Cranberry Relish Recipe

I’ve often toyed with the idea of dining out for Thanksgiving. Every year I imagine myself perusing a menu casually, ordering, eating and leaving without having cooked one thing or washed one dish. Then I get all twisted up in tradition and do it myself.

This year I can do a little of both thanks to The Founding Farmers Cookbook: 100 Recipes for True Food & Drink From the Restaurant Owned By American Family Farmers. A collective of more than 40,000 American family farmers that make up the North Dakota Farmers Union owns the Founding Farmers restaurants in the Washington, D.C. area, and they source their food from family farms, ranches and fisheries across the country. 

In addition to deviled eggs and bacon “lollies,” the cookbook includes an easy recipe for cranberry relish. It comes straight from the Thanksgiving menu offered at the restaurant, which is full of other things I wish I was eating, like green bean casserole with roasted garlic-mushroom crust and roasted chestnut-cornbread dressing.

Cranberry Relish

Serves 8-10

• 1 ½ pounds fresh cranberries
• 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ¼ cup water

Rinse the cranberries under running water. Place along with all of the remaining ingredients except the cornstarch and water in a large pot and mix well. Bring the mixture to a boil, then decrease the heat to low and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring often so the mixture does not burn.

Once the cranberries have broken down, combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl to make a slurry. Whisk the slurry into the cranberry relish and simmer for 10-12 minutes.