When I was a kid, I always preferred the smooth, canned cranberry sauce. My mom often made a homemade cranberry relish gelatin, but it wasn’t until I was a bit older that I really began to appreciate it. She always included nuts and thinly sliced celery and it had the most wonderful crunch.
Several years ago my sister put together a cookbook of the recipes that my grandmother, my mom and her sisters made frequently. It’s such a treasure! I was browsing through recently and spotted the “Cranberry Jello” recipe.
Ahhh, I thought. I could do something similar, but ferment it so that it would be packed with probiotics. Yes, lacto-fermented cranberry relish sounded perfect!
This would also make a nice hostess gift during the holidays, packed in an attractive jar. And it’s a good introduction to lacto-fermentation for the un-initiated because people already expect something with cranberries to be tart.
Hope you enjoy!
Here’s one of the photos from the cookbook of my mom and her sisters. My mom is second from right. Circa 1955.
You’ll also love this recipe from Grow, Forage, Cook, Ferment: Fermented Honey Cranberries.
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Lacto-fermented Cranberry Apple Relish
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh organic cranberries coarsely chopped
- 2 organic apples peeled, quartered, cored and coarsely chopped
- 1 stalk organic celery thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup raw organic walnuts or pecans chopped
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or raw honey
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup whey the liquid strained from plain yogurt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and stir together.
- Transfer to a wide mouth quart jar and pack down being sure to leave at least 1" of head space.
- Place airlock on jar, cover with a tea towel, and leave at room temperature for 2 - 3 days.
- Refrigerate. Will keep for several weeks.
