Cranberry Chutney

From the book The Basic Gourmet Entertains by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart

Introduction

This chutney is a favorite because we love the taste, texture, and ease of preparation. We make the chutney up to one month in advance of Thanksgiving, which leaves us one less thing to think about. You can give this chutney as a gift throughout the holiday season–just pack it into attractive glass jars, and tie a ribbon and a gift tag around the neck of the jar. It will impress!

Ingredients

Steps

1. In a deep, 6-quart saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, 3¼ cups water, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar. Cook until cranberries pop open, 10 to 12 minutes. Adjust heat so mixture just simmers. Stir in apples, pears, onion, raisins, and apricots. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until thick, 10 to 15 minutes. Do not overcook, or you’ll lose the lovely texture of the fruit. Remove from heat and add hazelnuts and lemon zest. Cool to room temperature. Remove and discard cinnamon sticks and cloves if you can find them. Refrigerate in tightly sealed jars up to 3 months.

Notes

• Fresh cranberries should be firm and bright red. Always look them over and discard any that are shriveled or underripe.
• Try to buy shelled hazelnuts, with the skins removed. If the skins are on, place nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in a preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes. Lay them on a clean kitchen towel, or between several sheets of paper towels, and rub nuts to remove most of skins (they never completely come off). You can substitute blanched almonds, if necessary. Buy them already blanched, and roast like hazelnuts, until slightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

This content is from the book The Basic Gourmet Entertains by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart.