The other day I was chatting with John Taylor - aka Hoppin' John - low country cook, author, and purveyor of heirloom corn grits. I've looked at his blog a few times. I love the recipes. When I mentioned that pork was slow roasting in the Jimmy' s No. 43 kitchen, Hoppin' John offered this tasty fall chutney recipe as a proper accompaniment. Try this for Thanksgiving.John Taylor's Fall Chutney
This recipe is easy and everyone loves it. I usually use 3 lbs of pears and make 5 pints and process them for 15 minutes, but I put this on my blog for folks who won't can and like small batches:
1 pound hard, underripe pears, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 lightly packd cup light or dark brown sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2/3 cup light or dark raisins or a mixture of the two
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Cook the pears in water to cover until they are medium-soft. Drain, saving the water, then make a syrup of the water in which they were cooked and the brown sugar by boiling in a nonreactive pot until thick, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Add the pears and the remaining ingredients to the pot and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the raisins are soft, the onions are clear, and the chutney is thick.
The chutney will keep in the refrigerator for months.
Makes about 3 1/2 cups
