I am till trying to squeeze in a few festive recipes before we leave the celebrations behind, I thought I would share this favourite with you. It´s another Delia Smith recipe, tweaked as ever, but enjoyed not only at Christmas. As it is reduced to a jam like consistency, it keeps in the fridge for about a month and can also be made later in the year using sour cherries or even dried (and reconstituted) apricots. Wonderful with cold meats and pickles, or bangers and mash (if you know what that is!).
Ingredients
- 500g red onions finely sliced (you can use white if red not available)
- 2 gloves crushed garlic
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/4 cup of red or white wine vinegar
- 150g (approx) of cranberries or other sour fruit
- Grated zest and juice or an orange plus the zest of a lemon
- Optional – ¼ teaspoon of crushed cardamom seeds
- Salt & Pepper to season
Cook the onion, garlic and sugar slowly in the oil for about 10-15 minutes- Allow to soften but not to brown. Then add the rest of the ingredients, cover and simmer for 10-15 mins. Remove the lid and reduce for a further 30 mins (approx) until the mixture is thick and jam like in texture. Cool and place in a plastic container. Serve at room temperature.
PS. This morning we planted our garlic. Tradition round here says it should be done around Christmas Eve, preferably when the moon is waning. We´re a bit out of sorts what with Christmas, so they only went in today. About 100 cloves, so fingers crossed that in about 4-5 months we´ll be harvesting!
Chica Andaluza 
I can still find cranberries in my market and will buy some extras to freeze as I love to make dishes like this. Mostly I’ve used cranberries in a relish or sauce and have not added garlic so I’m very interested in trying this out. Sounds delicious; I can think of many ways to use it!
Do give it a go if you have cranberries – it´s sweet, sharp, tangy and mmmmmmmm!
Is it hard to get cranberries there? I know several American expats in France who moan the lack…and the expense when they CAN find them…
Beautiful recipe – good old Delia
Impossible to find fresh where I am in Spain – I have only ever found dried ones in Lidl, but I made a trip to Gibraltar (British enclave in Spain!) and got them there 😉
This time of year, I always buy up cranberries and panettone and freeze both. A cranberry side in April is a nice change, as is panettone french toast anytime. I will definitely give your confit a try, Tanya. It sounds delicious!
What a great idea to freeze panettone…I´m sure it´s so much nicer than when it starts to dry out 😦
I love the use of onions, never use those with cranberries, must try.
Ooh – I thought I was doing a “same old” thing with this, but maybe not with the onions?!
This looks divine! I’ll be packing this away in freezer jars for sure. A bit like a chutney, great on crostini with cheese or on chicken or turkey sandwiches. Cranberries, not just for Christmas anymore. Thanks for sharing! I love the sounds of this.
That´s exactly how I like to eat it and with a tangy cheese….wonderful!
Your cranberry sauce sounds amazing, not boring at all love the cardamom & orange zest! Hope you try the scones with that last punnet of cranberries for Reyes, they are too good I keep eating them! Happy New Year Tanya xx
Thanks Natalie – this is definitely not a sweet, traditional (or boring!) cranberry sauce – I promise you! And I´ll let you know how the scones go 🙂
I’m all for keeping the festive recipes going, I’d love to make this but cranberries are so difficult to get hold of here. I have been making lots of other preserves and relished this week tho. Happy New Year form NZ
Hi there PeasePudding and thanks for dropping by all the way from NZ! I guess summer is not the best time for cranberries where you are (if at all…I´m not sure?) but you´ll be having cherries soon so they would be a great replacement. Especially if they are sour. Thanks for your comment and happy new year and happy preserve making!
That sounds nice and tart. Good luck with the garlic – my favourite vegetable 😉
Where would we be without garlic?! We did get a bit carried away and planted about 280 cloves….
Hi, Just to let you know that we have chosen your blog as one of our favorites for 2011! Happy New Year.
http://www.thespainscoop.com/blogs-from-spain-weve-loved-in-2011/
Woo Hoo – thanks so much! What an honour and am looking forward to sharing more stories, adventures and recipes in 2012.
I love all of the savory flavors with the cranberries…it really sounds great. I hope the Garlic Gods smile on you even though you are just a wee bit late with the planting.
Thanks Karen – we love the sharp and citrusy flavours! Fingers crossed for the garlic…will have to give some progress reports 😉
I love cranberry tart with whipped cream but I should try your cranberry and citrus confit next time that I cook some wild meat because they always go well together.
Cranberry tart sounds good – but if you do try the confit, hope you enjoy it!
100 cloves of garlic.. no kissing in your house!? No seriously now, you were in my dreams last night .. weird i know.. we were making a fruit thing with wine.. who knows, i did not write it in my dreams just made it.. and I was happy.. there you are.. a dream.. a dream.. c
Lots of kissing in my house – we all stink of garlic, even the dogs! And how lovely that I was in your dreams…hope the fruit thing was good. Actually, I thought of you first thing this morning as my grannies whisk is not going to work with the butter…wrong design. Putting the thinking cap back on. How obsessed are we with the kitchen/farmy?!
Quite, quite different from the rather plain version of cranberry and citrus relish I grew up with and make. The savory additions this one has intrigue me and tempt me. 🙂
Hi KathrynIngrid – I guess we all grew up mostly on slightly less “exotic” or plainer flavours…then gradually we all got a bit more experimental. This one is definitely worth trying if you can get hold of cranberries. Be tempted ….. 😉
ooo la la – what a delightful recipe – HAVE TO try this with bangers and mash – yummy-licious!
🙂 Mandy
Aha – you know what they are!
its a very good idea
it looks sweet and yummy
it’s so nice, i’ll try the recipe,, thank’s