carrot juice and plain yogurt were on the menu most days. The only sugar in the house was kept in the cupboard above the refrigerator. On the rare occasion that she would hire a babysitter and go out, my brother and I got busy fast. Climbing onto the counter in the kitchen trying to reach the sugar wasn’t easy but we were determined. Pouring huge amounts of sugar into our sugarless grape juice made the juice taste absolutely foul, but we pretended it was delicious. The only time that bag of sugar was used was around the holidays—not for mom’s date bars that were flavored with apple juice and were heavy and hard as rocks, but for the cranberry relish. We ate the cranberry relish because it had sugar in it but the raw orange peel made it kind of tart for us kids so we never ate very much of it. As an adult though I love this relish. Not only for the tartness the whole orange gives it, but also the unusual and very satisfying texture and taste compared to the cranberry sauce you usually see on the holiday table. It takes about 15 minutes to make but you have to let it macerate in the fridge for a couple days, which brings out the juices and color of the cranberries. It is the best part of a turkey meal for me and sublime the next day on a turkey sandwich!

Photo by: Lucy Alexander

1 bag of cranberries, washed

1 whole orange scrubbed clean cut into 8 pieces.

3/4 cup of granulated white sugar

Pick through the cranberries discarding soft berries. Put them in a food processor along with the orange pieces. Pulse 5 or 6 times until the cranberries and the oranges are about the same texture as pickle relish. Turn the fruit into a medium bowl and add the sugar. Using a spatula mix the sugar with the fruit until completely combined. Cover and place in the fridge for two days. After the first day take it out and turn it a bit to incorporate the juices.