I love cranberry relish, and no matter my theme, it’s going to be at my Thanksgiving table in some form or the other. So when I took on a Caribbean menu, there was no doubt that I would still make a cranberry relish no matter how foreign cranberries may be to the Caribbean and that was enough to make this Lime Dark Rum Cranberry Relish possible. I just needed to add the right flavors and accents to make the cranberry relish fit in with some of my more traditional dishes on the menu, like the jerk turkey. I also knew that since my classic relish is raw, I would need to combine it with a sauce of some sort if I wanted to sneak in something as bold as dark rum. So here we are with a best of both worlds Lime Dark Rum Cranberry Relish that combines a cranberry sauce and cranberry relish. While you’re making the relish, be sure to keep tasting both sauces throughout both processes (which is, of course, a good general practice) because while I like things a little tart, you may not, and should feel justified in upping the sugar just a bit here and there. And since I’ve subbed in some lime for the traditional orange, you may be especially missing the sugar in this particular Lime Dark Rum Cranberry Relish recipe. Like it’s more traditional cousin, I still think this Lime Dark Rum Cranberry Relish makes lovely leftovers as a sandwich condiment and on breakfast foods like fresh toast and scones. Therefore I’ve included it on my Sauces and Dressings page in the recipe index. And while you creatively think of ways to use it over the next few weeks, by all means, leave me a comment of delicious uses and pairings that you come up with for Lime Dark Rum Cranberry Relish in your post-Thanksgiving cooking.
Lime Dark Rum Cranberry Relish
Ingredients
- 28 ounces cranberries; divided
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- zest and juice of 1 lime; divided
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 orange; ends removed and quartered
Instructions
- Cut the lime in half.
- Place one half the lime in a food processor with the orange (quartered) and the granulated sugar.
- Pulse until the orange pieces are pea-sized.
- Add a 12 ounce bag of cranberries and process until it's still chunky but the mix is fairly uniform.
- Reserve in a medium bowl with a lid.
- In a small saucepan, combine the zest of the second half of the lime, the juice of the half lime, the brown sugar, dark rum, and 16 ounces of cranberries.
- Bring to a boil and cook until the cranberries burst.
- Lower heat to simmer and cover after stirring well. Cook for a couple of minutes until you have a jam consistency.
- Remove from heat and let cool.
- Mix together with the relish and serve.
