Sweet and Spicy Plum Chutney

My mother is a very talented cook, so it's hardly fair to say that I ever really "discovered" food.  I grew up eating flavorful, healthy meals cooked from quality ingredients, and that's a lot of the reason that I enjoy food and cooking as much as I do today.  Still, I think everyone - myself included - has moments as they grow up where food takes them by surprise.

One of my first surprising moments with food was on a family vacation to Hawaii.  We were going kayaking down a river, and stopped at a roadside stand to get some sandwiches to bring along for lunch.  Until that point, I had never been all that adventurous with sandwiches - that changed with this food stand.  I don't even remember everything that was on the sandwich - I think it was tuna.  What took me by surprise were the side-elements - bean sprouts and a mango chutney.  I'm not sure I had ever had a sprout or a mango before, so I wasn't too sure what I was getting into.  My worries were very quickly allayed.  Somewhere on the shore of a small Hawaiian river, it occurred to me that sandwiches - and their condiments - can be awesome.

More than a decade later, my family still talks about that mango chutney.  I'm tempted to try to recreate it, but I worry that doing so could never do justice to that first taste.  I tried something related, though - a plum chutney.  It's spicy and tangy and sweet and earthy all at once, and has made a great condiment for everything that I've put it on so far.  Best of all, I still have a bunch of it left, so I can look forward to grilling up something else and coating it with spicy plum goodness.

For a somewhat exotic recipe, the ingredients are pretty close to home - most are pantry staples.  Here's what I used: half a dozen ripe plums, one red onion, some brown sugar, some white sugar, apple cider vinegar, cayenne pepper, ginger root, garlic, whole mustard seeds, salt, and pepper.  Many chutney recipes also feature currants or golden raisins - I opted against for this attempt, but feel free to toss them in if that takes your fancy.

First, chop up all the fresh stuff: the garlic, the red onion, and the plums.  A coarse chop is all you need - everything will reduce in size pretty considerably, so don't worry about big chunks.

If you prefer your ginger minced, peel and chop it at this point, too.  I grated it right into the pot later on with a microplane, and that worked just fine for me.

The cooking process starts by combining the vinegar, brown sugar, and white sugar in a small saucepan.  Whisk together and bring to a quick boil to make sure all of the sugar is dissolved.

Next, keep the heat on, and add everything else to the pot - the chopped plums, garlic, and red onions, the mustard seeds, the cayenne, some grated ginger, and a generous hit of salt and pepper.  It will look like egregiously too much for the little bit of liquid at the bottom, but don't fear - the plums will release plenty of liquid quite quickly as everything comes back to a boil.  As soon as the pan is boiling again, reduce the heat to a steady simmer.

Simmer 30-45 minutes until everything is reduced by 1/3 to 1/2 and has a sticky, syrupy texture.

And that's it!  Serve it up as you see fit - this chutney is surprisingly versatile.  It makes a great condiment for sandwiches, a fantastic glaze for grilled meats, and even a top-notch hot dog topping.  Heck, I'd even be tempted to use it like cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving.  Give it a try, and let me know where it works.

Recipe: Sweet and Spicy Plum Chutney

Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cook Time: 45 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 3-4 Cups

Ingredients

• 6 Ripe Plums
• 1 medium Red Onion
• 3/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 cup (packed) Brown Sugar
• 1/3 cup White Sugar
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 2 tsp whole Mustard Seeds
• 2 tsp Grated Ginger
• 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Coarsely chop red onion, plums, and garlic.
2. In a small saucepan, combine cider vinegar, brown sugar, and white sugar.  Whisk together and bring to a boil.
3. Add all other ingredients to saucepan and return to a rapid boil.
4. Reduce heat to a steady simmer, stirring often, 30-45 minutes until mixture has reduced by 1/3 and texture is syrupy.
5. Store up to 3 weeks refrigerated or preserve by canning.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Tangy Orange Frosting

Kristin had a bad day at work one day this week.  These things happen when you work with underprivileged kids - the good times are good, and the rough days can be really, really rough.  I like to try to do a little extra something for her on bad days - nothing huge, but sometimes a favorite dinner or a pint of Ben and Jerry's can be helpful.  Unfortunately, her bad day was the same day that I had an evening seminar, and so wouldn't see her until well after 9 PM.  This didn't give me much opportunity to do anything before she had to get to bed for the next day of work.

The next day, a windfall: my afternoon seminar was canceled.  My original plan had just been to come home and get some extra work done preparing to teach my own classes for the week.  Instead, somehow, the idea of baking popped into my head, so I stopped by the store for a couple of ingredients, and set about inventing a cupcake recipe.  Kristin definitely approved when she got home - they ended up pretty tasty!

This recipe is a hybrid of various others I've used in the past.  The cake itself is a fairly simple vanilla cake.  The real star, in my opinion, is the frosting.  Again, it's quite simple, but the orange zest adds a fantastic, tangy flavor to balance out the sweetness of the buttercream.  All in all, it's a refreshing little cupcake, and can be a great pick-me-up after a bad day, or an equally good just-because treat.

Here's what you'll need for the cake: flour, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, baking powder, sour cream, and vanilla extract.  Nothing too shocking here.  The sour cream takes the place of some of what would otherwise be oil or butter, and helps to keep things moist and smooth.

First, soften or partially melt the butter.  No need for it to be liquid, just mixable.

Now add all of the dry ingredients straight to the melted butter.  Mix well until the texture is that of a boxed cake mix.

Now add the wet ingredients, and mix again until smooth.  This is a quite thick batter - you'll want a mixer of some sort.

Fill cupcake liners in a pair of muffin tins, and you're all set to bake.  Easy cake, no?  Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes, until tops have just begun to turn golden-brown.

We'll see the finished cakes later, when it's time to frost them.  In the meantime, take advantage of the baking time to make your frosting.

The frosting is as easy as can be: just five ingredients: powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, orange juice, and orange zest.  The orange keeps it from being purely sweet, and adds some interest to what would otherwise be too "vanilla."

Yeah, I groaned too.

First, zest the oranges thoroughly - more zest is more flavor, here!  A microplane does the job nicely.  Melt the butter, too.

Next, just add everything to a large bowl and mix it together until it's smooth.  It's that easy.  You can add a bit more sugar to thicken things up if needed, or a bit more orange juice if it's too thick already.  In any case, throw it in the fridge for a short while until you're ready to cover the cakes - it'll be easier to spread without making a mess.

Speaking of those cupcakes, they should be done shortly after you've finished the frosting.  Pull them out, savor the aroma, and then let them cool completely.  Give them an hour or so.

Once they're cool, get to frosting!  Cover the cakes liberally with the frosting, and then find somebody to share them with.  Cupcakes are meant to be shared, you know.  Otherwise, you'll eat too many and end up with a bellyache.  Bring some to somebody who's had a tough day, or just ensure that their day goes better regardless.  Enjoy!

Recipe: Vanilla Cupcakes with Tangy Orange Frosting

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 2-dozen Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 cups White Sugar
• 1 cup unsalted Butter
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Salt

Frosting

• 3 cups Confectioner's Sugar
• 1/4 cup Orange Juice
• Zest of two Oranges (approx. 2-4 tbsp)
• 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup Butter

Instructions

Cupcakes

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tins with baking cups.

Heat butter in a large bowl until well softened.

Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix until texture resembles a boxed cake mix.

Add sugar, sour cream, eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla, and mix until well combined.  Batter will be thick.

Add batter to baking cups approximately 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 degrees 22-25 minutes until cupcake tops have just begun to turn golden.  

Cool cupcakes completely (1 hour minimum) before frosting.

Frosting

In a large mixing bowl, melt butter completely.

Zest oranges with a microplane or grater.

Add powdered sugar, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla to melted butter.  Mix well 1-2 minutes until smooth.

Add additional sugar to thicken, or juice to thin as needed.

Refrigerate frosting until cupcakes are cooled to ease spreading.

Frost cupcakes when completely cooled.