Cranberry Date Relish with Orange Bitters & a Whisper of Rosemary

Author Notes

Long title. Quick recipe.

I have been known to eat this with a spoon, straight out of the fridge. But of course, this cranberry relish is perfectly at home on a Thanksgiving or Christmas table. It's a fresh, bright, and subtly herbal take on cranberry sauce that is meant to be more reminiscent of a cocktail than canned jelly.

This recipe is loosely adapted from the cranberry portion of the Cranberry Apple Salad in the Junior League of Denver's Créme de Colorado Cookbook -- a long-time favorite recipe that I've been making for the holidays since I was a kid. It opened my mind to more savory approaches to cranberries.

This recipe is an updated version of an earlier iteration I wrote about here: https://medium.com/@JoniGoldbach/a-fresh-approach-to-cranberries-for-the-holidays-735041d7f4c1

A couple of notes on rosemary:
If you like the flavor of rosemary, but are less than thrilled by the pine tree sensation of chewing rosemary needles, consider breaking out a mortar and pestle for this recipe. I found that grinding dried rosemary down to a powder and mixing it into the relish gives the impression of rosemary without the prickly texture.

As another option, skip the dried rosemary and store the relish with a fresh sprig of rosemary on top to help impart that hint of flavor. —Joni Goldbach