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Cranberry and Walnut Relish

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Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott

With just a hint of sweetness, this bright, bracing uncooked relish is an antidote to all the saccharine jellylike cranberry sauces out there (unless you’re into that sort of thing).

Ingredients

1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 Fresno chile, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped
3 tablespoons dried currants
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more
½ cup walnuts
12 ounces fresh (or frozen, thawed) cranberries
⅓ cup chopped parsley

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 350°. Toast mustard seeds in a dry small saucepan over medium-low heat, rolling around in pan often, until seeds start to pop, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add shallot, chile, currants, maple syrup, vinegar, allspice, and ½ tsp. salt (mixture will sputter a bit). Stir well to dissolve salt. Let sit until currants are plumped and mixture is cool, 15–20 minutes.

    Step 2

    Meanwhile, toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing halfway through, until golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Let cool.

    Step 3

    Pulse walnuts and cranberries in a food processor until very coarsely chopped but with a few whole cranberries in the mix, about 5 short pulses. Transfer to a large bowl and work in shallot mixture. Cover and let sit at least 30 minutes.

    Step 4

    Just before serving, taste and season relish with more salt; stir in parsley.

    Step 5

    Do Ahead: Relish (without parsley) can be made 4 days ahead. Chill.

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