Easy Cranberry Chutney

Cranberry Chutney has been on our Thanksgiving table for many years; I know I would get many complaints if I ever omitted it. It?s the perfect condiment with roast turkey, but it’s just as fantastic with a holiday ham!

My dad always liked jellied cranberry sauce. Mom bought it just for him; she opened both ends of the can, pushed the jelled sauce out and cut it into slices. Dad got to eat most of it because the rest of us preferred the whole berry sauce, which was also a part of our Thanksgiving dinner.

Like anything else, homemade cranberry sauce is much better than the canned variety. This recipe is adapted from one in Yumana?s Table, by Yumana Devi. I like the fact that it?s sweetened with pure maple syrup instead of sugar or corn syrup. It uses only 4 ingredients and is super easy to make. Once made, it will keep up to a week in the refrigerator, so you can easily make it a day or two before the big Turkey Day!

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(Adapted from a recipe in Yumana?s Table by Yumana Devi)

(print the recipe)

Makes about 3 cups, and doubles easily if you?re serving a crowd.

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1 (12-ounce) bag of cranberries

2 large apples

2 large oranges

1 cup pure maple syrup

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1. Zest the oranges.

Zesting the oranges is quick and easy with a Microplane zester.

2. Wash and drain the cranberries and put them in a pot. (My 3 quart pot is the perfect size.)

3. Peel, core, and chop the apples, and add them to the pot.

4. Juice the oranges. Add the juice and the orange zest to the pot.

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5. Add the maple syrup.

Everything is in the pot, ready to cook!

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6. Bring the chutney to a boil over medium-high heat.

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7. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes — until the cranberries have popped, the apples have cooked down, and the chutney has thickened a bit. Stir it occasionally while it?s cooking.

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8. Cool and transfer to a bowl; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.