November Party Part 3: Curried apricot chutney (p. 950) and Chutney cheese spread (p. 76)

Make sure to read the first two posts on the November party!  Sadly, I think I have about four more posts to go on this party--I REALLY cooked a lot of food.

 I made Curried apricot chutney (p. 950) but since I wanted to use it immediately I made a few changes and didn't bother with the canning aspect.  

I simmered water, dried apricots, onion, and sugar for a half hour:

In another pan I cooked cider vinegar, ginger, curry powder (I used up all of my homemade curry powder--I need to make more), and a cinnamon stick.  I didn't bother with the canning salts because I wasn't going to can the chutney--I just added some regular salt:

I removed the cinnamon stick and added the vinegar mixture to the apricot mixture, stirring in golden raisins: 

It was delicious!  And easy.  It didn't have the 5000 ingredients of the tropical chutney.  I wish I had more exciting stuff to say about this dish but I my brain isn't totally powered on.  I would make it again, which I can't say about all recipes.

Chutney cheese spread (p. 76) sounded good.  Instead of mango chutney (which I would be severely allergic to) I used the apricot chutney I had just made.  I mixed chutney with cream cheese:

I sprinkled walnuts on the top and called it a day.  It was delicious.  I love cream cheese spreads and the chutney had a nice sweetness to it.  I really like chutney but I think it's under-appreciated by Americans.  Tell me, do you eat chutney?  Can I work chutney into this paragraph a few more times?  

Corn and tomato relish (p. 949)

Tart corn relish (p. 949) is perfect for people with a lot of fresh garden veggies. I blanched three ears of corn in boiling water and cut off the kernels (nothing is better than fresh Iowa sweet corn). I mixed the corn with tomatoes, red onion, sweet pickles, cider vinegar, sugar, celery seeds, salt and pepper:



Dad took one bite and proclaimed it the worst thing he had ever eaten.

I don't know how to describe the flavor--I didn't think it was nearly as bad as he did--but the sweet corn, tangy vinegar, acidic tomato, and sugar did mix in an odd way. Way too many flavors were competing for the spotlight.

Dad and I were splitting everything we made--he was keeping half and I was taking half back to mom's house (and, ultimately, all the way back to Colorado). As I was driving home he called me and pointed out that I had forgotten to take the hated corn relish (a point I thought was hilarious) which had been forgotten because it was in the fridge. Apparently the flavor mellowed, because dad said that the next day it was actually really good (why he kept eating something he hated is a mystery). So I recommend giving the flavors a day or two to meld.

This recipe is vegan, too, so it would be a good vegan side dish if you needed one.

Short post! So a question--what do you think of when you hear the word "relish"?

Pickled dilled beans (p. 949)

My name is Jessica and I'm a horribly inattentive blogger.

I am 23 recipes behind. I promise to catch up. And I'm going to work in the opposite direction I normally do--I'm going to write about the recipe I made the most recently and work backwards, so if you don't have a blog reader, make sure to check back and read backdated posts--I will have to write at least 10 posts in the next couple days. And some are about absolutely delicious foods that you don't want to miss.

I'm always conflicted when I write about canned items. Should I post when I make them or when I taste them? Any opinions? I made Pickled dilled beans (p. 949) from my farmer's market finds (Des Moines has one of the best farmer's markets in the country, hands down).

I like canning with my mom. First off, it makes me feel like a pioneer woman for some reason--probably because in every young adult pioneer book I've ever read, the heroine seems to can food for winter with her mom. Second, I'm less terrified of botulism when mom is helping me. Apparently, I am confident in mom's ability to limit my botulism exposure.

Mom was making her delicious pickles and I thought I could get in on the pickling action with my beans.

I boiled white vinegar, water, and canning salt:



I (or rather mom) sterilized my jar, packed it with green beans, dill, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes:



Make more brine than they recommend--my jars were smaller than recommended and my double recipe of brine did not fill two jars. It may be because my green beans weren't "plump" like recommended but I took what I could get!

I poured boiling brine into the jars, sterilized the lids, and popped them on.



I made three jars--it was interesting to see the color change as they cooked in the hot brine!

I have no idea what these taste like because they have to pickle! I will have to update this recipe when iI finally get to eat them. Mom wanted me to add alum to keep the pickles crisp, but I figured I needed to accurately see how crisp the TJOC recipe beans are before applying modifications.

Pickles and relishes index

The great indexing project! Because I can't think of any other better way to do this...I'm listing all of the recipes in a given chapter and linking them to the post where I cook it. I would ADORE if you would comment on the index, especially if you can comment on TJOC recipes (in the respective chapter) that you have made and your thoughts on it :)

I'm terrible about updating the indexes, so if you stumbled on this page from Google and nothing is linked from the dish you are looking for, be sure to search for it.

I decided to include this chapter about two years into the project, so that's why it's so slow :)

Pickles and relishes:
Number of recipes: 36
Number of recipes made:
May 2009--0
Oct 09: Still 0
Mid-Jan 10: Still 0

Mid-Jan 11: 1 or 2.8%
Mid-May 11: Same

Yellow cucumber pickles
Sweet and sour spiced gherkins
Bread and butter pickles
Low-salt sweet cucumber slices
Pickled gherkins (cornichons)
Quick dill pickles
Mustard pickle (chow-chow)
Piccalilli
Green tomato relish
Green tomato pickle
Tart corn relish
Corn and tomato relish
Red onion marmalade
Pickled dilled beans
Pickled red or golden beets
Pickled watermelon rind
Cranberry-pickled pears
Pickled peaches
Curried apricot chutney
Apple or green tomato chutney
Chili sauce
Tomato catsup
Blender tomato catsup
Red onion-garlic catsup
Mushroom catsup
Pickled ginger
Pickled horseradish
Walnut catsup
Worcestershire sauce
Crock-cured dill pickles
Sauerkraut
Salt-cured black olives
Pickled peppers
Brandied peaches
Brandied cherries
Brandied apricots