cranberry chutney

just getting the cranberries going over the heat...

this is a new recipe i'm trying this year. i usually make a ginger cranberry sauce, but i've never been really impressed by it, so i'm going to experiment over the next couple of years to find one that i really love. this one gets about a seven on a scale of one to ten. it's very easy and much tastier than my other more traditional cranberry sauce. this year it was a toss up between this recipe and one from women's health that involved pears...i'll definitely be trying that one next year. i found this cranberry chutney recipe in the everyday food november 2005 issue.

1 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup finely minced shallot
1 tbs peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
1 bag (12 ounces) fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
1 cup sugar
2 tbs red-wine vinegar
coarse salt and ground pepper

1. in a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-low. add shallots and ginger; cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are softened, about 5 minutes.

2. add cranberries, sugar, vinegar, and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until most of the berries have burst and mixture has thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. season with salt and pepper. let cool completely. serve at room temperature or chilled.

tips: i would recommend decreasing the amount of water to 3/4 cups...and add little by little if you need more. also, i added about 2 tbs of honey and i might even add a little bit more. next time i think i will decrease the sugar and increase the honey. this cranberry sauce has several layers of flavor that hit you separately, so it is definitely going to be one that i work on perfecting. i minced the shallots and next time i'll just finely chop them and sautee them before i add any other ingredients because by mincing them the flavor came out a bit too strong without any added texture to the consistency of the sauce.

cooled down to room temp and ready to be packed away for tomorrow :)