I'll have a dinner guest for T-day who can't have cranberries. Anyone know of any other possibilities of a fruity relish that's cranberry-free?
I make a prune/pear compote that is good with chicken - let me know if you want the recipe.
That's a great idea.
Lingonberries are in the same botanical family as blueberries, huckleberries and cranberries. I think they have a superior flavor to cranberries.
If there is an allergy issue or seed issue, I would suggest red currant jelly (which is delightful in its own right, and I am someone otherwise much prefers jams or preserves over jellies) or sour cherry preserves.
What's the reason? If it is the seeds (diverticulitis) then you might want to be sure of their reasons... If not then maybe another option is to try a fig preserve.
The guest uses a blood thinner medication (coumadin) and cranberries are a no-no. So are lots of other things, but cranberries is the big problem for T-day.
This is an amazing list, people--I'll ask the guest if there are any preferences, though I want to do all of these anyway! On the other hand, I used to make two or three different cranberry sauces (so many great recipes, so little time) before I realized that everyone had fallen in love with a jellied version that has a nice spice sachet, so there was really no point in making the cranberries cooked in zinfandel if everyone but me was going to ignore it.
Sweet pepper jelly - make or buy - Stonewall Kitchen has a great product if you don't want to make it. It's always on our table along with the home made cranberry and the jellied cranberry (it's not thanksgiving w/out the slices! of cranberry sauce!)
Stonewall Kitchen does EVERYTHING well!!! if you can kind find them without ordering from Maine. Well worth the wait, but shipping costs are ridiculous. Check in specialty grocery stores.
Tabasco also makes very good (hot (red) and mild (green)) pepper jellies. But note that even the mild has a mild "kick".
Maybe too late to find green tomatoes, but Green Tomato Relish is a New England standard and always makes it onto my T-day table. Has a nice tart/sweet thing going, and is fabulous with turkey. I love it on my followup turkey sandwiches as well. I use the recipe in Joy of Cooking [1950's era edition.]
Peach chutney, might even be peach-mango chutney, made by the same company that makes Major Grey Chutney. Or any other fruit chutney would be good, there are lots of options for homemade or purchased chutneys.
I'm a big fan of sour cherries in all sorts of contexts, including with roasted meats (but I don't know how likely they are to avoid whatever problem the cranerries cause!)
Would orange, lemon or apricot relish work for your guest? If so, I have several lovely recipes.
No garlic or ginger, either -- my dad takes coumadin, and his dr told him to avoid garlic and ginger, too.
Homemade applesauce is delicious, simple to make, and goes great with turkey. Leave it a bit chunky.
A rhubarb chutney would give you a similar tanginess, if you can find rhubarb this time of year. Good luck!
I called up my guest and read her the list of all of the options. Quite frankly, she'd like all of them. I limited her to three, so after reluctantly concluding that lingonberries might be too much like cranberries for her medical situation, she asked for one of those lemon, orange or apricot relishes that HillJ suggested (recipes, please?). She also asked for commercial versions of sweet pepper jelly and sour cherries.
My pleasure and enjoy! (These are lovely relishes to serve but I hope none of the add'l ingredients are issues for your guest.)
Orange or Lemon Relish
1/2 teaspoon grated orange or lemon peel
2 seedless oranges or lemon with seeds removed, peeled, sectioned and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Cover. Refrigerate until ready to serve
Apricot Relish
1 can (8 to 9 ounces) apricot halves, drained and pitted
1 orange
1 tablespoon each: minced fresh ginger, minced fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon each: cider vinegar, soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon each: dry mustard, turmeric
Coarsely chop the apricots. Put in a bowl. Grate orange rind to 1/2 teaspoon.
Chop up orange flesh and add flesh and grated rind to apricots.
Add remaining ingredients. Stir to mix. Cover and refrigerate from 1 to 4 hours.
My mother used to serve warm strawberries and rhubard. I just loved it!
I don't know about commercial cherry sauce, but we whipped this up for Thanksgiving this year to accomodate a Coumadin user. It's so good and tastes almost exactly like normal cranberry sauce!
Cherry Sauce for Thanksgiving
1 bag (1 lb?) frozen dark cherries
scant 1/2 cup sugar or Splenda for cooking & baking
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Thaw cherries and chop roughly into quarters or pulse in food processor until desired chunkiness. Pour cherries in a colander stacked on a large bowl, then rinse with 1 1/2 cups of water and drain, reserving liquid produced.
Pour reserved liquid into a saucepan and add sugar or Splenda. Warm over medium heat, stirring frequently. When starts to boil, add in cherries and OJ. Keep heating until cooked through and liquid greatly reduced, stirring occasionally.
In a small bowl, thoroughly mix 3 tablespoons cold water into the cornstarch. Slowly add cornstarch mixture to cherry mixture, stirring well after each spoonful. When fully blended and mixture thickened, remove from heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate overnight and serve with turkey dinner.
I checked back in just before T-day to get last year's recipes, and just saw lolua's cherry sauce. It was scrumptuous, and my non-cranberry-eating guest gave it big thumbs up. Thanks so much for posting this!
This and The Apricot a few posts abov would be excellent along with a Pork Loin or Chops.
Making cherry sauce again this year. We've discovered that about a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon added at the end gives it a little fuller flavor.
As noted above, Stonewall Kitchen from Maine (may have to do mail-order) and Tabasco brand (hot (red) and mild green).
(I know the question is from 2 years ago, but ....)
Membrillo!
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