As a child growing up in the 60s and 70s, our holiday table always included canned Ocean Spray cranberry sauce which arrived to the table in a bowl still in the shape of the can it came in. I don’t believe I ever saw a fresh cranberry until I was in my 20s, and even then, I don’t think I made my own cranberry sauce until much later after that.
This is a concoction I cooked up with all the flavors of the season. Feel free to use other types of apples or winter fruits, i.e. pears or quince.
The Berkeley Bowl is the food-lovers Mecca of the East Bay in the San Francisco Bay Area. The variety is simply amazing!
Apple-Cranberry Chutney
2 ounces butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 medium onion, cut into a 1/2-inch dice
3 Gala or Honeycrisp apples, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
Pinch red pepper flakes or to taste
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup unfiltered apple cider
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1-pound fresh cranberries
Slurry (2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water), if necessary
Kosher salt
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt the butter and brown sugar together. Add the onion, apples, ginger and red pepper flakes. Sauté, stirring frequently, until mixture is soft, 5 – 6 minutes.
• Add the orange and apple juices, mustard, spices and cranberries and fold to combine. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes (stirring occasionally) until the mixture is very soft.
• Taste. Time to balance flavors: sweet (brown sugar), mustard, spice (red pepper). Season to taste with kosher salt.
• Check thickness. If too thin, whisk in enough of the slurry to achieve a jam-like consistency.
Makes about 2 cups
© Epicurean Exchange. All rights reserved