If you live in Michigan, there is a good chance that you have been to Frankenmuth. That is a lovely city about an hour and a half Northwest of Detroit where they have cultivated a beautiful German themed community and have the best fried chicken in the Midwest. The places for chicken are two huge competing restaurants that are owned by members of the same family (if you go back far enough). Zhender's and the Bavarian Inn both have similar, but not identical menus. Both offer the family style chicken dinners (all you can eat) which are one of the best ways to get insanely full anywhere in the state of Michigan.
One of the fun sides that come with the meals is a cranberry relish - especially if you go to Zhender's. I have seen a few recipes on the web, and I have tweaked it a bit to lower the sugar. This is a member submission on epicurious. Here is one shared from The Flavors of Frankenmuth (from John Zhender). Love the way this turns out.
Ingredients
1 lbs Cranberries, fresh
2 Granny smith apples
2 Naval oranges
1 3/4 cups Sugar
Directions
- Freeze cranberries overnight.
- Clean apples, then core into large sliced (leave skin on).
- Add half the frozen cranberries and apples to a food processor. Chop until they are around a 1/4" large pieces. Move to a mixing bowl.
- Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Move those to the same mixing bowl.
- Clean the oranges. Remove the tops and bottoms of the oranges and cut into sliced. With the rest of the peel, add to the food processor and lightly chop until the peel pieces are around 1/4" large. Add to the mixing bowl with the cranberries and apples.
- Add sugar to the mixing bowl and blend.
- Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.
Enjoy!
