On my first Thanksgiving as Mrs. Johnson, I prepared a batch of freshly made cranberry sauce for family dinner at my new husband's grandmother's house. The taste of my “from scratch” creation left much to be desired, but hoping the flavor would improve during the hour-long drive to “Gema's” house, I decided to take it anyway. After all, I had promised to bring homemade cranberry relish and I didn't want to let anyone down. Long story short, hours later, I returned home with about the same amount of cranberry relish as I had left with. Since then, without success, I have hunted for the perfect cranberry condiment.
The other day, when I saw these beautiful fresh cranberries at The Fresh Market, I knew I would have to give it another try. This year, I hit pay dirt! I served Martha Stewart's Cranberry-Ginger Relish with the rest of the goodies at Christmas Dinner 2009. It's the easiest thing in the world to make, and you will love it especially if you are a ginger lover who likes a strong sweet-tart combination with your holiday meal.
Ingredients
12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 cup brown sugar (Martha's recipe calls for white sugar but I didn't have any)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (I added more because I'm a ginger fanatic)
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
To Make
Put all ingredients except the vinegar in a saucepan and stir. Bring to a boil, then lower the flame and allow everything to simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the vinegar last. Stir. Remove from heat and allow to stand. During this time, I smashed up the cranberries. You can eat this warm or chilled.
Gema, who was a fantastic cook, passed away last year at the age of 92. My husband's family misses her terribly, especially around the holidays. One of the greatest blessings of my life is to be an extended part of my husband's very large family.
So if you are reading this guys (and Gema, I know you're watching), I have finally redeemed myself from the cranberry sauce fiasco of 2001. I hope that next year, I can be with you in person to share it.
Get Martha Stewart's original Cranberry-Ginger Relish recipe here.
Merry Christmas!
Question: If you have a favorite cranberry condiment, please share it in the comments section!
