The DP Chutney Collective adores local gourmet food shops, especially those with such thoughtfully curated shelves as the keen new store companion to luxe wine boutique and neighbor Donna Da Vine - Da Vine Provisions. Same owners, new products, all sure to accentuate your liquid purchases next door. Happily those well-stocked and edited shelves at Da Vine Provisions now feature The Collective's line of artisan ketchups (Plum and Mango-Chili), each jar handmade and taste-tested for perfection.

Wash Down That Chutney with an Artisanal Soda

When the heat and humidity spikes The DP Chutney Collective craves nothing more than an ice-cold, freshly made soda from the likes of P&H Soda and Syrup. Luckily their stellar wares can now be had at Brooklyn Kitchen, Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain and even on Rockaway Beach at Rockaway Taco! Check out a nifty feature on the company and an interview with chef and creator Anton Nocito. Turns out P&H likes us too - when questioned about local purveyors of gourmet goods Anton lists DP Collective chutneys amongst his favorite foodstuffs!

With a Little help From Our Farm Friends

Fulfilling a Mission Statement major tenet of sourcing locally and personally, The DP Chutney Collective is thrilled to receive the freshest custom-order deliveries from Goshen, New York's prolific J. Glebocki Farms. Props to their Market Manager Matt Lewis for hooking us up weekly with the best and freshest from their upstate fields! Arriving yesterday at The Collective were bushels of sweet yellow corn and perfectly tart green tomatoes. Our latest creations are described/explained below. One Word of Advice: snag these jars whenever and wherever you may find them; all are seasonal items only and won't last long on store shelves.

Green Tomato Ketchup

The Collective has waxed (poetically, we think) enough here about the Far East origins of ketchup and its transformation in 18th and 19-century America and Britain from a fruit, nut and mushroom-based condiment to the ubiquitous Heinz tomato variety of the last 100 years. Our spanking new Green Tomato Ketchup has a pedigree traced back to the colonial-era Pennsylvania Dutch and those farmers’ need to utilize the last crop of green tomatoes prior to Autumn’s first frost.

The tartness of firm and tangy green tomatoes is tamed by the sweetness of both NYS apples and yellow onions, and given a kick via a transfusion of fresh green chilies and warm spices (including cloves, cinnamon and mace). The Collective stews the fruits and veggies for several hours resulting in another velvety ketchup useful any time you get bored with the red variety. Of course Green Tomato Ketchup is hardly as limited in usage as a bottle of Heinz so serve as a condiment to most anything . . . crab cakes, chili or mac and cheese. And just savor in tasty amazement the wonders this ketchup does for plain meatloaf and Summer’s inevitable BLTs.

Note: the really unusual element here is chlorophyll powder. While totally tasteless the concentrate is added to naturally preserve and enhance the tomatoes verdant splendor.

Green Tomato and Horseradish Chutney

Who knew what a happy marriage could be made between farm-fresh green tomatoes, sugary Vidalia onions, assorted bell peppers and freshly grated horseradish? Well, The DP Chutney Collective obviously! Preserving guru Jeanne Lesem adapted a similar condiment recipe from a turn-of-the-century Canadian cookbook and The Collective tweaked it further to our own tastes. And yours.

Mix a teaspoon in to your next Bloody Mary. Nestle a mound beside fluffy scrambled eggs. Reward a slice of cheese toast with Green Tomato and Horseradish Chutney’s rich piquancy. The Collective is mixing with equal parts mayonnaise (for shrimp cocktail and remoulade sauces) and dipping (almost) everything in it. Truly a taste of the Summer season and indispensable to potato pancakes, braised pork belly, grilled lamb chops . . . shall we go on?

Punjab Corn Relish

Equal parts the brightly colored dinnertime relish we remember from our Southern childhood and bold, new venture into Eastern exotica, our Punjab Corn Relish combines the familiar (fresh corn scraped from the cobs, peppers, onions, vinegar and brown sugar) with the less ordinary (mined green cayenne peppers, toasted cumin seeds and fennel). At home and playing nicely with a typical meat and potatoes meal or brightening Indian takeout fare, The Collective is betting this relish will be a hit from Des Moines to Delhi.

The Return of Fiery Carrot Chutney

Plucked from the fertile fields of Orange County, NY Friday afternoon and grated, spiced and bottled fresh Saturday morning by the hardworking Collective, these sweet and tender carrots received the Royal Treatment fit for any Raj. Perhaps more of a hyper-flavorful slaw than a traditional Western chutney, our Fiery Carrot Chutney with Nigella Seeds works equally well with traditional South Indian standards such as dosai and uttapams AND more commonplace burgers, hotdogs and tossed salads.

Our friend Jennifer drops the carrot chutney in turkey and avocado wraps or serves a tablespoon alongside dinner plates of fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits. Our upstairs neighbor taught us the joys of replacing red cabbage with carrot chutney on fish tacos and one creative customer shared her "secret" of dotting deviled eggs with the spicy stuff.

As with many of our products, a Little Goes a Long Way so we're certain you'll find countless uses for our Fiery Carrot Chutney and beseech you to share your innovations.

(Above photo courtesy of Eating in Translation. Thanks, guys!)

Chutney Tasting in Ft. Greene!!

Saturday July 17, 2010
12-3PM
General Greene Grocery
229 DeKalb Avenue (at Clermont Avenue)
Ft. Greene, Brooklyn
718/222-1510

Chutney and Cheese Tasting Event This Friday!

The DP Chutney Collective will be sampling our condiments paired with gourmet, handmade cheeses from the Hudson Valley's Sprout Creek Farm this Friday (July 9, 2010) at Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain from 3-6PM. We're super excited about this collaboration and many thanks to Nelle G. of Farmacy for organizing! See you there.

Cheese and Chutney Tasting
July 9, 2010
3-6PM
Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain
513 Henry Street
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn NY

The DP Chutney Collective Agrees with Paper Magazine

The erstwhile NY monthly magazine named Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain its "Restaurant of the Week". Go cool off with a handmade artisanal soda or strawberry sundae and grab a jar of chutney on your way out!

Palm Springs Salad with Date Dressing

Indispensable to cheese plates and platters, The Collective's Date From Hell Chutney has been appearing all over backyard BBQ buffets as well lately, with customers extolling its virtues enhancing grilled pork chops and tenderloins. Another great warm weather application is in the recipe The Collective developed below when the heat and humidity had our lagging appetites desperate for a cool and refreshing main course.


PALM SPRINGS SALAD WITH DATE DRESSING


Begin by making the dressing. In a large bowl combine the following and mix very well:

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons Date From Hell Chutney
• 2 t. grated orange peel
• 1 T. chopped mint leaves

Now arrange on chilled plates or in a large bowl or platter:

• 1 pineapple, sliced into spears or wedges
• 2 large oranges, peeled and sliced (if necessary, remove seeds)
• 2 sliced kiwi fruits (peeled of course)
• 1 red onion, peeled and sliced into very thin rings

Toss 2 sliced or chopped boneless, skinless chicken breasts with the dressing above.

Place dressed chicken on top of fruit and drizzle with extra dressing as desired. Sprinkle lightly with salt and black pepper and serve to your very own desert Rat Pack.

DP Chutney Collective Sighs With Relief at Respite for NYC Libraries

From the official NYPL website/email newsletter came the resoundingly happy message in The DP Chutney Collective's Inbox (copied as below). Thanks to all who rallied and shouted support for our hometown of New York City's vital library system!! Seems The Collective's (stage frightened) reading during the nation's largest library protest may have helped in some small way. But the true gratitude is for our Brooklyn neighbors who proved that even during a national economic disaster your hearts (and shrinking wallets) remain in the right place.

"You spoke out loud and clear against a crippling $37 million proposed City budget cut -- and your voices were heard by Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council, who restored enough service to keep libraries open at least five days a week.

We'd like to thank the Mayor, the City Council, and the 130,000 New Yorkers and others who wrote letters, donated, and demonstrated their belief that libraries are not luxuries."