The Gothamist Approves of The Brooklyneer Dog

 from The Gothamist 17 November review of Brooklyneer :

(Brooklyneer // 220 West Houston Street (between 6th Avenue & Varick Street) // (646) 692-4911)

Broolyneer's angle is perhaps best symbolized by the Brooklyneer Dog, a bacon-cheeseburger sausage from The Meathook (Williamsburg), topped with DP Chutney Collective’s (Greenpoint) Sweet Tomato Chutney, My Friend’s Jalapeño IPA Mustard (Greenpoint) and a fresh-made relish from Brooklyn Brine’s (Gowanus) Whiskey Sour Pickles. If you lived nearby you wouldn't be all over that on the regular? YES, they have a cutesy, olde-timey illustration of Brooklyn on their menu. If this is a deal breaker for you, that's cool—more elbow room for us to grab a cocktail while monitoring the always volatile line situation outside Film Forum.

Not a Fry Baby, our dear friend Julianne Zaletta

Winter Spiced and Pickled Oranges

Don't save them just for stocking stuffers! Bedazzle a ham with these richly spiced and preserved orange slices or decorate a cheese platter, perhaps serve a bowl alongside  hot, buttered scones or chop finely with red onions for a Brazilian-style side salad, even add a few to stewing black beans, a vegetable tagine or rice pilaf . . . with a spice blend of cardamom, cloves, black pepper and bay leaves, our Winter Spiced Oranges go with just about anything and everything throughout the cold months.

Chutney is on the Menu at The Brooklyneer

Giving a shout out to Brooklyn in a big way, the just-launched bar and eatery The Brooklyneer is bringing a taste of New York's largest borough to Manhattan. With a menu offering a sampling of multiple culinary talents producing and living across the river, and created by Bouley and Manhattan Inn alumni chef Justin Farmer, The Brooklyneer seems poised for success. The DP Chutney Collective is honored to have our best-selling Sweet Tomato Chutney with Black Mustard Seeds on the menu, topping a Bacon Cheeseburger sausage from the whiz kid butchers over at The Meat Hook.

Introducing: Black Tea Pickled Dried Plums

Let's talk frankly for a quick minute. Marketing gurus, in an effort to thwart negative culinary-linguistic impulse reactions, have officially designated prunes as "dried plums". Which they actually are of course. Even mega-corporations such as SunSweet have adopted the new lingo, and somewhat guiltily, so has The DP Chutney Collective. We all know prunes - sorry, um, dried plums -  are delicious, sweet concentrations of deep plum flavor, and regardless of this year's moniker, these sun-dried fruits always pack a huge punch to the open minds of receptive taste buds.

So loving DRIED PLUMS as we do, The Collective imagined a sweet/sour/spicy interpretation akin to our chutneys, ketchups and relishes; hence our brand new Black Tea Pickled Dried Plums. Not anywhere close to an ordinary pickle,  best employ a pickled dried plum as you would any scene stealing culinary co-star: one or two atop a thick-cut pork or (preferably rare loin lamb) chop, stewed with braised chicken legs, wedged into a hearty club sandwich, nestled amongst sour cream and butter in a baked potato, or chopped and bejeweling a pasta puttanesca sauce.

These glossy, rich gems are created from the best quality dried plums, a house-made "syrup" of vinegar, black tea and cane sugar and then marinated with cloves, mace, toasted yellow mustard seeds and a plethora of complimentary spices. Did we mention how, with a hunk of sharp, aged cheddar and a whole grain baguette, you can make an entire meal of them? Proud Papa here, we don't want to excessively gush any longer, or mention their off-the-chart antioxidant levels . . .

Autumn's Perfect Fruit, Meet Winter's Beloved Spice

Maybe it's the spice association with festive Indian cuisine, or its omnipresence in Scandinavian  Yuletide sweets, whatever the reason cardamom just tastes like the Holidays to us here at The DP Chutney Collective. Now marry that seasonal flavor with autumn and winter's favorite fruit, the Pear, and you get our personal pick for Christmas and Chanukah, Pear Cardamom Chutney.

Slow simmered pears, brown sugar and cider vinegar are caught under the mistletoe with both white and green cardamom pods, fresh ginger and sweet and savory Upstate NY onions, and soon after packed and sealed in  jars and destined for pantries and fridges. Slather a latke for us, decorate a grilled cheese or crown a country ham in our name, but by all means sample our most fragrant and luscious winter's treat.

We Can't Wait for Thanksgiving

It's a shop-worn cliche to talk of the leftovers being the best thing about Thanksgiving, but still foodies relish the thrill of using up all that excess poultry The Day(s) After. This year make turkey salad with plenty of mayo and chopped onions and a tablespoon or three of The Collective's Cranberry and Green Chili Chutney, an excellent solution for that pesky white meat. We guarantee you won't be bored on Friday if you whip up a batch and spread it thick on slices of good sourdough bread. And we're not opposed to decking out said sandwiches with extra stuffing either - hey, the holiday weekend is meant for naps and midnight snacks.

And THEN . . . click here for a straightforward lesson on re-purposing that bird carcass.

If You're Headed Upstate . . . buy Chutneys and Cheese and Sausage!

When motoring around the gloriously beautiful Hudson Valley be sure to stop by both Poughkeepsie's Sprout Creek Farm (two minutes off the ultra-scenic Taconic Parkway) and Fleisher's Grass-Fed and Organic Meats in downtown Kingston's historic district. The former produces internationally award winning cheeses hand-made on site from sheep, cows and goats - read a bit more about them over at the Cafe Drake website. The latter is the Hudson Valley's premier butcher shop with flawless cuts of meat (and prepared foods!) from the hands of master butchers - The Collective loves hard their Winter Sausage crafted from lamb and chicken and the justifiably legendary individual pot pies. A wide array of chutneys and ketchups from The DP Chutney Collective can be found at both preeminent stores!