Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Cranberry Rum Relish



At some point in my adult life I've come to realize that despite all my efforts, I am in fact, beginning to turn into my parents. It's mostly in small ways. For instance, as a teen I couldn't figure out why on earth you'd want to spend a day cutting up fruit and putting it into jars and canning it. Mom would buy flats of berries or bushels of peaches or cucumbers etc. and have us kids help peel, cut, and ladle into jars. I thought this was not only an extremely boring way to spend the day, but it was practically on the verge of torture! After all canned fruit and preserves can be bought at the store and they're not that expensive. So why, was my question. Yes we had a big family, but it's just a jar of peaches! I remember quite clearly on one such peach preserving Saturday, swearing that I would NEVER. EVER. can ANYTHING when I was an adult! Of course I swore this quietly, to myself, as our grumbling had no affect on our mother at all. She'd just say that we wouldn't be complaining the next winter while we were eating whatever it was we were helping her preserve.
Then one day I find myself making strawberry preserves and fig chutney with great gusto. See right there no matter how hard you fight it, your parents slip in and take over your thinking. Now I completely get why Mom made her own bread and chopped up everything she could get her hands on and threw it in a jar or the freezer. Oh and it's not all torture to can things, in fact it's kind of fun...and the transformation is complete!
Recently I bought The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving, and was very excited about it, I might add. It's full of all kinds of wonderful recipes for preserving almost anything. When I saw the recipe for Cranberry Rum Relish, I couldn't wait to make it. It's delicious and just tastes like the holidays. It would be great with turkey or chicken. I think it will be on our Thanksgiving table this year.

CRANBERRY RUM RELISH
1/3 cup dark rum (75 mL)
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots (50 mL)
Grated rind of 1 orange
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (750 mL)
1 cup granulated sugar (250 mL)
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper (2 mL)

1. Combine rum, shallots and orange rind in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes until rum has reduced and mixture is a syrupy glaze.
2. Add cranberries and sugar. Stirring constantly, continue to cook until cranberries pop and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in pepper.

3. Process for 10 minutes for half-pint (250 mL) jars and 15 minutes for pint (500 mL) jars as directed below, or store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks.
Makes 2 cups (500 mL)

I had small amount of relish leftover after canning the rest. I made a turkey sandwich on rosemary bread with sharp cheddar cheese and just pressed it in a hot pan with melted butter for a few minutes. It made an incredible sandwich. Now I know how to use up that leftover holiday turkey!

26 comments:

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

How perfect is this for the holidays:D

Eva said...

I had to face up to the same realization a while ago, too. But after all, there are worse things in life..;-)
I've never had a relish like that, sounds very interesting!

Anonymous said...

OMG I am so making this! Looks great!

And I, too, swore I would never turn into my mother. Cook like her? Sure! Anything else? Nooooo way!

Lucy..♥ said...

OMG!! How I can relate, because as I kid I had to do exactly the same!! An as an adult, yep I do it too and enjoy it no less!

Anonymous said...

My mom must've decided she wouldn't become her mother and she didn't. So I guess I've become my grandmother. And great-grandmother for that matter! I suppose the Amish gene from GGMa found a willing taker in me! My mom never canned a thing. And I have to can every summer or I feel like I've let my ancestresses (?) down!

That relish looks fantastic! My mom does a cranberries in port for Christmas that is just spectacular. We save it for Christmas though, which means that TG is the gound up cranberries and oranges version. Not my fave. We'll be doing this one this year! :)

Manggy said...

Oh, kids are silly :) They find things that are supposed to be relaxing extremely boring! Or maybe adults are such fuddy-duddies, lol :) The addition of rum is quite intriguing! Not for kids, then, hee!

Anonymous said...

Looks so delicious, and I love the ruby red color!

Sandie said...

I have a fondness for cranberry anything. Thanks for sharing this recipe---I have a feeling I'll be putting it to good use!

Anonymous said...

My mom thinks it's hysterical I tried out canning, too. This sounds fabulous - cranberries may just be my favorite part of Thanksgiving, and I'll definitely be putting this on my list to make!

glamah16 said...

Oh that looks divine. Especially on a sandwhich. I know what you mean. I see my mother staring back at me every day and I find myself acting like her.But its a good thing!

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

OMG that sammy looks good!

Gigi said...

yum yum! i have been collecting thanksgiving recipes all week. and cranberry relish is one of the ones i was missing. and here you have it. whoopee!

susan said...

hmmm, theres nothing better than homemade preserves!

The Caked Crusader said...

What a beautiful colour - like liquid rubies in a jar!

Daziano said...

I'm just discovering cranberries, so thanks for the lovely recipe!

Anonymous said...

another great holiday condiment. i love the picture of the sandwich at the end. bring on thanksgiving!

grace said...

there's something really magical about the cranberry-orange pairing. and rum in general. nicely done. :)

Anonymous said...

I love pereserving and don't get to it as often as I want. My husband loves to have a chicken sandwhich once a week with cranberry relish. I am going to surprise him and put some up so he can have it on hand all year long! Thanks for the inspiration.

Chocolate Shavings said...

I can relate to your story - no matter how much you fight certain things when you're a child, you often up end up appreciating them greatly as an adult.

Your relish looks wonderful by the way!

Rosie said...

This is just perfect for the holidays!! A must make :)

Rosie x

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Ah, yes. It's cranberry relish season. I love it and make it all winter long. Your ruby red relish is just too pretty!

Vicki said...

I never though of putting rum in cranberry relish, I'll have to try this over the holidays! And I've always thought that the leftover sandwiches are the best part of the meal :)

gaga said...

How could you possibly go wrong with a bit of rum =) Perfect for thanksgiving!

MOL said...

Thanks for a lovely recipe. I too am turning into a "preserver" but not following my parents as they didn't do this!!
I can't wait to make this but don't understand what you mean by Process in the last part of the instructions.
Can you give more detail?

MOL said...

Can't wait to make this. Thanks for the delicious recipe.
What do you mean by process in the last part of the instructions?

Half Baked said...

Hi MOL, If you are canning the cranberry relish you will need to put them in a water bath and cook them in the jars for ten minutes. Process is the canning word that most books use for describing this step. I hope that you enjoy it. It's my family's favorite cranberry dish!