Spiced Cranberry and Dried Fruit Chutney

About 5 years ago, my friend Leslie turned me onto this easy cranberry recipe.  Like i said, it's easy and interesting and, with a few of my own touches, it's become my "go to" cranberry dish for Thanksgiving dinner.  It's actually good year-round with turkey or on top of yogurt or cottage cheese.

You can use any kind of dried fruit.  In fact, this year i ventured into a completely different variety -- figs, bing cherries, and blueberries.  But get creative and use whatever you like.

Dried apricots, figs, bing cherries, blueberries and fresh cranberries

All the fruits getting to know each other in this hot bath.

Ingredients --

• 4 cups of fresh cranberries
• 1 cup of dried apricot halves
• 1/2 cup of dried blueberries
• 1/2 cup of dried bing cherries
• 1 cup of dried figs
• 1/4 cup of chopped crystallized ginger
• 2/3 cup of packed golden brown sugar
• 1 cup of frozen concentrated cranberry juice cocktail, thawed i forgot to pick this up at the market, so this year i used apple juice instead.  Great alternative!
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 4 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar

Stir all ingredients except vinegar in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves.
Increase the heat to high and boil until thick, stirring often - about 4 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl and mix in the vinegar.
Season with salt & pepper.
Cover and chill.

Yields 5 or 6 cups.

Can be made 2 weeks ahead of time.

Jammin! Go fig-ure.

Fresh fig jam

I've often thought how fun it would be to make jam.

1. the choices and combinations are endless;
2. i love the idea of using fresh fruits (especially summer fruits) and enjoying them all year long; 
3. how wonderful to make something delicious, made with love and enjoy it for weeks or months to come; and
4. probably my favorite reason -- those cute hats and bows that you can do to decorate the jars!

Sweet and delicious mission figs

 So a few weeks ago i decided i would make a fig jam since i so love figs and they're in season right now. I kept thinking a fig jam with balsamic vinegar and vanilla would be good. Although it has no vanilla, i was leaning towards Thomas Keller's recipe in ad hoc at home.  In fact, last week i was in the Santa Ynez Valley and found a fun little olive oil and vinegar store.  The store was darling - about the size of my kitchen (tiny) and you could sample the various vinegars.  I immediately saw a balsamic with vanilla and fig and had to try it.  YUMM!  This was the best.  It was also aged 18 years so it was nice and thick.  This over ice cream or grilled stone fruits would be wonderful.  Or even on a piece of french bread.   And if you still haven't figured out how much i enjoyed it, let me tell you that straight from the little tasting cup was perfect for me.  The deliciousness of this vinegar confirmed that i had to make a vanilla balsamic fig jam. 

Other than adding a vanilla bean, i stayed pretty true to Thomas Keller's recipe from Ad Hoc at Home. Let me tell you, this jam came out absolutely DELICIOUS!!! It would be wonderful with goat cheese, on a slice of toast, or just a spoonful out of the jar.  Perhaps even on a piece of turkey.

Figs and company macerating before turning on the heat.

And i had a lot of fun with the fabric and the bows.  I'm really looking forward to giving my mother a jar.  She's the ultimate fig lover, and taught me, whether a fig newton or a fresh fig, they're all pretty delicious!

Ingredients -

• 2 pounds of fresh figs (i used mission figs)
• 1 lemon (both zest and juice)
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1-1/2 cups of sugar
• 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns tied in a sachet

Mix all ingredients in a large pot and put on medium-high heat on the stove.
After the mixture comes to a rolling boil, turn the burner down and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the consistency is syrupy.
Remove from the heat use an immersion blender to chop up any large chunks, then pour into sterilized jam jars.
 
That's it for the cooking... now you get to find cute ribbons and fabrics and go to town.

I'm looking forward to making more jams.  In fact, next on the list is a blackberry bourbon jam that Laurence's name on it!