Join The Collective at The Zombie March to Save the Libraries

 

 

Zombies are represented this Halloween in an event celebrating two of our favorite things at The DP Chutney Collective, the NYC Public Library system and Offal (just try to tell us, after sampling, that you didn't love thin slices of smoked tongue slathered in our Green Tomato and Horseradish Chutney). So please, in support of our beleaguered urban libraries, join the living dead shuffle of The Zombie March to Save the Libraries! Details below courtesy of Urban Librarians Unite:

You thought the fight for library budgets were done until next year? Nope! The midyear budget adjustment will result in a projected further cut of 5.4% to NYC library budgets. These new cuts will result in even less service hours and MORE LAYOFFS.


We've already lost Saturday Service in most of the city. So those working parents taking their kids to the library on the weekend? Tough, not open. Can't return your books during the w...eek because you work 60 hours just to live? Tough, closed on the weekend.

What does any of this have to do with zombies? Well, without libraries there are no brains, and zombies need to eat brains to live. So New York's zombie librarians will be walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall this Halloween to protest these drastic cuts to their food supply.

Meet us in the circle at the west end of Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn, next to the High Street A, C Station.

Dress in your Librarian Zombie best, and come help us bring attention to the continuing cuts to the libraries, and the elimination of the yummiest brains in the city, those of Library Users.

Just in Time for November's Big Meal

Our Cranberry and Green Chile Chutney has just made its seasonal reappearance this week, and we personally have decreed it better than ever. Comprised almost entirely of whole, fresh cranberries spiked with Dutchess County, NY Serrano chiles, The Collective also adds the bracing qualities of slivered ginger and the natural sweetness of Empire State HoneyCrisp apples. Cranberry and Green Chile Chutney is a no-brainer at the Thanksgiving feast but is equally toothsome on those leftover turkey sandwiches and more than earns its place on upcoming holiday cheese boards. We also adore it with duck breasts and pan-roasted sausages of all stripes.

Now You Have a Choice

The DP Chutney Collective is overly excited to now have our jars available with great ease to residents of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Yes, the neighborhood's first gourmet grocery, Choice Greene, offers our products on their stellar shelves alongside P&H Soda's artisanal syrups, many imported and local pickles, mustards, sea salts (etc etc) that we're proud to rub our elbows against. Not to mention their legendary BLT sandwich, declared the Best Thing He Ever Ate by Food Network host Ted Allen.

Press Alerts

Thanks to Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain and Nona Brooklyn for their recent profile pieces on The DP Chutney Collective. We're proud to be associated with both organizations and read all about us here and here!

Happy October from The DP Chutney Collective

The scariest month of the year yields forth the reemergence of three of The Collective's most beloved autumnal chutneys: Cranberry and Green Chile Chutney, Pear Cardamom Chutney and our Gingered Raisin Chutney. (Not to mention reasons for us to post pics of our favorite Scream Queen, Barbara Steele.) Grab whatever sounds most tempting most early on and beat the holiday rush. And if you've booked a few Halloween dinner parties on your October schedule, why not surprise the host/ess with a jar of the appropriately evil sounding Date from Hell Chutney? Happy Halloween season to all!

End of the Season Sweet Peaches Get Chutnified

re: the above post title, The DP Chutney Collective isn't just inventing exciting new flavor profiles for your favorite condiments, we're also making up new words! Late Summer 2010 yielded a true bumper crop of sweet peaches and we swooped in and secured a few bushels for our ever-popular Curried Peach Chutney.

The possibilities for this versatile chutney are exhaustive, but we can't recommend enough stirring a tablespoon or two in to your favorite marinade or bbq sauce and basting on chicken, turkey or fish. And we love it as a unique glaze for baked ham.

Vegetarians love it as a sandwich enhancer or as a dip for potstickers, spring rolls and fried plantains or gourmet fries. Non-carnivores will also thrill to the simple recipe below, a light entree or side dish perfect for the lingering warmish weather.



CURRIED PEACH WHEAT BERRY SALAD

1 cup soft wheat berries
Water
Toasted sesame oil
Soy Sauce
3-4 scallions, chopped, white and green parts
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped finely

Salt to taste
2 T. Curried Peach Chutney

Cilantro, chopped (optional)

If you can, try to soak the wheat berries in warm water for a couple of hours. If you don't soak them, increase the cooking time until berries are chewy-tender.

After soaking, drain the wheat berries and place in a saucepan with 3-4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, over a medium-high flame for 70 minutes or until tender to the bite. they will remain pleasantly chewy so do not overcook further.

Drain wheat berries very well and mix with the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Season to your tastes with the salt, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Chill and serve cold or at room temperature, garnished (or not) with chopped cilantro.

Tomatillo Conserves Braised Pulled Pork Sliders

An ultra-simple preparation utilizing the sweet and spicy tang of The Collective's Tomatillo Conserves, Pulled Pork Sliders cook slowly but require little hands-on time. Serve a couple with potato salad for dinner or line them up on a cocktail party platter. Our latest batch of Tomatillo Conserves has been carefully crafted from upstate New York's freshest bushels of the tarter, fruiter cousin to the green tomato.

You'll need:

9 oz. jar of Tomatillo Conserves
1 pork shoulder (bone in) weighing 4-5 pounds
Salt and Black Pepper
Canola Oil
Small dinner rolls or mini pitas
1 large onion, chopped finely


Brown pork shoulder on all sides after sprinkling GENEROUSLY with salt and a bit of freshly ground black pepper.

Transfer pork shoulder to a slow cooker (crock pot) and pour over pork 1 9 oz. jar of Tomatillo Conserves.

Set slow cooker on Low and cook overnight or for 7-8 hours. Literally, Just Walk Away!

When pork is cooked, remove from slow cooker and shred meat from bone with two forks. Discard fat and skin or reserve for another use.

As cooking liquid cools skim most of the fat from surface, saving the cooking liquid and conserves.

Return shredded meat to the slow cooker and keep on "Warm" setting while you stuff small dinner rolls, mini hamburger buns or tiny pitas with pork. Top with chopped onions.

Devour.

Note: Pulled Duck Sliders can be made via the same method; substitute 7-8 large duck legs for the pork shoulder and carefully skim the larger amount of fat from cooking liquid. Other cuts of meat work as well: brisket, short ribs, boned leg of lamb or pork belly.

If you don't have a slow cooker, the pork shoulder can be roasted in a low oven for approximately 3-4 hours or until fork tender.

Chutney Cooking Demo at Atlanta's premier boutique store, Tuckaway Downs

The DP Chutney Collective created three dishes utilizing our multi-purpose chutneys for a cooking demonstration and tasting in Atlanta. Above: Hawaiian Flatbread Grilled Pizzas with Kerala Pineapple Chutney, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, smoked Virginia ham and scallions.

Boneless and skinless chicken thighs were grilled with green bell peppers and sliced jalapenos after a long marinade in Curried Peach Chutney. As the poultry grilled over high coals we slathered on additional chutney for a rich, glossy glaze.

One of The Collective's biggest hits were Pulled Pork Sliders slow-cooked and further dolloped with spicy and sweet Tomatillo Conserves.

The enchanting interiors of Tuckaway Downs.

"There was an Old Person of Putney,
Whose food was roast spiders and chutney,
Which he took with his tea,
     within sight of the sea,
That romantic Old Person of Putney."
Edward Lear, English artist, writer;

You Don't Have to Agree But . . .

"Chutney is marvelous. I'm mad about it. To me, it's very imperial."
Diana Vreeland (1903-1989)

Chutneys Premiere in Park Slope!

Breaking News: Park Slope's finest and favorite food shop Blue Apron now carries many products from The DP Chutney Collective on their esteemed shelves famous for both quality and variety. Peruse the myriad offerings and try a jar of Juniper Berry Chutney or Plum Ketchup amongst many others, including the near final jars of Summer 2010's coveted cult favorite, Blueberry and Bermuda Onion Chutney. Try the latter dolloped lightly over a slice of Blue Apron's divine pates or snuggled next to slice selected from the staggering array of domestic and imported cheeses.

Chutney Is What's For Breakfast

Daily Candy recommends our Sweet Tomato Chutney with Black Mustard Seeds to jump start your breakfast!

Last of the Season's Punjabi Corn Relish

Seasonal flavors come and go by their very nature and definition, and The DP Chutney Collective's Punjabi Corn Relish is no exception. Stewed with New York State fresh corn kernels, peppers, onions and a Raj-worthy array of East Indian spices, our corny condiment is being quickly cleared from The Collective shelves.

If you haven't tasted a jar yet, not to worry as we'll be cooking more (again, in limited batches) next Summer. We've heard a few jars might still be scorable at Williamsburg's Radish. If you do grab one - or have some left in the fridge - try the easier-than-belief quick fix meal below.

TORTELLINI SALAD WITH BLACK BEANS AND PUNJABI CORN RELISH

1. Cook 1 package of tortellini (frozen or dried, cheese or meat) according to package directions for al dente doneness, drain and set aside.
2. Drain and rinse 1 can of black beans and add to the pasta in a large bowl. Drizzle with 2 T. of olive oil. Toss lightly.
3. Add 2-3 T. of The DP Chutney Collective's Punjabi Corn Relish and mix well. Remember, a little goes a long way.
4. Throw in 1/2 bunch of chopped cilantro, mix again, season with salt and black pepper.
5. Serve at room temperature or cold atop a lightly dressed salad of watercress or arugula leaves.

Chutney Collective Profile in Greenpoint Gazette

The DP Chutney Collective treasures our North Brooklyn neighborhood(s) of Greenpoint and Williamsburg (we sit on sort of the nebulous dividing line between the two) and is pleased as planters' punch to be profiled in the current issue of the Greenpoint Gazette! A few inaccuracies slipped into the article, for example, while we love Charleston we've never lived there and merely explained its importance as an 18th century seaport and entry area to America for chutneys culled abroad; no, we weren't snagging jars from foreign sailors in the 1700s.

Another more important correction to be made is that The Collective's chutneys are not organic. Whenever feasible we do use organic ingredients and they are designated as such on the labels, but our commitment remains always to working as closely as possible (and indeed, almost exclusively) with local, small, family-run farms employing sustainable agricultural methods.

Buy a Raffle Ticket. Win Chutney (possibly). Show NOLA Some Love.

Make this Indian Summer a tasty one. The DP Chutney Collective is offering a Sampler Pack of our most popular jars as one of several prizes at The Desk Set's Beaucoup Book Love Benefit held September 11 at Williamburg's venerable drinking institution Pete's Candy Store. Learn more about this day of Southern food, music, drink and charity by clicking here. All proceeds from this all-ages affair benefit the A.P Tureaud Elementary School in the 7th Ward.

Chutneys (and relishes) Now Available at RADISH

Radish is the sort of gourmet takeaway and grocery store every neighborhood needs, the sort of place you want around the corner from your apartment for high quality, locally-sourced quick meals and pantry staples. We assume chutney must be a pantry/fridge staple in all of your spicy lives so head over to Radish and score a jar alongside dinner for the night. When it comes to snacking we're smitten with the homemade potato chips dusted with curry, but honestly everything on their seasonal menu looks amazing.

The Collective Moonlights as Bartender

See our recipe for the summer-ready P&H Soda Gimlet in the Huffington Post!

Jazzing Up Asian Supermarket Staples

Sure they're easy and quick to make, but now Chinese supermarket frozen buns and dumplings never need bore you again. Skip the sodium overdose of excessive soy sauce and substitute one of The Collective's offerings as Chinese Condiment of Choice. Both pork and vegetable steamed buns marry well with our Fiery Carrot Chutney with Nigella Seeds while custard-style soft tofu springs to life beneath a dollop of either Punjab Corn Relish or Middle Eastern Zucchini Relish. So we know, despite all suggestions otherwise, you're still gonna dip (and double dip) those dumplings and pot stickers - make a weeknight lazy meal an occasion fit for company by placing around small saucers of The Collective's summer-ready ketchups: Green Tomato, Plum or Mango-Chile.

Fish a la Tripoli

The Collective originally created this scrumptious seafood entree with either shark or cod but now substitute various sustainable fish such as Atlantic Monkfish, Black Cod, Pacific Halibut, Cobia or U.S. Atlantic troll/pole-caught Mahi Mahi. Basically you just need a firm-fleshed, white-meat fish and any not on the endangered list will suffice.

Delicious with wild rice or toasted pita for soaking up the sweet and spicy juices, cauliflower or pan-fried cabbage makes an excellent vegetable accompaniment as does a simple arugula salad.

1 lb. fish fillets (choose from list above or as you wish)

1 T. sweet or hot or smoked paprika

1/2 - 3/4 cup of DP Chutney Collective Middle Eastern Zucchini Relish

1/4 cup oil ( olive or vegetable)

grated peel and juice of 1 lime

salt

• Cut fillets into strips or cubes and sprinkle with paprika and salt.
• Heat a large skillet for 1 minute over high heat then add oil. Allow another minute for oil to become very hot, just under smoking point.
• Add fish and sear quickly on all sides; a "blackened fish" is fine bit take care to not burn.
• Add Middle Eastern Zucchini Relish and lime juice and reduce heat. Cover and cook for 3-5 minutes depending on your preference for doneness.
• Plate fish and sprinkle with grated lime peel. The fish should have a nice glaze from the relish and arrange the "solids" from the relish on plate as a garnish/condiment. Serve hot.

Brooklyn Kitchen Welcomes The DP Chutney Collective to their Esteemed Shelves

We're pleased as punch to now offer our chutneys and ketchups at Williamsburg's venerable Brooklyn Kitchen and Meat Hook. The sprawling space now provides all your one-stop shopping needs: artisan cheeses and dairy products, top-quality and humanely raised meat, pantry items, local produce, deluxe cooking supplies and even bags of hops for all you home brewers out there.