Fermented Apple/Pear Chutney

I love the sweet-sour-funky bite of chutney. It’s great mixed into things, blending it onto sauces or dips, topping savory fish or grilled things, and generally adding an interesting flavor note. Upon exploration, I found; 1) cooked chutneys, 2) raw ones that need to be eaten more or less immediately, and then 3) fermented ones which introduce an even more interesting and complex flavor. To ferment a chutney, one must inoculate the fruit mixture with some sort of culture. I tried it with a fizzing and active kombucha. You can also use yogurt whey (the liquid expressed from the yogurt the day after you’ve taken a few spoonfuls out). My favorite way to eat this right now is to pile some chutney it on a piece of delicious homemade bread, top it with some sharp cheese and put the whole thing under the broiler for a couple of minutes until the cheese is toasty and the fruity spices fragrant.

This recipe uses apples and pears, but you could vary the fruit mixture to your liking. My friend Alex uses peaches and plums, and more of a cinnamon/clove/peppercorn spice blend. You can truly make this your own combination. Because of the high sugar content of the ingredients, this ferment will move fast - keep an eye on it, and don’t tighten the lid until you put it in the fridge.

Chutney with kombucha as source of culture, and curry spices added for fun

Ingredients:

• 1 Granny Smith apple, diced small

• 1 ripe-but-not-overly-so Bartlett Pear, diced small

• 1 D’Anjou pear diced small

• 1/2 preserved lemon or lime, minced (optional, but amazing - I’m teaching a class on how to do this delicious thing)

• 3 tablespoons’ish of golden raisins or 6 chopped dates

Put into a bowl and toss to mix.

Add curry-inspired spices (all, most, or your favorite blend) , and culture

• Toast 1 teaspoon each of cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fennel seeds until fragrant and put them with the fruit. Add 1 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, turmeric and 1/2 teaspoon of asafetida and ginger powder (or 1 inch of grated fresh ginger), a few grinds or more of black pepper, and the crushed contents of 3 green cardamom pods.

• Add 1/4 cup of active kombucha and mix everything together well.

Technique:

Mix it all up in a big bowl, and then smash and crush into a jar. You want expressed liquid to push up over the fruit. If it doesn’t quite cover, add a bit more kombucha. Date the jar, put a loose lid on it so CO2 can escape, and put the jar in a dark cupboard for 2-3 days. It should get a little fizzy. Smell and taste-test until it is tangy-sweet to your liking and then tighten the lid and put it in the fridge. Apparently you could even freeze it at this point (I would do that in plastic containers or zip-lock bags.)

This ferment that doesn't include salt, so if you are a low-salt person, or are cooking for someone with high blood pressure, this ferment will work well for you.

Tart-sweet colorful Apple Berry Crisp

You just cannot beat an apple crisp out of the oven, unless there are berries involved. Not only does it boost the cheerful color of the filling, it enhances the flavor with a delicious tartness that complements the sweet apples, and boosts the nutrition value with extra fiber and phytochemicals within the berries. its also simple as all get-out to make. You can make it completely gluten free by choosing almond or rice flour to add to the rolled oats. I use as many organic ingredients as possible.

ingredients:

(pre heat oven to 350F)

Filling:

3 - 4 local organic apples, washed, cored and coarsely chopped into approximately 1-inch pieces

1 C berries, fresh or thrown in frozen (my fave is blackberries, but I have recently discovered black raspberries, which is rocking my crisp world. Raspberries or blueberries, or an entire mix would be awesome)

Crisp topping:

1/4 C butter (melt in a saucepan) substitute some or all with coconut oil - vegan option!

1/2 C flour - you choose: I use a mix of brown rice and almond. I have also used chestnut, wheat, cornmeal, it doesn’t matter because you are not trying to make something that will hang together.

1 C rolled oats

2-3 T maple syrup

(additional add-ins: toasted walnut pieces, substitute honey for the maple syrup, get creative!)

Put it together:

• Toss the apples and berries together in a glass dish

• add the topping ingredients together in the saucepan with the melted butter and mix until combined

• put the crisp topping on top of the fruit and then put the glass dish into the oven

Bake for 40-60 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the top is toasty brown.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or yogurt or kefir.

Cold apple-berry crisp with kefir is an amazing breakfast. Just sayin’.

Simply Baked Apples

- these taste like apple pie filling. no joke.

Wash and core 4 nice big local apples.

Make an equatorial cut about 1/4 inch deep around each.

Put side by side in a casserole dish. I use a round one – collects and concentrates the juice better..

Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon, you could add walnuts or pine nuts if you wished.

bake at 350F for 20 min, rotate the dish, 10 min more, keep checking until the apples are pooped and exploding around their middles.

remove from oven and cool.

I have them straight up – the best way. Or with ice cream/fro-yo, or nuts n raisins, or with my yogurt in the morning.