Sweet & Sour Mango and Fig Sauce

• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 8 mangos, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup grated ginger
• 2 fresh lemons, zest and juice
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup dried figs, chopped
• 12 tsp grated nutmeg
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Put everything into a heavy saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce to a slow simmer, cover, and cook for two hours or more, stirring occasionally until a thick paste. Remove from heat, cool, and puree in a blender.

Makes 3 jars of chutney which is also a fabulous sauce for steaks. As a lifelong addict to knackebröd, a little chutney, flat parsley, plain yogurt and sliced raw asparagus is a tasty, flavorful breakfast. Last night, I used the chutney on a steak .

This is a sweet, sour, and spicy sauce. It’s based on Major Grey’s Mango Chutney, but I substituted dried figs for raisins. (I like nearly every other dried fruit more than raisins.) I left out the garlic and used seasoned rice vinegar rather than cider vinegar. That was because I was out of cider vinegar, but it does add a deeper flavor. I pureed in a blender rather than leave it chunky, which is the more traditional way to serve it. This is because I was thinking of using it as a base for a salad dressing, which you can see in my next recipe.

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Blue Cornmeal Applesauce Breakfast Bars

• 2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1½ cup blue cornmeal
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tsp cardamom (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 stick butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds (optional)
• 1 cup dried figs (optional)
• sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Heat oven to 400 degrees Mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Cut in pieces of butter using a pastry blender. Add applesauce and sour cream and mix. The batter will be more solid than cake batter, but not stiff and dry like scone batter. Add optional nuts and dried fruit. You can experiment with different nuts and fruits, including currants, raisins, pecans, walnuts, or pepitas.

Roll into a log using parchment paper or wax paper. Then slice into  12 pieces and layer on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

Bake 15 minutes at 400, remove for a moment, shake some mixed cinnamon and sugar over the top and return to oven, lowering temperature to 300 for 15 more minutes.

These are a nice moist, breakfast/dessert bars. They are toothsome, hearty, and slightly sweet. Goes well with coffee or tea. A good afternoon snack. They’re not as sweet as dessert bread, but not as “healthy” as corn muffins.

Peanut Slaw with Dried Dates

This was a quick and easy slaw using some Spicy Peanut Dressing I made the other day.

Dressing:

• 2 TBSP peanut butter
• 2 TSBP seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 TBSP soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 lg. clove of garlic, crushed and macerated with salt
• Juice from 1 lime, squeezed.

So I sliced up  a salad bowl full of cabbage, diced up two dried figs. Tossed with the peanut dressing. Delicious.

The mix of spicy heat and sweetness and citrus tang make this a great salad dressing. Cabbage is friendly to just about any dressing and the dried figs add just a perfect contrast.