Thursday, November 18, 2021

Libby Dodd's Fresh Cranberry Relish #Thanksgiving


LUCY BURDETTE: I hope you all know how much we appreciate our visitors and readers--we are very grateful for each one of you! Today I’m thrilled to welcome a very special guest, our own Libby Dodd. Libby has been a fan of our kitchen for years. She often takes the time to comment on our recipes, leaving suggestions that make it clear she is a great cook herself. One day a few months ago, she talked about a cranberry relish that her mother always made and I thought—she would make an amazing Thanksgiving guest. And she agreed, so welcome Libby!


LIBBY DODD: I am thrilled to be a guest at MLK!  I’ve been a fan for years and try to make the time to come by and comment every day as my way of saying “Thanks” to the hardworking writers here. I hope my offering is up to your usually high standards.

I come from a family of cooks.  I grew up with my parents cooking from the original Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Our dog was significantly overweight from the cream filled leftovers!

Libby's mother and daughter

Holidays were a mixed bag.  My mother hosted the dinners and took responsibility for the bulk of the cooking.  Over time this got to be too much for her.  My sister and I began taking on parts of the menu and preparing them.  We found, however, that having all three of us actively working in the kitchen at the same time did not work well.  Too much friction.  If we were men, I’d say it was too much testosterone!

We got smart and started preparing everything we could at home and bringing it for finishing/warming at her house.


The raw cranberry relish was her domain, however.  She bought a food processor very early on to facilitate this.  Otherwise, she would have had to use an old-fashioned food grinder clamped to the table to chop everything. (As a side note, my daughter resisted this relish and insisted on canned, jellied sauce for years.  She has come around now and loves this version.)

Memory is an interesting thing.  What we think we remember is not necessarily what actually happened.

Case in point: the recipe for my mother’s holiday cranberry relish.

Going exclusively by my memory, I thought it was roughly one bag of fresh cranberries, one whole orange, one half lemon, and “some” sugar (maybe a cup?).

I reached out to my sister who has the actual handwritten recipe in her collection. It calls for 3 oranges, one bag of cranberries, and 2 cups of sugar.

3 oranges?!  2 cups of sugar?!  Oh my.

We wonder if the cranberries used to come in larger bags, perhaps 16 oz., as opposed to the 12 oz. Ocean Spray bags that are available today.

So, I offer this revised version of the recipe with the caveat that you can adjust the ingredients according to your taste: more cranberries, more fruit, more or less sugar.  

For today, I’m going with the following...





MARTHA’S FRESH CRANBERRY RELISH

12-16 ounces of fresh cranberries (organic comes in ½ pound bags, regular in 12 oz. bags) *

One whole orange, deseeded (since you use the whole thing, try for organic) Cut up **

½ lemon, deseeded  (again, organic if you can) Cut up

1 cup sugar ***

*I used a pound of organic cranberries

**I ended up using ¾ of the orange

***With the full pound of cranberries, I think 1 ¼ cups might be good



Put all in a food processor and chop to desired degree.  Depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to do this in two batches. It should look like jewels (in my opinion), not an evenly textured mush.




Put in a covered container and allow to age for a day or so.
Note: Ocean Spray says this can be frozen.  I’ve never tried.

This is great with turkey but is also great in sandwiches and with other meats, like pork. (It also works to freeze and use later.)


Lucy: Thanks so much, Libby, for coming to cook in our kitchen! Readers, who is the cook for your holiday feasts?


37 comments:

  1. Such fun to have you as a guest, Libby. Thanksgiving here is long over, but I’ll give your recipe a try at Christmas. I make my Moms special recipe, maybe this year I’ll have a choice for my dinner guests

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    1. Every day is an excuse for thanksgiving.
      I use the relish almost every day in wraps.

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  2. Welcome to the front of the blog, Libby! I usually do a version of this but cooked and without the orange peel.

    I host every year, and I do the pies, turkey, stuffing (my mom's recipe), gravy, and cranberry sauce. My guests bring the rest!

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    1. As with blueberry pie, I find the raw berries have a fresher, more alive flavor.
      The orange and lemon add a blast of extra freshness to the taste.

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  3. Libby, we're so glad you're here! thanks for sharing the family recipe and stories...

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    1. I'm looking forward to your recipe cookbook.

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  4. Mom was always the cook/baker, but over time I began to do more and more to "help" out. Now that Mom's gone to her heavenly home, it's just me.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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    1. Perhaps there are some others who are alone who would like to share the season with like minded people.

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  5. Thank you MLK for hosting me today!
    This relish isn't just for Thanksgiving.
    It's great in sandwiches and with all sorts of foods at dinner.
    I tested out freezing it and found it works well.

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  6. Hi Libby, Thank you for sharing your family recipe and for taking the time to comment on the recipes we share. I remember cranberries in 16-ounce bags. Then, like so many other items (e.g., chocolate bars, cake mixes), the size shrank though the price stayed the same. Happy Thanksgiving!
    ~Maya

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    1. And the size of ice cream cartons! And pasta.
      Is everything getting smaller or are we getting bigger?

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  7. Family go to, for years. I have frozen cranberries waiting and Wii be grabbing my orange the weekend. I've never added lemon, just cranberries, orange and sugar. I usually grind mine up on Sunday or Monday and let it macerate, getting all juicy. Mine has a bit more sugar.

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    1. See? Almost infinitely adaptable.

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  8. Thrilled to welcome you to the blog Libby! We've appreciated all your comments over the years. I love this recipe--the relish does indeed look like jewels. I am putting this on our Thanksgiving menu this year! Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. A pleasure to be in this esteemed company.

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  9. Libby, what a treat to have you as our guest this morning! Your story is sweet and the recipe lovely. And you're so right -- a cranberry turkey sandwich, with a little brie, is a delight!

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    1. I make wraps with chicken salad, relish, Roquefort, and shredded carrots.

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  10. Hi, Libby -- Chiming in with my fellow writers/cooks/bloggers to officially and sincerely thank you for your years of active support and lively comments! What a treat to have you run the Kitchen today. I loved the story of how you and your sister worked out coping with the holiday cooking, and especially the foodie family history of your mother's relish. I'll be honest, I have never tried a raw cranberry relish and this sounds like a bright and delicious way to liven up the turkey dinner. I'd also love to try it as a chutney-esque accompaniment to spicy dishes. I think all the flavors would make for a fantastic fusion plate. Thanks for sharing with us today. Lifting a virtual glass to you as Marc and I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving! ~ Cleo


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  11. What fun to have you here on the blog today, Libby! I love your recipe and the story behind it. The best recipes have a history and the ability to be adjusted. I'll definitely try this - it sounds so fresh and tasty. Many hugs, MJ

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    1. You'll appreciate the age of the photo of my mother and daughter. Said daughter has a 5 year old daughter of her own now!

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  12. Libby! Having you here in the kitchen is so much fun! I love that your parents cooked from Julia Child's classic. My mother and I watched her TV show religiously, and Mom encouraged me to try the recipes. My Buche de Noel probably looked like beavers and termites attacked it. Your Fresh Cranberry Relish sounds delish. I'll try it for Christmas. Thank you!

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    1. My mother gave us a copy of The Art...for a wedding present with a note saying it was for more affluent times!

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  13. My mother served that canned cranberry stuff and I hated it! I found a recipe similar to your a few years ago and make that now. No cooking! No lemon in mine, toasted pecans instead. Fresh cranberry relish is so good!

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    Replies
    1. Fresh Market makes a credible version with walnuts and orange.

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  14. How excited I was to see your name as our honored guest today, Libby! Welcome to the Kitchen!

    Your relish recipe looks fabulous, and I'm thinking it might go really well with roast pork, or even added to the deglazing liquid after pan frying pork chops. Yum!

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    1. Added to the deglazing liquid sounds brilliant!

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  15. Krista has tried and tried to post a comment and asked me to add this for her:

    Libby, after all these years, I am thrilled to see a photo of you and even more happy to see you as a guest. You certainly win the prize for the most devoted fan! This reminds me a lot of the cranberry gelatin mold that my mom used to make. Everything went in raw. If I hadn't tried the gelatin, I would have expected raw cranberries to be too sour. But they're not! I'll have to try your version this year.
    Krista

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    1. Thanks for persevering, Krista. And Lucy/Roberta for assisting.

      A correction on the photo: That's my mother and (then younger) daughter, not me.

      My family doesn't like citron but we had a fruit cake recipe that replaced all that with chocolate chips, dates, pecans, and maraschino cherries. We replaced the cherries (after trying many alternatives, like canned cherries) with fresh cranberries. It worked great: a blast of red color and a sweet/tart blast.

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  16. Hi Libby! Thank you for joining us today! Your recipe looks delicious. My mother-in-law makes cranberry relish, but she doesn't use the orange peel. Do you need to add the peel? Does it add a lot of orange flavor with the cranberries?

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    1. I think adding the orange and lemon with their peels adds a tang that would be missing with just the pulp. It lifts the flavors.

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  17. Happy Thanksgiving, one and all.

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  18. We all cook for Thanksgiving in my family. I love anything cranberry. I've been on a cranberry smoothie kick this year. Thanks for the recipe! Will give it a try!

    jarjm1980(at)hotmail(dot)com

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    1. I hope it hits the spot.
      It is certainly not a smoothie! Although I guess if you processed it long enough it might be.

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