A homemade chutney delivers sweet rewards
WELLESLEY -- Tart and sweet with a dazzling scarlet hue, cranberries add a touch of sugar to savory dishes and a pleasant tang to sweet ones. Cranberry chutney, which mixes both tastes, some vinegar, and spices, is a perfect vehicle for the tiny red fruits and especially good beside roast turkey.
Carol Wasik, co-owner with her husband, Steve, of Wasik's Cheese Shop here, sells a cranberry chutney based on a recipe she developed herself. Both fresh and dried cranberries are mixed with golden raisins, dried apricots, and orange. Fresh thyme and a splash of cider vinegar round out the flavors.
Carol Wasik had filled her kitchen with lots of preserves for years when she came upon some chutney recipes and decided to try them. She quickly became a fan of their more complex flavors -- and simpler technique.
The chutneys she began making for family and friends were also sold at her shop, but in a small quantity. Then came a dilemma familiar to many families: About 11 years ago, the Wasiks began looking at colleges for the oldest of their three children. They were faced with the prospect of financing three tuitions within a short time. They decided to turn Carol's hobby into a business. The first product, ''Yankee Chutney," was made with peaches and apples. That sent their daughter to college, says Wasik.
''When it came time for our son to go to school," says Wasik, ''we began selling the Cranberry Chutney. We introduced the Nor'easter Pepper Jelly when the youngest [son] went off to college."
Today the chutneys are made by Alison Chateauneuf, owner of Coutts Specialty Foods in Boxborough. Chutneys are bottled in 12-ounce jars and sell for $6.50 each.
The children are finished with college, with no plans for graduate school. But their mother may expand the line of chutneys anyway.
Wasik's Cheese Shop, 61 Central St., Wellesley, 781-237-8650. 