Here are a few gift guides I made to help:
Print recipe
Pin recipe on Pinterest
This recipe is a tart cranberry relish with pears, ginger and a hint of rosemary for a non-traditional flavor twist. It's distinctly different from a traditional sweet jam-like cranberry sauce. The ingredients can all be combined in the food processor--fast and easy!
What makes a good cranberry sauce? It's impossible to find consensus on that. Some like a sweet and simple traditional version. I have a recipe for that, too, in my post Easy 10-Minute Cranberry Sauce. It's always on my holiday table for those who don't want their cranberry sauce tradition messed with.
But, me? I like more of a cranberry relish that is tart, crunchy, and with a few more flavors added in. Most cranberry relishes are left completely raw, but I prefer to cook mine just a little bit to meld the flavors and bring out the colorful juices of the berries. But not too much or there's no crunch left.
Of course, this cranberry relish is most commonly eaten with turkey, but it's also good with cheese and crackers as shown in my post Make An Easy Autumn Wreath Cheese Platter. It makes a terrific relish on turkey sandwiches, too. Yum!
By the way, cranberries are really good for you.
- DID YOU KNOW? Cranberries are considered to be one of the top foods with proven health benefits. They are full of antioxidants and can cut bad cholesterol and help fight infections, stomach cancer, and plaque on teeth. Yay for cranberries!
On to the recipe . . .
Step-By-Step photos for making
Cranberry Ginger Pear Relish:
Assemble these ingredients: fresh cranberries, crystallized ginger, fresh rosemary, pears, an orange, honey, salt, and vegetable or canola oil (grapeseed oil is a neutral tasting, healthy choice). Chopped pecans are optional and not pictured.
Add the cranberries and roughly chopped pears to the food processor bowl.
Use a micro-plane to zest an orange. Then cut the orange in half.
Chop the fresh rosemary leaves. Add the orange zest, juice from the orange halves, rosemary, crystallized ginger, oil, salt, and honey to the food processor bowl.
Pulse it until everything is evenly chopped.
Put the relish in a microwave safe bowl. Zap it at full power for 3 minutes, stopping and stirring after each minute. This brings out the colorful juices of the cranberries and helps to meld the flavors. Leave it out for 30 minutes before refrigerating. Put it in the fridge for up to a week. Or, you can freeze it in smaller portions. I make a full batch before Thanksgiving and freeze some to use for Christmas.
I like to add pecans to mine, but that's optional. Look at the beautiful color! And, it tastes delicious, too.
Variation: To make this more of the consistency and sweetness of traditional cranberry sauce, omit the oil. After chopping the ingredients in the food processor, put them in a sauce pan on the stove; add 1/2 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. The mixture will thicken as it cools. Refrigerate or freeze.
Make it a Yummy day!
Monica
Another post that may interest you:
- 12 oz. fresh cranberries, picked over and stemmed
- 2 medium pears, peeled, cored, coarsely chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)
- 1/3 cup crystallized ginger
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 teaspoons fresh chopped rosemary
- zest from 1 orange
- juice from 1 orange (approx. 1/2 cup)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable, canola or grapeseed oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup toasted chopped pecans (optional)
Variation: To make this more the consistency and sweetness of traditional cranberry sauce, omit the oil. After chopping the ingredients in the food processor, put them in a sauce pan on the stove; add 1/2 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. The mixture will thicken as it cools. Refrigerate or freeze.
Here are a few gift guides I made to help:
