I tried this at a friend’s Christmas open house. She had served it spread over Mascarpone cheese, with little crostini to spread it on. I was in heaven. The tart cranberries, with just the right hint of spice and onion from the Allspice and Shallots complemented the slightly sweet and creamy cheese. I admit I made a piglet of myself. My friend used this chutney as an appetizer. I just made this batch today and enjoyed it with ham for dinner. It would be equally as delightful as an accompaniment to meat such as ham, pork, turkey, chicken or even cold roast beef. Since the recipe calls for fresh cranberries, which are generally only available in stores in November and December, it might seem like a seasonal item. But it’s not too late to find cranberries in the stores right now – in fact some stores have them on sale after the holidays. Just throw the bags right in the freezer and you can use them in your favorite cranberry recipes all year round.
INGREDIENTS
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 Tablespoon chopped or grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup orange juice
1 – 12 oz. bag cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice*
* If you don’t have allspice, substitute 1/4 teaspoon each of ground cloves and cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and ginger and cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add juice to pan. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool and pour into a pint jar.
Just a little trivia about chutney – one of the original uses for chutney was to provide fruit for the sailors in the British Navy on long voyages, to prevent scurvy.
The White Oak Inn
Yvonne Martin
The Broad from Ohio