We’ve been busy getting ready for Thanksgiving here at Nana and BeeBop’s house. We’re having 10 for dinner this year and I’m so excited to see each and every one of them. Today has been house cleaning, garage cleaning and leaf blowing day. Along with final menu planning.
One of the things I like most about Thanksgiving are all the little “extras” that make it special. Special toppings for the pies, garnishes for the platters and these two little relishes to go along with the turkey.
One is the traditional cranberry and orange relish and the other is a little different. It uses kumquats and dried cherries with anise seed and other goodies to make an excellent chutney to adorn your table. Kumquats will always seem a little exotic to me. Not quite an orange nor a tangerine. Not a lemon either. I remember having them in our house around Christmas when I was growing up and we usually ate them out of hand, skin and all. The Kumquat Growers Association calls them “nature’s sweet-tart.” Pretty apt description.
This kumquat and dried cherry chutney is perfect for a southern Thanksgiving menu. Southerners have a long history with chutneys and relishes. Probably because of the old spice trade with the Charleston and Savannah ports. Granted, this chutney lacks some of the classic ingredients. It’s sweet, citrusy and the background note of licorice from the anise seed is just perfect. I think you’ll really like this one!
Kumquat and Dried Cherry Chutney
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. anise seed
1 pint kumquats, sliced and de-seeded
1 cup plus 2 tblsp sugar
1 1/4 cups orange juice
1 cup dried cherries
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Beautiful, fresh kumquats. Just waiting to be made into a delicious chutney.
Prepare the kumquats by giving them a rinse and then slicing them into disks. Remove the tiny seeds with the tip of a knife. Granted, this is a bit tedious, but just take your time and you’ll have it finished before you know it.
In a small, dry skillet over medium heat, toast mustard seeds and anise seed. Gently shake the pan back and forth until seeds are aromatic and lightly toasted, about 1-2 minutes.
Transfer to a heavy, small saucepan with remaining ingredients – sliced kumquats, sugar, orange juice, dried cherries, ginger, black pepper and cinnamon.
Bring to a boil stirring often. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the chutney thickens and the kumquats become translucent, about 20-25 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl and let cool before serving. Store in air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Bring to room temperature before serving.
— Recipe adapted from Kumquat Growers Association
Now for the more traditional cranberry relish. I grew up like most of you eating the jellied cranberry sauce from a can. But the first time I ever tasted a whole cranberry sauce I left the jellied stuff and never went back. For my cranberry sauce, I add a little cinnamon and cloves while it simmers. Gives it just a little extra flavor.
Cranberry-Orange Relish
12 oz. fresh cranberries
Zest of one orange
Fresh juice from one orange, plus enough additional juice to make 1 cup
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
Zest and juice one orange. To the juice from the orange add enough additional juice to make one full cup. Place cranberries, orange zest and juice, cinnamon stick, cloves and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until cranberries are softened and the mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Remove cinnamon stick (and the cloves if you can find them) before serving. Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!
Kumquat & Dried Cherry Chutney
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp. anise seed
- 1 pint kumquats, sliced and de-seeded
- 1 cup plus 2 tblsp sugar
- 1 1/4 cups orange juice
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a small, dry skillet over medium heat, toast mustard seeds and anise seed. Gently shake the pan back and forth until seeds are aromatic and lightly toasted, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a heavy, small saucepan with remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil stirring often. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the chutney thickens and the kumquats become translucent, about 20-25 minutes.
- Transfer to a bowl and let cool before serving. Store in air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Notes
Recipe from the Kumquat Growers Association
All text and photographs on Never Enough Thyme are copyright protected. Please do not use any material from this site without obtaining prior permission. If you'd like to post this recipe on your site, please create your own original photographs and either re-write the recipe in your own words or link to this post.
Cranberry-Orange Relish
Ingredients
- 12 oz. fresh cranberries
- Zest of one orange
- Fresh juice from one orange, plus enough additional juice to make 1 cup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 whole cloves
Instructions
- Zest and juice one orange. To the juice from the orange add enough additional juice to make one full cup.
- Place cranberries, orange zest and juice, sugar, cinnamon stick and cloves in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until cranberries are softened and the mixture thickens.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool. Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
All text and photographs on Never Enough Thyme are copyright protected. Please do not use any material from this site without obtaining prior permission. If you'd like to post this recipe on your site, please create your own original photographs and either re-write the recipe in your own words or link to this post.
Nice, Lana! Every year I make a similar fresh cranberry/orange relish for Thanksgiving, and it’s my favorite part of the meal. But your chutney is totally new to me and is a keeper. Here in FL we have kumquats coming out our ears, so to speak, and virtually all of my neighbors have trees with fruit looking for a good use. Thanks so much for sharing this excellent recipe.
Love this recipe! Happy Thanksgiving!
Lana, I just *knew* you’d have the perfect cranberry sauce recipe for us — thank you so much! This is exactly what I was looking for. I don’t have access to kumquats anymore, so I won’t be making the chutney, but the cranberry sauce is of course required.
Now … I don’t suppose you have a recipe for oyster dressing, do you? Wouldn’t that be a “southern thang?” All I know about it is that it has oysters and is made with bread, not cornbread. (The person requesting the oyster dressing is adamant that there is NO cornbread or cornmeal in the dressing. Seems sacriligious to me, but what do I know?)
Thanks as always for your wonderful recipes and photographs!
Hi Peg! I hope you like that cranberry sauce. It’s my favorite. Now about the oyster dressing. I don’t have a recipe because that’s never been the tradition in my family, but I’ve had oyster dressing many times and it has always had a cornbread base. Oyster dressing is very popular in the coastal areas of South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana. They basically just prepare a cornbread dressing like the one I posted recently and add oysters to it. The oyster dressing your friend is referring to that is made with bread is more of a New England style.
Paula Deen has a recipe for southern oyster dressing (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/oyster-dressing-recipe/index.html) if you’re interested. You could also search http://www.foodtv.com for a bread-based dressing or just Google for “oyster dressing” to find something like your friend is asking for.
Great looking relishes. I just made my first ever cranberry relish today. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to think outside the can!
These look awesome and are definitely going on my list for Thanksgivings in the future!
Such beautiful looking chutney and relish! I love the use of kumquats. They are so tasty!
Thanks! I love those little sweet-tart kumquats, too. It’s a nice change from the traditional cranberry sauce.
This is probably the most unusual and original cranberry sauce/chutney I have seen so far. Fantastic combination of flavors!
Thanks, Dara. The kumquat-cherry chutney is a little different, but so good. The cranberry-orange is great as well but more traditional. Either go well not only with turkey but with a roast chicken or pork loin.
Kumquat sounds like a natural to pair with cranberries. I like a chutney that is a little different. I just posted one but I’m never sure that everyone will like it. Thats when it’s nice to have a more traditional option. They both sound wonderful!
Since I had Thanksgiving dinner at your house, I can vouch for the kumquat & cherry chutney. It is delicious. I’m going to make some for Christmas dinner.
Thanks, Neena! I thought it was very good. A nice change from the usual cranberry sauce.
Aloha, Lana! A couple of months late, I finally got enough kumquats off the tree to make the chutney. My cherries were much darker and harder in texture than the usual bagged dried cherries (needed to cook longer and slower), and my tangerine tree gave up juice for the pot. It turned out quite dark in color, with the cherries maintaining a lot of their texture. Very unusual taste…I keep taste testing it! For next time, I plan to chop the cherries a little or use regular commercial dried ones. Otherwise, a winner!