apples as a side dish

September 26, 2008 9:31 AM

I have a lot of apples. I want serve them as a side dish with roast chicken. Anyone have a super-duper recipe for something like an apple chutney?
posted by Ollie to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

Nigella's spicy version is probably not quite suited to chicken; this one with orange, ginger and allspice, much more so.
posted by holgate at 9:39 AM on September 26, 2008

Not a chutney, but you can roast apples along with some potatoes and onions to make a nice side dish called "Heaven and Earth". (get it? Heaven = apples, Earth = potatoes/onions) Core & quarter the apples, halve or quarter some nice yellow potatoes, quarter some red onions, toss them all in some melted butter, salt & pepper, and roast alongside the chicken. If you want to get fancy, you can roast the chicken on top of the veggies and let them soak up all the schmaltzy goodness.
posted by gyusan at 9:42 AM on September 26, 2008 [2 favorites]

I like fried apples and onions quite a bit. Don't be afraid to salt generously.
posted by rachelpapers at 9:59 AM on September 26, 2008 [1 favorite]

Cranberry apple chutney

Bring to a boil 1 1/2 cup of water, add 1 cup of fresh cranberries and boil until cranberries start to pop open. Add 3 cups diced peeled apples and cook on very low heat until apples are a little soft, but not falling apart. Add 1/2 cup raisin and remove from heat. Let the mixture sit until raisins are plump. After 15 minutes drain the liquid (there should not be much), but not completely. Add preferred sweetener to taste (I use honey). Add slivered almonds for crunch.
posted by francesca too at 10:19 AM on September 26, 2008

Response by poster: Rachelpapers: Sounds good--have you ever made it with less bacon than a 1/2 lb? And what kind of onions do you use?
Heaven and Earth sounds delish as well. Maybe I'll try both and taste-test.
posted by Ollie at 10:32 AM on September 26, 2008

Response by poster: Thanks all. I think I might each one of these. I have a LOT of apples.
posted by Ollie at 10:45 AM on September 26, 2008

I've made Nigella Lawson's spiced apple chutney suggested by holgate and found that it went beautifully served alongside turkey (but was even more divine with cheese and bread!).
posted by ceri richard at 10:55 AM on September 26, 2008

Depends on if you want sweet or savory. If you want sweet, just dice the apples into small cubes (about 3-5mm on a side), the cook on med-low heat with butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Add butter and brown sugar until you get the texture you want--the more you add the thicker and goop-ier it will get.
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:36 AM on September 26, 2008

I don't have a recipe for this because it's just something I've seen my mother do, but roasting apples in the pan with the chicken imparts a wonderful fruity flavor to the chicken and makes a side dish/sauce of ever-so-slightly savory, sweet and soft apples with a nice rich sauce. She's out of e-mail contact right now so I can't ask her where the practice originates, but I'm 99% positive it's a French tradition.

Also works well with pears, potatoes, and carrots, and best with a mix.
posted by bettafish at 12:21 PM on September 26, 2008

We had this Ginger Chicken with Peaches and Onion last week and you could probably substitute apples for the frozen peaches and still get something very tasty.
posted by aught at 12:24 PM on September 26, 2008

Recently on Slashfood.

Make lots of applesauce in a crockpot, then freeze it for later use in recipes.
posted by knile at 12:45 PM on September 26, 2008

I like this tequila, apple, and dried cranberry compote.
posted by ericost at 9:18 PM on September 26, 2008