Roasted Plum Chutney

This may seem like an odd recipe to be posting this time of year, but believe it or not, plums are still readily available at most grocery stores and farmer’s markets. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m a huge stone fruit fan. So, as long as plums are still available, I’m going to keep buying them.

While eating plums straight out of the fruit bowl is one of my favorite pastimes, I also love to cook with them. As a matter of fact, some of my favorite recipes use plums. The most obvious choice is to make a pie or tart, but that’s not all you can do. Plums also make a great relish or salsa and they add just the right bit of sweetness to an otherwise savory salad. There’s one thing I never tried though: a chutney. That all changed though, when I found a recipe in Redbook a few weeks ago.

The recipe suggested roasting the plums with some spices and apples and then mashing them all together. Roasting the plums and apples brings out the natural sugars from the fruit, making this chutney sweeter than most. But if you’re afraid it’s going to be too sweet, the shallots, olive oil and spices counteract those sugars to balance out the chutney.

While I found the recipe paired with a roasted pork loin, it also makes the perfect addition to a cheese plate for game day or your next holiday party. What makes this recipe so awesome though, is how simple it is to make. All you have to do is chop, saute, roast and mash. Then 30 minutes later you have a delicious treat that will wow friends and family alike.

Roasted Plum Chutney

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup shallots, chopped
• 1-1/4 pounds red plums, pitted and cut into wedges
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 2 tablespoons port wine
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add the shallots and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
4. Place the skillet in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes until the liquid is reduced and syrupy.
5. Remove the skillet from the oven using a pot holder and discard the cinnamon stick. Mash the fruit with a fork and serve at room temperature with some goat cheese and crackers or a roast pork loin.