I just couldn’t resist grabbing a double hand full of these elegant stalks of rhubarb when I saw them at the Maple Rock farmstand here on the island. I love the taste of anything rhubarb and that smooth, luminous green to ruby sheen of the skin is a splendid announcement that spring has sprung to me!

A jar of chutney is a great condiment to always have in the kitchen. The complexity of flavors wake up any meat or sandwich in a snap. Also, it’s delicious served with a mild cheese and crackers for a quick and easy appetizer.

It’s also pretty darn easy to make and the possible modifications are endless. You can use any type of fruit, make it spicy or mild, and adjust the spices to suit your taste {or what you have in your spice drawer}. Here’s my recipe, but feel free to play around with it and please let us know what you create!

INGREDIENTS

{makes about 5 – 1/2 cups of chutney}

1 – 1/2 cup sugar {I used brown sugar, because I like the richer flavor, you can also use white granulated sugar, which will result in a lighter colored chutney}

2/3 cup cider vinegar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

8 cups coarsely chopped fresh rhubarb, for me this was 8 stalks.

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 cup chopped red onion

2/3 cup golden raisins

PREPARATION

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flakes and cloves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes.

Add the rhubarb, onion, garlic and raisins. Stir the rhubarb to coat it with the mixture and then cook it over medium heat until the rhubarb is tender and the mixture is slightly thickened, 10 – 15 minutes.

And that’s it!

Now it’s ready to serve, share, can, refrigerate or freeze. Click on the video below to see the finished texture.

https://splendidmarket.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/img_1094.trim_.mov

If you’d like to preserve these wonderful flavors by canning them, follow the jar manufacturers instructions. I didn’t have time to can them, so I put one Pint jar in the refrigerator for immediate consumption. I placed the other sealed jars {3 pints, 1 half pint, in the freezer to enjoy or share at a later date.

I’ve been cooking quite a bit up here for my island isolation, but I didn’t have an apron, so I bought this beautiful floral watercolor designed Mimi apron {it has pockets!!} from Anthropologie, and the Mimi dish towels {above}, and, of course, why would I stop there when I could bring in a matching hot pad as well?

These beautiful, functional, all cotton accessories are a great way to treat your mom {or yourself} as we roll into spring.

Happy Mother’s Day all! Xoxo,