Cranberry Mostarda

It must be fall when restaurants start switching out summer menus of all things fresh, and begin spotlighting preserves and chutneys. Friday night I asked the manager at our favorite local cafeteria if I could have apple cranberry mostarda (which typically comes with the turkey sandwich) on the side of their cherry spinach goat cheese pizza. It was a match made in heaven.

Mostardas are usually sticky sweet, but as a lover of all things tart I wanted to play with the sour tones of cranberry. This relish isn't for the faint of tongue. The flavors are bold and lively. Yesterday I baked a rosemary focaccia and pushed the berries into the dough before baking. Later this week I'll layer the mostarda over Thursday night's ärtsoppa (yellow pea soup) and Swedish pancakes, and add it to the cheese plate I'm serving at our beet canning party.

Cranberry Mostarda
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup Champagne vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Salt, pepper
Zest of one orange

Bring vinegar, water, sugars, honey, and seeds to rolling boil in saucepan. Allow to reduce to thin syrup, about 10 minutes. Add 1 cup of the cranberries and simmer 20 minutes. Add remaining cranberries and simmer an additional 15-20 minutes or until mixture has reduced to a nice viscous texture (mixture will thicken as it cools). Remove from heat. Stir in mustard and orange zest. Season with salt and pepper to taste.