Spiced Plum Chutney

Hey everyone another day of fall, another recipe. Today we have a spiced plum chutney. This is the season for all those spices you have in your house, your cinnamon's, cardamoms, nutmegs. I had some plums in my fridge that hadn't been used up and to be honest I was over eating them so I decided to just knock up a chutney. So I did a check up on the internet to get an idea of what people used. Some people had the longest list of spices ever and I didn't want to lose the taste of the plums so I was very selective in what I used. In the end it was a nice little blend of flavors .

3 Star Anise

1 Clove

1 Stick Cinnamon

1/3 Cup Red Wine Vinegar

3 Tbsp Sugar

1/2 Tbsp Ginger

1/2 Tbsp Ground Mustard Seeds

1/2 Tbsp Ground Black Pepper

3 T Water

1 Cardamom

1/4 Tbsp Chili Powder

1/4 Tbsp Paprika

1/4 Tbsp Ground Cumin

4 Red/ Black Plums

Now the plums can be done two ways, you can either give the plums a cross mark at the bottom of the fruit then put them in boiling water for up to a minute, shock it in ice water, then peel it and cut it in half then separate them. It's a very common method for tomatoes. If they are hard enough you can just grab a peeler and peel them then just cut them in half up to the seed, rotate the sides in opposite directions and separate them.

The fact of the matter is, its up to you.

Once you've got your peeled and separated plums then cut them up and put them in the pot.

Measure your spices and liquids then put them in your pot. Keep your pot on a medium heat and let the soon be chutney simmer. Be sure to constantly stir it. You don't want it to burn

Once its done, remove your Cinnamon Stick, Anise seed, and Cardamom seeds 

Care for another fall salad?

Beet Root Salad

1 Stick Cinnamon

2 Cardamom seed

½ Star Anise

3 Clove

1/3 tsp Nutmeg

3 Small/Baby Red beets

1 Yellow beet*

½ cup baby spinach

2 Stalks purple Kale

1/3 Cup walnuts

¼ Grapefruit

¼ Red Cabbage

8oz Goat Cheese

2tbsp Heavy/Whipping Cream

Lemon zest

Salt

Pepper

Do you ever get bored of your classic beet salad with arugula goat cheese and beets? It’s nice but I’m a little over the original salad. So I decided I wanted to do my own. You know, there is something about spices that I love, some people don’t like them; I would cook with them every day if I could. The spices in this salad are very subtle and aren’t overpowering at all; I love it.

Wash your beets thoroughly and remove the roots

Take your spices and just place them in your roasting pan, place your beets in the roasting pan then grate the nutmeg over them, followed by salt and pepper. We need to drizzle it with oil or else it will burn. Add a small amount of water and wrap your pan with foil, before putting them in just give the beets a little shake so they move around, be sure to constantly give the pan a push and pull every time you check on them. This will ensure even roasting and allow the spices to get over the beets more.

The Yellow beets*(try and use one similar in size to the red beets) we will roast separately with oil, salt and pepper. I didn’t want too much spice in the salad and not enough beet flavor so I did them differently.

Once they are cooked you will have to cut the beets into quarters and save them in separate containers.

Next grab all your leaves, wash and rinse them then leave them to dry.

We will take the cabbage then shred it and save it in a bowl or container.

The grapefruits, we are going to peel and segment them like we did in the previous recipe. Don’t cut them, we are going to leave them in whole pieces.

The goat cheese is going to be made into a spread. To do that we will put the cheese in a bowl, and add a little heavy cream. We are now going to work it with a spoon or spatula until it’s a paste then add a bit more cream. When it’s soft enough you want to use a whisk now to work it and add air to the mixture making it light, you want it to almost reach to soft peak. Add a small amount of salt, pepper and lemon zest and give it a final mix. Taste Taste Taste!  

Put the goat cheese on the bottom of the plate and mix all of your ingredients in a bowl (walnuts, cabbage, kale, baby spinach, grapefruit, and the yellow beets) add a little salt, pepper and olive oil. Plate and serve! Have a great salad and enjoy

 

Citrus Fall salad anyone?

A Citrus Salad for Fall

1 Vanilla Persimmon

1 Yellow Beet

1 Shallot

1/3 Pomegranate Deseeded

½ C Spinach

4 Stalks Purple Kale

1/3 Red Cabbage

½ Pint Gooseberries

1 Red Grapefruit

1 Pakistan Sweet Lime

1/3 Celery Root

½ Milk

½ Cream

2 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar

Salt

Pepper

1/3 C Olive Oil

Canola Oil

1/2 Tbsp Honey

From left to Right: Red Grapefruit, Sweet Lime,(top) Persimmon, Vanilla Persimmon, Pomegranate

Hey everyone! It’s fall and soon to be winter but that doesn’t mean that we need to stop eating those lovely little citrus fruits just because it’s a different season. Last week I went shopping for the house and ran into a few good looking produce in the market, so I decided to go back the following day. I knocked up a list of things I wanted, and figured I would make a really nice salad that was refreshing using fall fruit and vegetables. Please keep in mind I had never used some of these ingredients before and this was just supposed to be an experiment. Let’s get to it then.

Persimmon

So, I took a slice of all the things I had never eaten before. The Persimmon was quite interesting, it had a really mellow mango like taste and glowed a bright glossy orange on the outside and a dull matte orange on the inside. It was weird, it almost had the shape of a tomato and the texture of an apple.

Next was a Pakistan Sweet Lime, it was a bit bigger than your average lime and wasn’t as green. You know when limes start to lose their pigment of green and get a slight yellow tinge? That was the color of it. I sliced it, they tasted like a ball of honey in the skin of a lime, sweet but not overpowering. I gave a slice to my girlfriend and she looked at me in shock, like she had just tasted a bit of magic. Her eyes opened up wide, then she asked me “did they put sugar in the soil?” I almost died from laughter but I couldn’t blame her.

Let’s get into the details now as to how this yummy salad came together. I got everything together and one by one I prepped each ingredient. The Persimmons I put on their side and cut them into really thin slices, so they looked like disks. Once I couldn’t slice anymore, I placed the cap of the fruit on the board and sliced the sides. Now we have semi circles and full circles of this fruit, just to keep it a little exciting.

The Golden Beet will take the longest to cook. About an hour in the oven (feel free to boil it if you want) I seasoned mine with salt and pepper, drizzled some oil over it and covered it with foil. I baked it at 400⁰F for 1 hour then took a towel or paper towels and peeled it while it was still hot/warm. I cut them into segments and placed them on the side in a container.

Cooked Celery Root

Take your Celery Root and peel it, either with a peeler or shave off what you want from the whole root with a knife then cut it. Place root in a pot. Now I have half cream and milk in the recipe. You want the liquid to just cover the celery root. So you’re going to pour the milk half way and the other half with cream to cover the celery. Add a pinch of salt and boil until soft. When they are done, put the Celery Root in a blender then pour just enough cooking liquid to cover it and puree. You want to pour just enough canola oil to turn the puree almost white and help with the texture. Taste! Taste! Taste!

The shallot I put on its side like the Persimmon and sliced it. I picked through the spinach leaves and chose the smallest leaves in the bunch, I washed them then put them in a container with tissue. I did a similar process with the kale but instead I took the leaves off the stalk and chose the appropriate sizes for my salad. The red cabbage was also easy to prep. I just cut a third off of what I had and just sliced those fairly thin so it had a shredded look to it. The gooseberries were sliced in half.

Gooseberries

Now, the grapefruit and lime. I’m not sure how you peel your citrus but I cut the top and bottom so it can stand upright. I then run my knife down the sides along the body. This takes off the skin and any bitterness, and will help to segment the pieces. I then segmented it, kept half as they were and took the other pieces and just cut into tiny dices. Do the same for the Sweet lime. Once you’ve finished that, please squeeze the juice from the remains of the fruits and keep them in containers.
Take your Pomegranate and slice horizontally in half. Don’t cut it all the way. Twist it and it shall open up. Then take a wooden spoon. Turn the Pomegranate seed side facing your bowl and hit the outer shell. The seeds should just start to fall out.

(top) Shaved Red Cabbage, (bottom) Rolled and Sliced Cabbage Leaf

The dressing was very quick and simple. Put the juices, diced segments into your bowl or container. Add the honey, then the vinegar, pour the olive oil and whisk. Don’t use all of the oil at once. It’s always better to have too little then adjust. Taste it, season it, there should be a nice balance between sweet and sour and not too sharp.

Mise en Place

In another bowl get all of your greens, segmented fruits, your cabbage, kale, beet root and shallots together. Pour your dressing over it and mix your salad so it’s well coated. I put the Persimmon disks on the plate then I placed the salad on top, then with the celery root puree I put little drops on the side and topped everything with the pomegranates. Over all it was a nice salad, I had my girlfriend try as well and she liked it. Give this salad a try, this was enough for maybe two people if you stretch it. You can adjust quantities for more guests and even make it a little bit more rustic and tweak it to your liking. Tell me how it is! Thanks a lot everyone for taking the time to read this recipe.

Finished Product

From a different perspective