Every baker knows that certain recipes become keepers. You know the kind we mean - recipes you fall in love with and make year after year. You might add your own signature ingredient or tweak the seasonal flavors a little here and there to suit a meal or dessert.
Our Roasted Cran-Cherry Relish is one of these enduring, multi-use recipes that entices you to be creative in your kitchen. It begins with a complex roasted fruit foundation that sparks the imagination in myriad ways. We are delighted to share it with you here.
Roasted Cran-cherry Relish
Gather Your Tools:
- Colander
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
- Large mixing bowl
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Jelly roll baking sheet pan
- Mini shapes cutter set
- Serving bowl
Gather Your Ingredients:
- 1 bag fresh cranberries (12-16 ounces)
- 1 can pitted sweet cherries in heavy syrup, drained with syrup reserved
- 1 cup sugar, to your taste
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup dried cherries
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
- 1 Tablespoon candied orange peel, optional
- 1 can mandarin oranges, drained
- Fresh orange peel for garnish
Get Ready to Bake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Wash cranberries, discarding stems and leaves.
- Rough chop the cranberries to break the skins.
- In large bowl, combine cranberries, drained cherries, sugar, dried cranberries, dried cherries, reserved cherry syrup, orange juice, grated orange peel, and candied orange peel (if desired).
- Arrange mixture evenly on nonstick jelly roll pan. Bake on center rack for 30-40 minutes until fruit is soft and sugar syrup has thickened.
- Allow hot pan to cool on baking rack for 5-10 minutes, then spoon mixture and syrup into bowl. Fold in drained mandarin oranges.
- Use mini cutters to create decorative shapes using the fresh orange peel. Transfer roasted cran-cherry relish to serving bowl and decorate with orange peel shapes. Chill before serving.
Baker’s Bits: This wonderful roasted relish works as a great base for the addition of your favorite fruit. Try adding apples or pears in place of the cherries, raisins in place of the dried cherries, and apple juice or fresh cider in place of the orange juice. Omit the mandarin oranges and add fresh chopped apple instead. Serve warm as a vibrant dessert sauce, or chilled on a peanut butter or leftover turkey sandwich.
To make a roasted meat pan sauce, melt 1-2 Tablespoons butter in a saucepan. Add 1 Tablespoon each fresh chopped rosemary and thyme, 1 minced shallot, 2 Tablespoons ruby port. Sauté until herbs and shallot are fragrant, about five minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups of roasted relish and heat through. If you prefer the sauce more liquid, thin to desired consistency with a bone broth that complements your main course.
This amazing Roasted Cran-cherry Relish truly inspires the imagination. Keep wet-to-dry proportions the same, experiment with seasonal flavor enhancers, and see where our relish recipe will take you.
Share your photos with us now @ultracuisine. We want you to show off your creativity in action!
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