I’ve been experimenting with cranberry relish recipes for well over a decade now, and have finally found one that works well for me. It has the advantage of being incredibly easy to make, and well, bourbon!
It’s best to make this the night before. If you do, I recommend that you first make yourself a bourbon old fashioned to really enjoy the beauty of the bourbon while you prepare the relish.
Bourboned Cranberry Relish
1 orange
1 lemon
1/2 cup bourbon (Bulleit is an excellent choice)
1/2 cup sugar
1 dash salt
1 dash fresh ground pepper
12 ounces fresh cranberries
zest orange and lemon. obtain 1/2 cup juice from the orange and lemon — start by juicing the whole orange, and for anything less than 1/2 cup, obtain the remainder from the lemon. Pick over the cranberries to remove any bad berries or stems, then rinse the berries.
Put zest, juice, bourbon, sugar, salt, and pepper in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add berries, return to boil and reduce heat. Simmer until the berries reach your preferred consistency (I usually go about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, allow to cool, then transfer to serving bowl and refrigerate, preferrably over night.
I like the sweet and tart balance of this recipe, and the bourbon brings a depth of flavor. Goes great on day-after sandwiches. This will keep well in the fridge, as well!
Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers, and have a great day to everybody!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Yum! I just found this so I’m a little late to add this recipe to Thanksgiving dinner menu, but saving for next year! I’ve been enjoying Jeremiah Weed Bourbon lately, so I’m going to try my batch with that. Keep the unique recipes coming! Happy Holidays!
that recipe looks great! and nice choice with the bulleit, that’s far and beyond the best bourbon on the market; not to mention i’ve met tom bulleit a bunch of times and he could not be sweeter:)
this recipe would also be really good if you used Seagram’s 7 Dark Honey instead of bourbon. Im not sure if you have it in your state yet but we just got it in NYC and its awesome. If you get a chance, definitely try it.
cheers!
I remember long ago a Usenet newsgroup and posting a similar recipe.
This looks like a stone-cold improvement over mine. I’ll be making it now for sampling tomorrow. My 3 year old wouldn’t like cranberry sauce anyway.