Cran Cherry Relish

Melanie sent me a great recipe for some of your frozen fruit as a great relish or maybe a side dish for pork or turkey. This combination includes frozen sweet cherries which will add a great flavor opposite the tartness of the cranberries without using sugar. The recipe is using honey and apple juice to naturally sweeten and round out the flavor by adding the ginger! 

I recently did a cranberry pineapple ginger relish that is amazing. I will share the recipe at the bottom of this one!
Thank you again Melanie for the pictures and feedback on the recipe!

Cran Cherry Relish 

6 ounces frozen cranberries
6 ounces frozen sweet cherries
¾ cup apple juice
½ teaspoon minced ginger
Pinch of salt
1 to 2 tablespoons honey (optional)
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice

Preparation : Prepare 4 half pint jars, lids, and rings. Sterilize the jars and keep them in the hot water till its time for processing. Make sure to fill your water bath canner and get the water to a simmer.

Cooking: In a stainless steel or enameled dutch pot combine thawed cranberries and cherries. Add apple juice, ginger and honey if desired. Heat to a simmer. After about 10 minutes the cranberries will start to pop. Increase to medium heat.  Add lemon juice and continue to stir till the cranberries are opened and the mixture mounds on a spoon, about 15 minutes. Watch for the splatter. Remove from heat.

Filling the jars:  On a dishtowel place your hot jars and fill with the the mixture.  Using your funnel ladle into each of the jars leaving ½” headspace. Remove air bubbles and refill to the proper headspace if necessary. Taking a clean paper towel wet it with warm water and wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal. Using your magic wand extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight".

Processing: Make sure your rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start your timer for 10 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning.

Sealing: Some time in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal.