Fall Apple Chutney- Cheese's Circle of Friends
As I’ve been known to say before, cheese has a wide circle of friends. An extremely social animal, it loves hanging out with seasonal produce and adores being paired with dried fruit, honey, and preserves.
Seeing Instagram photos of my former roommate visiting her family friend's apple farm, or watching apples roll off the tables at farmer's markets (I'm a bit clumsy, what can I say), always makes me think apples in the kitchen (I've gotta find a way to cook all those bruised apples I bought at the farmer's markets, don't I?). And you know what else is always on my mind? Bet you do.
Though it’s true that cheese has a sweet tooth, it also likes acid, and more savory flavors like onions or mustard seed, like those often found in condiments like chutney.
Meet chutney, one of cheese's closest aqauntainces.
This recipe is one that I developed for the GoBoldwithButter blog. It's a classic chutney- sweet, tart, savory- except that it has butter in it. Creating recipes for the butter blog has given me an excuse to put butter in everything (hi-five!). But according to my new roomate's father, who's British, it's a darn good chutney. And, yes, I went there. I made an English man taste the chutney. So call it UK approved, and a little lusher than normal, which means it won't last as long (from two to three weeks), but it's fun to give away little jars away to visiting friends.
Note- this batch size is large. I often make just 1/2 the recipe.
Fall Apple Chutney
Ingredients 1 ½ pounds granny smith or other tart variety apple 1 pound yellow onions 1 cup raisins 1 cup apple cider vinegar 2 tablespoons mustard seed, black and yellow 2 allspice seeds 5 cloves 5 cardamom 2 pieces star anise 2 tablespoons butter
Directions Trim, and finely chop the apples and onions, slicing around the apple core. Put the apples, onions, raisins, vinegar, and mustard in a heavy bottomed pot. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer. Tie the dried spices in a cheesecloth. Add this and the butter to the pot. Let everything simmer for around two hours. Let come to room temperature and remove the cheesecloth before serving.
And yes, that is last week's Calvander featured next to the chutney!
What fall flavors do you enjoy with your cheeses?