An Embarrassment of Riches

We have an embarrassment of riches, as far as blackberries go. I mentioned we made blackberry jam, and apple/blackberry butter, but so far my favourite use for them is blackberry chutney. I’m  a big chutney fan, and I recommend giving this a go, even if it sounds surprising. I did find, however, that as the blackberries are very juicy, you need to simmer the fruit for much longer than the recipe specifies, so that you can get it down to a thicker chutney consistency. Chutney is best if it is left for a few months but I’ve sampled the leftovers and already it is quite delicious!

Chutney Bread

There have been other things going on around here besides food preparation, but it may not look that way! Earlier in the week I made a loaf of Chutney Bread and documented the process. Unfortunately several of my photos are out of focus, but I’m enthusiastic enough about the chutney bread not to care too much.

I am still loving Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and am gradually perfecting my technique. I wanted to do something a bit fun with the dough so I decided on Chutney Bread. I used the chutney I made back in December. The recipe for the dough is found here. (Though I would make two corrections. First, use about 2/3 the amount of salt if using regular salt. The original recipe used corse grain salt so this makes a difference. Also, if using the dough FROM THE FRIDGE the original recipe recommends letting the cold dough rise/rest for 1 hour. 40 minutes is for the dough that hasn’t been refrigerated.)

First step: Took some dough from the fridge. Sprinkled flour on the counter and rolling-pin and rolled dough to a rectangle shape.

Step two: Spread Chutney over the surface of the dough. I think I was a little too liberal with the chutney so I would maybe be more restrained next time.

Step three: Roll it up, jelly roll style and fold over the ends.

Step four: Flipped the roll over so the ends were underneath and gently shaped it into a ball. Let it rest for an hour on a cornmeal sprinkled peel.

Step five: (Which I almost forgot.) Dusted loaf with flour and made several cuts.

Step six: Baked at 450. Time varies with size of loaf. Mine was about 1 1/2lb so I think it was about 45 minutes. As I’ve mentioned before, it is very easy to under-bake  (happens WAY more than over-baking) so I generally bake it until I think it is done and 5-10 minutes longer.

This smells wonderful and tastes divine. Perfect for a cheese sandwich. Part of me knows that it might be less complicated to simply spread chutney on bread but never mind that!