Vegan Cranberry Caramelized Red Onion Orange Chutney Recipe Experimentation

The sign on the Willapa Red cranberries in the Bloom Creek Cranberries booth at the Olympia Farmers' Market said they were tangier--not just like what I'd buy frozen at the big-box supermarket. I bought them, thinking of chutney. As I checked out I saw the flyer with recipes provided by the grower, including one for chutney. "Great! I'm all set," I thought.



Except.... I specifically wanted one with red onions (I'd also purchased those at the market) and their recipe didn't call for that. I mentioned it to the grower and she said, "Oh, that would be delicious." So okay, that's easy, I'll look up a recipe with the words "red onion" included and I'll be all set.

And then in my search I saw one that called for orange zest or juice or something and that sounded delicious too. But I need lower sugar content for the pre-diabetic eater. None of the recipes checked every box on my list. Hence my decision to mash up multiple recipes and taste the results.

Ones I borrowed from:

The best caramelised red onion & cranberry chutney: From the Marks & Spencer’s Christmas book. Measurements in kilograms, no problem, but this used butter and I'm aiming for vegan, plus I don't have malt vinegar. (Mental note: Yet another vinegar to add to the pantry. Oh, but wait, this recipe for Easy Homemade Cranberry Chutney says malt vinegar is "a wee bit too harsh for those delicate cranberries.")

Cranberry chutney (low sugar): Low sugar is good. But wait, no red onions, no orange zest.

Orange cranberry chutney: Orange juice, not zest, and I feel as if the robust flavors of cranberry and vinegar need the zing of zest. And again, no red onions. Interesting in that it calls for both fresh and dried cranberries.

Red Onion & Cranberry Chutney: Okay, now we're getting somewhere--has red onions and calls for zest and juice of one orange. It calls for some simmering time with vegetable stock added and that seems a bit off-putting for the flavor I'm after.

Mulled cranberry and red onion chutney: If only I'd had mulled wine on hand.

What I take away from reading these:

Spices: Each of these takes a different approach to the spice mix and I'm sorely tempted to borrow from all of them. However, I'm pretty sure my fondness for putting in lots of spices is a weakness, not a strength--I end up overpowering things I meant to enhance. Subtlety is not my strong point as a cook. I have a book called The Flavor Equation that I keep meaning to read to learn more about what to mix and what not to mix. 

If I used every spice from these recipes I'd have star anise, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, coriander, and garlic on top of the onion etc. This actually sounds like a pretty delicious combo but it's a lot. So for once I'm actually going to taste and adjust.

Vinegar: Some use far more vinegar than others; all call for using two different types of vinegar; all call for balsamic as one of the two types. With cranberries as the base, this is already going to be tart, and there's the OJ to boot. I'll start with less, add if the tang needs some oomphing up.

Proportions: And then there's the amount of cranberries. My plan is to cook all of what I purchased. I've come to love recipes that use weight, not volume, but I'll need both to adjust these recipes because none of them call for the 4 cups/519 grams/1 lb. 2 oz. of cranberries I have. That last recipe on the list with only the metric volumes? My brain can't read that and get a sense of the relative amounts At. All. I can give you cups, pints, quarts, and gallons, and I can tell you there are 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon and 4 tablespoons in 1/4 cup, but I don't grok this other math.

I came up with a general set of proportions, figuring that you work with what you have so any of these could flex up or down:

• Cranberries: Anywhere from 1-1/2 to 2 c. of cranberries
• Onions: 1 large red onion 
• Apple: 1 medium to large apple
• Orange: Zest/juice of one orange
• Vinegar: Start with 1/2 cup (1/4 cup each of two kinds)
• Sugar: Start with 1/3 cup

Yield for these quantities: ~ 2-1/2 cups

I also had the flashiest brain flash of all time, which was to recognize that I have enough cranberries etc. to make two separate batches. I can try this out, mess around a bit, then make a second batch with what I learned.

Batch 1: 

• 1 T. fresh ginger (I keep a tube of this on hand in the fridge. Discovering that product transformed my ability to use freshly grated ginger because I've been responsible for a lot of sad, dried-out ginger root dying in the fridge or freezer); added in the onion sauté stage
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed; added in the onion sauté stage after onions started softening, before adding apples (you don't want to add garlic too early because it gets bitter if it browns)
• Pinch whole mustard seed
• 1/4 t. coriander
• 1/8 t. cloves
• 1/8 t. allspice
• 1/2 t. sea salt (any coarse salt would work)
• Vinegars: 1/4 c. really good dark cherry balsamic, 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• Sugar: 1/3 c. dark brown sugar

Tasted while still warm. Yummy!

Batch 2:

• 1 T. fresh ginger; added in the onion sauté stage
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed; added in the onion sauté stage after onions started softening, before adding apples
• Pinch whole mustard seed
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. coriander
• 1/8 t. cloves
• 1/8 t. allspice
• 3/4 t. sea salt
• Vinegars: 1/4 c. really good balsamic, 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
• Sugar: 1/3 c. demerara sugar (ran out of brown sugar and I had this from some recipe I meant to make)

Also yummy.

Cooking time: The cooking time varies a fair amount across the recipes. I decided I'd cook until it looked sufficiently soft and somewhat jammy, but with recognizable bits. Unfortunately can't tell you how long that took as I worked on other things at the same time and listened to podcasts while I worked. I stirred in the orange juice and zest after around 30 minutes or so (maybe 40?) and cooked a while longer to reduce the liquid. I'd guess at an hour cooking time total, which fits with several of the recipes. Some have a shorter cooking time though--you do you.

Several of the recipes refer to the cranberries popping, which they do as the skins burst. It's pretty fun to listen to.

Of course, once I did all this I searched one more time to check on canning the chutney to make it shelf-stable and found a recipe that calls for 4 cups of cranberries so it's the right proportions: Cranberry Chutney. It includes hazelnuts, which would make a tasty addition. However, I used nowhere near the amount of sugar in that recipe and mine is really good, with the right amount of tanginess that I was seeking.

Weirdly, I initially couldn't find instructions for canning the chutney. I found some recipes that said it's shelf-stable for weeks, likely because of the vinegar and sugar. I wanted to hot-can it to be on the safe side. In this canning-friendly recipe for Cranberry Orange Chutney I finally found a link to the National Center for Home Canning and this nice list of canning recipes for cranberries. I wish they had discussed the specific balance of acidity and sugar somewhere since I know that's a factor; I plunged ahead and canned anyway, processing for 12 minutes in a hot-water bath. 

Oh, and next weekend I'm going back to the market to get more cranberries to make Homemade Christmas Cranberry Gin Liqueur.