With the holidays right around the corner, there are a lot of food items on my list that need to be prepared! In my mid-twenties I was handed the torch of being responsible for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. With that torch came the old standbys we’d always eaten, but over the years, I’ve created a few food traditions that I will be happy to hand off at some point, but probably not for another 40 or 50 years 😉
Cranberry Chutney is one of the recipes that I make every single year. It’s delicious, fairly easy, pretty and my guests always enjoy it. It has definitely become a tradition I’ll stick with for years to come.
As I have mentioned before, one of my favorite recipe books to use is The Thanksgiving Table and while some of the recipes inside its pages are a bit…fancy…for my tastes, most of them are wonderful! Funny story…I started making Cranberry Chutney, actually, because I wanted something a bit more fancy than the old cranberry-sauce-in-a-can-standby!
Ingredients:
- 4 cups fresh cranberries (picked over and stemmed)
- 2 1/2 cups of sugar
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 granny smith apples (peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice)
- 2 firm Bosc or Anjou pears (peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice)
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 1/3 cup crystallized ginger
- 1/2 cup whole hazelnuts (toasted, skins removed, and halved)
Process:
- In a deep 6-quart saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, 1 1/4 cups water, cloves, cinnamon sticks and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar
- Cook until the cranberries begin to pop open, about 10-12 minutes
- Adjust the heat so the mixture simmers
- Stir in the apples, pears, onions, raisins and ginger and continue to cook until thick, about 10-15 minutes
- Remove from heat and stir in the hazlenuts. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Remove the cinnamon sticks and cloves if you can find them
- Refrigerate in tightly sealed jars for up to 3 months
Notes:
- This recipe makes about 2 quarts, but I usually double it so I have plenty of 1/2 pints to give away (I got 13 1/2 pints and 2 full pints out of this latest batch which gives me plenty to keep in the fridge for a while…it really does keep in the fridge for 3 months!)
- To the best of my knowledge, this recipe cannot be preserved via water bath or pressure canning, but since it keeps in the fridge for 3 months, it’s not really necessary, anyway
- I replace the hazelnuts with roasted, unsalted cashews because they’re easier to find and I love them
- While this makes a yummy side dish for your traditional holiday meals, my favorite way to eat it is to heat up a little bit (in a pan or in the microwave) and spoon it on top of some vanilla ice cream! Trust me, you will fall in love!
Linking up to Homestead Barn Hop #37
Could I use another kind of nut in this recipe. I can’t eat hazelnuts.
Absolutely! Just choose something hearty so it holds its consistency 🙂
This looks tasty. Do you have any suggestions on making it without sugar? We don’t do sugar here. Or do you think it would taste ok if I omitted it all together? Thanks!
For this particular recipe, you could probably replace the sugar with honey to taste. I think the recipe would be too tart without some form of sweetener, though. I’ve posed this question to my facebook followers today…let’s see if they have any other ideas…
OK, I asked my facebook community (https://www.facebook.com/EverGrowingFarm) and their responses included; agave, stevia, honey, molasses, coconut sugar, maple syrup, and fruit juice! I still like the idea of adding honey, but maple syrup also sounds divine! If you do make this recipe with a substitute, will you please come back and let me know how it goes? Good luck!
Oh wow! That sounds … well, like I might just need to change up my recipe! Thanks for sharing this and just in time too!
Yum, yum!! I love cranberries in any way! This sounds delicious!!
Inviting you the Carnival of Home Preserving on my blog every Friday. Hope to see you there. Laura Williams’ Musings
The most recent edition – http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2012/06/carnival-of-home-preserving-13-come.html – open until Thursday 6/7.
Thanks for the invite, Laura! I love this idea…I’ll check it out 🙂
Jaime – Thanks for your kind words! I made this and regular ol’ cranberry sauce (for the first time ever) this year! It seems this time of year offers so many possibilities, it’s hard to know which one to pick!!! 😉
I was just posting about cranberry sauce too, but yours looks much fancier (in a totally do-able, mouthwatering way!) Adding the nuts and raisins sounds so good. You’re tempting me away from my old stand-by….
-Jaime
Pam – Thanks!
Jacinda – YES! Dress ’em up and give ’em away!
lilsuburbanhomestead – You’re welcome!
Liz – Oh no! I guess that makes sense. It’s so funny to think about what will and will not grow in different climates! I totally take cranberries for granted!
Shaheen – It really is a pretty item to make! My camera just does not do the colors justice!
I love how the jars are sacked up – ruby ruby ruby.
Yum!!! This looks lovely – but unfortunately I can’t make it – fresh cranberries are just not available in Australia – I presume our climate just isn’t right for growing them. We import them dried and as a juice drink but not fresh unfortuantely.
Wow those look so yummy! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Mmmm! Dressed up with a bit of gingham and rick-rack this would make a delightful Christmas gift too! Thanks for yet another fantastic homemade gift idea!
Mmmm…sounds delicious!