Cranberry Chutney

a bowl of chutney in snow on our terrace

I have been using cranberries since a long time now and liked them right from the beginning. But, these were always packed dried cranberries. Cranberries don't grow in Germany, though I had once heard of a pilot project to grow them in Mecklenburg Vorpommern once. Don't know what happened of it. I was surprised when I saw fresh cranberries at REWE for the first time this time, where I went to after a long time and just couldn't resist buying them. Although, who knows, maybe I never noticed them before I got to see such lovely dishes being made with them on different blogs.

When I bought these fresh cranberries I wanted to make a nice tart with it like here at Doghill Kitchen. But somehow none of us was in a mood to eat anything sweet after having gorged on all those Christmas cakes and cookies for so long, so I dropped the idea. Instead, I decided to make a chutney, after having seen others make some too.
Cranberry and Fig Chutney (Relish)

Recipe by PG of My Kitchen Stories Ingredients: 250 g cranberries, cut into halves or quartered 2 inch piece ginger, grated 150 g dried figs, chopped 1 small red onion, finely chopped 2 tbsp fennel seeds, coarsely ground 1/8 tsp red chilli powder (use more or less to taste) 1/4 tsp black salt, ground - optional 1/4 tsp salt 1 star anise, to be taken out once the chutney is ready 200 g jelly sugar 2:1* (use quantity to taste) 1/2 tsp roasted ground cumin Method: Mix everything together and set aside for about half an hour or longer cook it up stirring in between reduce heat and keep cooking on medium low heat so that it keeps throwing bubbles continue cooking for about 30 minutes, stirring in between In the mean time prepare two 250 ml (boiled-) jars to be used for storing the chutney, if required Fill the glasses with it and close lids tightly. Once cooled down, store in the refrigerator *NOTE: Jelly sugar contains pectin in addition to regular table sugar. I used up my last and already opened packet of jelly sugar for this, but you can also replace it with regular sugar. One may require to cook it for longer, though. Depending on its use you can reduce the amount of sugar to half. For example, if using as a side to poultry, you could use regular table sugar and half the amount. One of the many ways I am enjoying eating this flavourful chutney is like this: Rye bread with Camembert cheese and cranberry chutney I loved this chutney. It is the best of all the chutneys I have made in the last few months so far. I liked the combination of dried figs and fresh cranberries a lot. Even though I did have some small doubts about if it will turn out good, but the end results made this chutney to be a perfect one. I think the the proportions of the two fruits and all the spices are also very good in this chutney. Talking about spices, one of the distinct flavours in the chutney apart from that of ginger is that of fennel seeds which impart a lovely aroma and which makes it so delicious in my opinion. That reminds me of my childhood days when I loved munching on fennel seeds. Fennel seeds are also one of the few spices I always liked as a child. Maybe it also had to do something with the fact that my mom only very rarely bought toffees, chocolates or lollipops and stuff like that for us. So, maybe we got enough chances to enjoy chewing on fennel seeds instead. :D We also discovered something, very fascinating for us then, that after chewing fennel seeds the water on drinking tasted so delicious. Delicious is the best word that I can think of for it. It tasted so very sweet. It was almost like doing an experiment and enjoying it. The reason, I think, why the water tasted sweet afterwards was the essential oils present in fennel seeds. So, do you also have such similar memories with fennel seeds?

I just realised that Ivy is hosting an event for which this recipe is just the right thing. The event has also got a very interesting name this time and a very interesting theme too. Off it goes to the event started by Sunita of Sunita’s World and being hosted by Ivy of Kopiaste:

Think Spice...Think Twice : Mastic gum or Fennel seeds



Another event I got to know of and to which I would like to send this entry of my very original bread-not-exactly-sandwich is to Bay Leaf's Bread Mania event.

Other Cranberry chutneys:
Crannbery pickle at Anudivya's A little bit more
Cranberry Chutney at Andrea's Recipes
Cranberry Apple Chutney at Jai and Bee's Jugalbandi
Pear Cranberry Chutney at Meeta's WFLH

Crannberry Scones

I found this recipe at this wonderful webpage (Joy of Baking) of Stephanie and Rick Jaworski with uncountable number of mouth watering scones recipes. There you will also find the history of baking scones.

Here is one recipe I tried which turned out superb. I have modified the recipe slightly to adjust to my needs. Otherwise the recipe is perfect.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 15-20 minutes
Baking temp.: 190°C (165°C in convection oven)

Ingredients:
250 g all purpose flour
65 g (granulated) sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda (I used cream of tartar baking powder instead, which also contains soda)
1 tsp baking powder
100g cold butter, cut into pieces
60 g whole rolled oats
40 g cranberries (or dried cherries)
zest of 1 orange ( I used packed orange zest instead of lemon, made a wonderful combination)
150 ml Buttermilk
Milk for brushing over the scones (Instead of the egg wash: 1 egg, 1 tbsp milk or cream)

Method:

• In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
• Add butter cubes and knead the dough together with the hands till it is evenly combined, but crumbly.
  
• Add the oats, cranberries and zest of orange and combine.
• Add buttermilk and quickly knead the dough.
  
• Pat into an 18 cm circle. Cut out 8 wedges out of the circle.
• Bake in the preheated oven at 190°C (165°C in convection oven) for 15 -20 minutes.
• I used milk to replace egg wash, which I never like because of the smell, but don't know if milk does any good
• Serve with whipped cream. Although, typically scones are served with clotted cream (which is nothing but malai in true sense, as we know it as Indians)
  

Note: Next time I would like to add only half the quantity of salt to the recipe.