Cranberry Chutney - 2 versions

Tweet Cranberry sauce and Thanksgiving.  I don't think you can have one without the other.

 Cranberry Chutney flavored with apple, orange and spices

This year I wanted to shake things up a bit because that is just what I do.  I always change up something. I don't really follow recipes so I get to cook how I am feeling which is nice and luckily no one complains!   Most dishes that I fix at Thanksgiving are fundamentally the same.  A brined bird, cornbread stuffing with sage, mushroom gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmellows on top (I think this dish is nasty sweet and I will not eat it but it is one of the first things finished!), homemade rolls, and a few veggie side dishes like brussels sprouts, creamed spinach or green beans. Oh yeah, and chocolate pecan pie=total and complete YUM.  There are flavor variations every year that differ.  Pecans or sausage in the cornbread dressing, mushroom gravy with sage or thyme, pecan pie flavored with vanilla or rum and this year the sweet potatoes are getting a do over (those Marshmellows might have to go!)

This year the cranberry sauce is going to be replaced with cranberry chutney.  I am not really sure how one is different from the other because one of these recipes is similar to cranberry sauce I have been making for years.  Maybe I have been making chutney all along. 

I have made two kinds. One is on the sweet, orange flavored type (a lot like the classic sauce I have been making for years) and one is more savory.  The savory one contains celery and onions but is still sweet and tangy.  The orange flavored one is my favorite, I think.  I reserve the right to change my mind!  It contains chopped fruit, orange liquor and spices.  They both sat in the refrigerator for a couple of days and the flavors improved quite a bit.  The savory one did not taste that great the day after I made it and I almost threw it away.  I am glad I didn't.  It still has crunchy celery after several days which I didn't expect and it taste fabulous.  It seems you taste the flavors separately when you taste either one of these recipes right after you make them.  After they have been in the frig for a couple of days the flavors just seem to come together as one.   

Green Tomato Chutney (or Green Apple)

Tweet I have been experimenting with chutneys lately.  It is an interesting endeavor because there are so many kinds and variations.  The word "chutney" is borrowed from the Hindi "chatni" that means "pasty sauce" or "strong, sweet relish"(sources vary on the meaning and I narrowed it down to these two).  They can be sweet or sour, spicy or mild, or any combination of these.  What I like about chutneys is that the flavor combinations are almost limitless so they are totally customizable to your own tastes.  That is a lovely thing.

Green tomatoes are hanging about at the farmers market so I grabbed a few.  I did a little research to find something different to do with them besides fry them or cook them with okra (my favorite food when I was growing up) which is not available this late in the season in this neck of the woods.  I found this recipe for apple chutney from Joy of Cooking where the green tomato is interchangeable with  apples as the main ingredient. Green tomatoes might be hard to find right now unless you are in the south then you can substitute green Granny Smith apples or a combination of the the two. I am in southern PA and am still finding green tomatoes which is nothing short than amazing.  What a long summer we have had this year!

Chutney is a condiment and here in the US of A it is usually served with a grilled meat like pork, chicken or turkey.