Cranberries Three Ways!

I love this time of the year, what is better than a holiday that pretty much can lay claim to several foods. One of my favorite of these exclusive foods is the fabulous cranberry!

When I moved to New England 5 years ago, I thought I had waved goodbye to my favorite cranberry concoction, raw cranberry orange relish. But 2 years ago I could take it no more…I would become the bearer of all things cranberry!

This year I took it a step further, producing not only the relish, but a whole cranberry sauce and an amazing Cape Code Cranberry Tart that I can thank my friend Robin of www.dovesandfigs.com for! The tart was my biggest success, since you all know that I do NOT bake! You can view the recipe on Robin’s blog, and trust me, if I can do it, ANYone can! As an added bonus, I made extra candied cranberries from this recipe to put on top of my mini baked bries!

Cranberries make me happy, and I think I will have to take this joy with me into other seasons of the year…fall shouldn’t get all the fun!

Raw Cranberry-Orange Relish

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh cranberries
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1.5 Navel oranges (or other de-seeded variety) cut into eighths with the peel still on. – Yes, the peel goes into the relish, trust me!

Directions:

• Place all 3 ingredients into a food processor and pulse until finely blended
• Try to keep yourself from eating the entire batch in one sitting,

Whole Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 12 oz fresh cranberries
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of water

Directions:

• Bring water and sugar to a boil in a stainless steel pot
• Add cranberries and return to a boil
• Reduce heat to a simmer and allow to slowly boil for 10 -12 minutes
• Place a metal strainer over a serving bowl and drain the sauce from the cranberries
• Scoop a couple of the remaining cranberries into the liquid
• Use a metal spoon to press the remaining cranberries through the strainer.
• If you want, you may put more of the pulp into the liquid instead of pressing it all through the strainer.
• Cover the bowl and allow to cool completely at room temperature.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.