Just last week I posted an entry about fennel, and gave a few different recipes to go along with some tips. While it may not have been noticeable at the time, my fennel and apple salad was served along side a pork tenderloin topped with a smoky pear chutney. The recipe for the chutney was from Food Network, and while I made a few changes (and a mistake), the chutney was tasty and can easily be used with chicken (as the recipe calls for), pork, lamb, or even on a grilled cheese.
What is great about something like chutney is that you can easily save it in a mason jar and store it in the fridge for a month. This particular recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika. I on the other hand read tablespoon and despite scooping out most of it, I ended up with too much smoked paprika. It was still delicious, but I would say 1/2 teaspoon is probably enough. I switched around a few other things as you’ll see below. The chutney was delicious on a grilled cheese with monty jack and of course on top of the pork.
Ingredients:
Makes approximately 1 cup
3 Green Anjou pears, cut into 1″ pieces
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup raw cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1″ piece fresh ginger, finely minced
1/2 tablespoon pink peppercorns
1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika (regular is ok too)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat and saute pears, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except salt, and bring mixture to a boil. Turn heat to medium-high and cook until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Season with salt, to taste.
You can leave the pear pieces as is, in large chunks, or use a hand blender (regular blender) and puree. I decided to blend briefly with a hand blender to make it more jam like. Enjoy!!
