I like to make a few pots of a cranberry type relish each year to go with the Christmas meats. I looked through several books, and decided to devise my own with a special twist....
A spice which goes very well with rich meats and also chicken, and which I often include in sauces is the juniper berry. This grows on an evergreen low growing bush but I find just buying them in a jar is much easier than trying to source the right type of plant! Also I love gin, well in moderation, a nice drink to start the weekend with a few nuts maybe?
As this is for a few special presents, I do not put the ingredients or date made on the label, but just in case anyone wanted to know what was in the jar, here is the recipe with full list of ingredients:
300g Cranberries
300g prepared cooking apples
50g dried cranberries soaked overnight in 1 tbs gin
5 juniper berries crushed
1 Large Orange, finely grated peel and juice
100g soft brown sugar
pinch of allspice
50g organic cider vinegar
More gin
I cooked all the fruit gently together till soft, but still holding its shape. I then added the sugar, spices and vinegar, and cooked the lot gently stirring to make sure it did not catch on the bottom of the pan. The preserve was then ladled into hot sterilised jars, I then floated a teaspoon of gin and slapped on the lids quickly and tightly!
Hope that Janice and Nicki enjoy this one...
