Let’s be honest. Any season’s bounty is actually every season’s bounty thanks to the supermarkets that we have and the magic they yield. But, we all know that fruits and veggies taste best when they’re in season (and often times come off the back of someone’s truck bed, roadside), so I say live and eat in the now. And today we’re doing this with this roasted cherry chutney.
I’m on week 2 of my healthy harvest fruit baskets and I’m loving it, and each week I’ve found them to be filled with the what’s hot right now. And therefore, I’m using them to their best advantage this week.
First up, cherries.
As a kid, I remember going to my grandparents’ in Canada and having bags and bags of cherries around. I like them but…I find the pits to be rather onerous. Even as a kid, I tired quickly from spitting pits and while some kids (my brother and notably) loved spitting them out of grandpa’s truck window, I found the whole thing to be rather unladylike. Those are my 37 year old words, not by 10 year old thoughts, and I honestly don’t know what my weirdo hang up was, but I found the whole exercise rather distasteful, and therefore, never became the gung-ho cherry fan that many are up in these parts.
Flash forward to today and not much has changed. I almost never buy them from the store, but since I got them in my veggie box last week, I knew I wanted to do something with them other than eat and spit.
Roast? Sure, why not. It still meant I had to deal with the pits, but after a good roasting they just pop right out. Those roasted cherries became this sweet and tangy chutney, perfect over some sharp cheddar or creamy brie, or to go alongside a hearty fish or pork.
Give it a try next time you make an unexpected stop by the cherry stand.
Roasted Cherry Chutney
June 14, 2018
: 1 cup yield
: 10 min
: 1 hr 30 min
Roasted Cherry Chutney is the perfect way to use up summer's cherry bounty, with a touch of ginger to make it spicy.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds cherries
- 2 TB olive oil
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 medium yellow onion, very finely chopped (1 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 2 cloves
- ½" piece of ginger, freshly grated
- 3 TB light brown sugar
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Step 2 Place the cherries, single layered on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 TB olive oil. Roast 45 minutes until soft and shriveled. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Step 3 When the cherries come out of the oven, to a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add the remaining olive oil and the onion. Let cook about 4 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (except the cherries) into a large saucepan. Bring the contents to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
- Step 4 While the vinegar mixture is simmering, using your hands, remove the pits from the cherries (you should be able in most cases to push the pits through the flesh easily). Add the cherry to the rest of the chutney.
- Step 5 Leave the chutney to cook about 40 minutes until all the liquid has dissolved and all the ingredients are very soft and thick. Serve as you will.
