Cranberry-orange relish using jellied cranberry sauce?

October 31, 2018 2:53 PM

I want to make some sort of cranberry-orange relish (or sauce, etc.) for Thanksgiving that will accommodate my friend who has diverticulitis and can't eat whole cranberries, either fresh or in a canned sauce, because of the seeds. Is it possible to make some variation using the called jellied cranberry sauce? I'm not having any luck finding recipes. I know there are great, experienced, adventurous cooks here who can help me. Help me!
posted by Dolley to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

Could you make cranberry sauce like it says on the bag of cranberries (sugar, water, boil) but add orange juice/zest and then strain the whole thing? Maybe add some extra zest back in after straining for texture?
posted by Weeping_angel at 3:04 PM on October 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Would it work to make sauce from scratch and then push it through a fine sieve? In the past I’ve made this and then strained half of it for my in-laws who prefer the texture of the canned stuff. Very smooth, definitely a whole lot less fibrous.
posted by supercres at 3:04 PM on October 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

I supposed you could also do the thing where you stick a whole orange (peel included) into a food processor and chop it all up fine, then mix that in with the canned jelly stuff, if the canned stuff is the only way to be confident of the lack of seeds.
posted by Weeping_angel at 3:07 PM on October 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

I would try Weeping Angel’s suggestion to add a whole orange to the jelly. You could easily give it a try in advance since it’s not like an expensive or time intensive experiment.
posted by Kriesa at 3:27 PM on October 31, 2018

My favorite recipes all use the whole orange with peel, I usually use little mandarins or clementines. A bit of shredded coconut works well too, you can toast it for extra flavor, and they should add plenty of non-seed texture to canned cranberry sauce, which I agree is safest.
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:37 PM on October 31, 2018

You could start from a cranberry juice and gelatin base, like this. If she's able to have actual oranges you could actually give it texture with cut up bits (I would also use clementine/mandarins) and then it would be kinda like the real thing.

I would not use as much sugar as that recipe though, because cranberry juice is sweetened and you want it to have some tart bite left. It's probably a good idea to make a small test batch well in advance and see what proportions you should aim for.

If you do use good old canberry, you're going to want some extra gelatin in order to get as much orange juice as you're going to need and still have it have some body. Otherwise you're going to be making a weird drink.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:51 PM on October 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

I would start with an experiment of gently warming, then refrigerating the canned product to see if it gels again. Probably will. If so, just stir in the add-ins and spices you like.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:21 PM on October 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

I would stir up a can of the jellied sauce and add whatever embellishments you like. Check with your friend to see if they’re allowed to have orange peel—they may not, so you may need to peel orange sections or use canned mandarins.
posted by corey flood at 5:09 PM on October 31, 2018 [3 favorites]

Why not just make cranberry sauce and use a sieve or kitchen mesh to strain out the seeds? That's the recipe for homemade jelly (rather than relish) and it's all the jelly manufacturers do.

You won't be able to replicate the relish texture out of anything you strain, though. You can flavor it with orange or mix in orange chunks (don't forget to remove their seeds too) - but not get that texture of relish. So think about what experience you're looking for.
posted by Miko at 7:42 AM on November 1, 2018

*pulls up chair and sits down, sets up sign before self saying "OFFICIAL MEMBER OF AN OCEAN SPRAY FAMILY-FARM FAMILY" *

Nthing the suggestion to stir a chopped-up orange into the jellied stuff. Make sure that you use a seedless orange; but as long as it's seedless, you can go ahead and throw the whole thing in without peeling it. I might also add some chopped nuts for extra texture if that's okay (although I suspect that if cranberry seeds are a diverticulitus issue, so would chopped nuts; check with your friend).

Those suggesting that running chopped cranberries through a sieve: cranberry seeds are WAY MAD teeny-tiny, and most of them would probably pass through a sieve, so that wouldn't help. You'd have to pass cooked cranberry puree through a coffee filter to catch the seeds, and at that point all you'd have is the juice, and you'd have to gell that, and if that's the point you're at you may as well just start with the jellied canned stuff.

OP: taste the resulting chopped-orange-and-jellied-sauce combo before adding in any sugar. I think there is already some sugar in the canned jellied stuff, so you probably won't need to; in fact, the jellied stuff plus an orange may be too sweet, so you may even want to stir in some lemon juice.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:01 AM on November 1, 2018 [3 favorites]

I once made cranberry jelly for Thanksgiving with cranberry juice and unflavored gelatin (foreign country, no other options). It worked fairly well. I mention this because you could try something similar with fresh orange juice and gelatin, mixed with either canned cranberry jelly or cranberry juice and more gelatin. This would avoid any potential problems with orange seeds, peels etc. Also, using cranberry juice would absolutely ensure no seeds. I agree that these options do not require the additional sugar required when making the raw cranberry relish.

I love cranberry relish with fresh cranberries and a whole orange. Nothing really holds a candle to it and cranberry jelly won't replace it. May I suggest having two cranberry dishes for Thanksgiving: one jelly, one relish. My family does this already to accommodate various tastes and, as cheap and easy as cranberry jelly is, it hardly adds any cost or labor to the day.

It's very thoughtful to look after your friend like this. Holidays that revolve around sharing food can be really difficult for people with special diets. I'm sure that whatever you make, they will appreciate the thought and effort.
posted by mosessis at 5:38 AM on November 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I once made cranberry jelly for Thanksgiving with cranberry juice and unflavored gelatin (foreign country, no other options). It worked fairly well. I mention this because you could try something similar with fresh orange juice and gelatin, mixed with either canned cranberry jelly or cranberry juice and more gelatin. This would avoid any potential problems with orange seeds, peels etc. Also, using cranberry juice would absolutely ensure no seeds.

.....THIS HAS JUST GIVEN ME A VERY INTERESTING IDEA. It'd be fiddly, and I clearly haven't tested this, but....go with me.

* Using cranberry juice and unflavored gelatin, make a batch of way-firmer-than-usual cranberry gelatin.
* Do the same with some orange juice and more unflavored gelatin.
* Then - get a box grater with big holes and grate the gelatins, then mix the grated gelatin together.

....Maybe?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:36 AM on November 2, 2018 [1 favorite]