Cranberry Relish With Grapefruit And Mint Food

CRANBERRY RELISH WITH GRAPEFRUIT AND MINT

Steps:

• Using vegetable peeler, remove peel (pink-yellow outer layer only) from 1 grapefruit in strips. Cut peel into 2-inch-long, 1/8-inch-wide strips (about 1/2 cup). Squeeze 1 cup juice from grapefruits.
• Stir 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add grapefruit peel; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until peel is soft, about 15 minutes. Add 1 cup grapefruit juice and cranberries; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until berries burst, about 10 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl. Stir in mint. Cover; chill until cold. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.

GRAPEFRUIT CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine juices, sugar and allspice in pot over medium heat till sugar is dissolved.
• Add lemon zest and cranberries.
• Simmer till cranberries pop. (sometimes the harder berries don't want to pop so I'll give them a helping hand with side of wooden spoon just before I'm ready to take off stove.).
• Stir frequently so sugars don't scald and burn in bottom of pot.
• When all the berries are popped and sauce is nice and thick remove from heat and cool.
• Refrigerate in nonreactive sealed container when cool.
• Can be served hot or cold.
• If you are canning them you need to keep them hot during the canning process. Refer to any canning cookbook for proper canning techniques.

CRANBERRY RELISH

Steps:

• Wash and scrub the apple and orange.
• Rinse the cranberries in a colander.
• Cut the ends off of the orange just a little, until the sections show through.
• Core the apple and cut into quarters.
• In a food processor on chop with chop blade, chop the frozen cranberries until a relish consistency.
• Scoop out into a bowl.
• Chop apple the same way and add to bowl.
• Cut orange into quarters and add to processor-chop until all rind is in very small relish like particles.
• Add to bowl.
• Mix lightly and sprinkle about 1/2 or 2/3's of the one cup of sugar over mixture and let sit for about 1/2 hour.
• After sitting, mix again and taste.
• If mixture is too tart for you add more sugar until right for you.
• We like it tart.
• Add nuts last.
• Note:We quadruple this recipe or more each year.
• For each additional batch, keep out some of the sugar until the batch has rested.
• The fruit does tend to sweeten some naturally and this shouldn't be real sweet.
• Also-this freezes well.
• After the holidays I make several more batches for the rest of the year and freeze in individual containers-ziplock type bowls- (one per meal 4 serving size).
• Keeps forever and is handy to get out for picnics in the summer also.
• ****For freezing batches I do this without the nuts-they tend to mush out over long periods of time-and though they freeze well as nuts they don't adapt to freezing in liquid foods.
• **2010 update re: option for nuts. Place crushed nuts in a small side bowl and let those who like the nuts sprinkle what they want to mix in with their serving. This also works well, because if there are leftovers, you can freeze it without worrying about the nuts getting mushy. Other option--make two batches, one with and one without With large family gatherings and different tastes or food some can't eat, requirements, this solves the problem. Enjoy.

CRANBERRY-ORANGE RELISH WITH MINT

Steps:

• Pulse two 12-ounce bags fresh (or frozen, thawed) cranberries in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl. Finely grate 2 teaspoons orange zest from 1 of 4 navel oranges; set aside. Using a sharp paring knife, remove peel and white pith from oranges. Working over a medium bowl, cut between membranes to release orange segments. Coarsely chop segments; add to cranberries. Stir 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup minced red onion, 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint, 1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger, and reserved zest into cranberry mixture. Cover; let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.