Jalapeno Cranberry Relish

I never met a cranberry I didn’t like. Cranberry sauce, cranberry relish, cranberry chutney, cranberry granola…and my latest guilty pleasure—Cranberry Cosmopolitans. In my mind, cranberries go with everything. That’s one of the reasons I look forward to this time of year. Fresh cranberries are plentiful, even in Central Texas. I actually like to eat cranberry sauce all year long--with pork, chicken, even barbequed brisket (I know that’s blasphemy here in Texas), but I made a warm cranberry chipotle sauce that was absolutely born to go with barbeque.

One day last year my local supermarket was out of fresh cranberries!!! And this was about a week before Thanksgiving. I was so distraught I went to another store and bought several bags. Of course, I didn’t get to use them all, so I threw the bags in the freezer. And guess what? They freeze beautifully! I pulled out a bag a few days ago to make a relish to go with baked chicken for an impromptu dinner party and I could not tell that it was made from frozen cranberries.



Jalapeno Cranberry Relish

24 ounces fresh cranberries
1 cup fresh lime juice
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
shallots, minced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in food process or blender and blend. If you like it hotter, add another jalapeno pepper or two. Place in a container and refrigerate overnight.

Makes about 1 quart