Fresh Cranberry Orange Relish Recipe

Fresh Cranberry Orange Relish

from The Cape Cod Table by Lora Brody

Ingredients:

2 large, thick-skinned oranges

1 lime

1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

There is good reason beyond their delicious taste to eat cranberries. Anyone prone to urinary tract infections should know that it has been scientifically proven that cranberries keep that culprit E. coli from adhering to the walls of the urinary tract. And there's more good news: Cranberries have five times the antioxidant content of broccoli (not to mention that they taste better), which means they have been shown to protect against cancer, stroke, and heart disease. According to studies done at the University of Scranton, this native American berry is able to decrease levels of total cholesterol and LDL (bad cholesterol) in animals. Studies are under way to see if the high levels of antioxidants in cranberries also protect against atherosclerosis.

The closer to fresh you eat cranberries, the better they are for you. Because very few people could stomach drinking straight cranberry juice, since it is so sour, the next best way is to eat them fresh with just enough sugar to balance the tartness. My friend Fern Fisher's recipe for Fresh Cranberry Orange Relish delivers just what you need.

Add the cranberries to a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse to finely chop the berries. Remove the berries to a nonreactive bowl. Use a fine grater to grate the zest of the oranges and lime. Use a sharp knife to remove the white pith from the oranges and lime. Cut the orange pulp into several pieces, discarding any seeds, adding the pulp to the food processor. (Save the lime for the end.) Pulse to chop and add the chopped pulp and the zest to the cranberries. Stir in the brown sugar, maple syrup, walnuts, and ginger. If you like your cranberry sauce on the tart side, chop the lime pulp and add all or part of it to the mixture. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for several hours (or for as long as a week) before serving.

This and many other wonderful recipes may be found in Lora Brody's
The Cape Cod Table from Chronicle Books