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Red Currant Chutney

Red currants, apple, shallots and lots of spices create a deliciously acid/sweet/spice chutney to serve with various meats or tofu or…
Servings 4 to 6

Ingredients

  • 4 cups stemmed fresh currants
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons whole mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper or more
  • 1 cup diced fresh apple (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1/2 cup shallot, minced
  • salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more (optional—see Kitchen Notes)

Instructions

  • Remove the currants from their stems and put them in a large saucepan. Add the sugars, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, water and apple cider vinegar. Stir everything together then gently bring to a boil. Simmer gently about 10 to 12 minutes—the currants should start collapsing. Remove the pot from the heat. Taste (carefully!) to make sure the tart/sweet balance is right—you may want to add more sugar at this point. Let the cooked currants cool for about 15 or 20 minutes.
  • Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large heatproof bowl. Ladle currants into the sieve and press them, catching the thick juice in the bowl. (I found the back of a big round wooden spoon worked best.) Really squish down on those currants—you want to get every drop of juice. Reserve the juices in the bowl and discard the solids (by which I mean, add them to your compost).
  • In a deep skillet, heat the olive oil to medium. Add the mustard seeds and sauté quickly until the seeds start popping—about 90 seconds. Add some salt and the black pepper (and the optional cayenne pepper, if you'd like a little heat), and sauté another minute, then add the diced fresh shallot, apple and the reserved currant juice and give everything a good stir. Bring it to a simmer and cook about 10 more minutes, until the shallot and apple are cooked and the sauce has thickened nicely. If the chutney still seems too watery, simmer a few more minutes.
  • Remove from heat, decant into a bowl or storage container, cover and refrigerate. The chutney should last about 10 days in the fridge—you can also freeze it for future you. We had some right away with pan-seared pork chops, and we froze the rest for use in the fall. I'm looking forward to trying it on turkey.

Kitchen Notes

Sourcing currants. If you don’t have a currant bush in your yard, try looking for currants at farmers markets in the late summer to early fall. You may also find them in some supermarkets—or fresh or frozen from online sources.
Pick your apple. Choose an apple that will hold its shape when cooked. We used Wild Twist, which we happened to have on hand. Fuji or Honeycrisp would be great too.
Want some heat? Sure! Add a quarter teaspoon, or more, of cayenne pepper, after sautéing the mustard seeds.