Delicious Blueberry Chutney

Blueberry Chutney on chicken breast with honey mustard

With summer in full swing, you’ve probably noticed a lot of blueberries at the Farmers’ Markets. Few things really epitomize the flavor of summer like fresh blueberries. They go great in your favorite cereal or ice cream, or just by themselves! One of my favorite things to do with them, however, is to turn them into a sweet and savory chutney sauce for pork or chicken.

This combination of sweet and savory works really great if done properly. The good news is that it’s pretty simple. In addition to having this chutney with meat, one could also use it with a fromage platter. Now, I am definitely no sommelier and I know that port is traditionally a desert wine, but I have found that the cheese of Brazos Valley Cheese pairs beautifully with the Dry Comal Creek port that we use in this recipe. Most notably, the Italian black truffle cheddar really does nice with it.

We find it fitting for our inaugural recipe to make a sauce that is simple, versatile, seasonal, and oh so delicious.

Now that you have a few ideas, on to the chutney! You’ll need the following:

1 cup blueberries (whole)

¼ raw sugar

2 tbsp. raw honey

2 cloves garlic

¼ large red onion (should yield about ½ cup when chopped)

                It is optional, and delicious, to substitute 2 medium shallots for the onion; in fact, it is my preferred method

2 tbsp. butter

¼ cup sherry vinegar

¼ cup port

Salt/pepper

Optional – rosemary and oregano to taste

Blueberry Chutney with a cheese assortment

First, mince up your onion (or shallots) very fine. Ideally, they should mostly cook away and you’ll be left with just their flavor. Now crush the garlic. No need to chop this, just crush it enough to break it up a little bit. You can do this by laying your knife flat over the clove, then smashing it with your hand. It goes without saying to be incredibly careful not to cut yourself.

Next, heat up a large sauce pan over medium heat. Melt one of your tablespoons of butter in the pan. Once the butter is melted and hot, add your onion/garlic to the pan and let it cook for a few minutes. We’re not trying to caramelize the onions, but rather “sweat” them. They should go from white to almost clear.

While the onions are cooking, in a mixing bowl combine your other ingredients, minus the honey and other tablespoon of butter. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Once the onions are properly sweated, add the bowl of berries and ingredients to the pan. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir in the honey and reduce the heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Essentially, we’re trying to get the berries to release their precious juices and then reduce the water out of them to concentrate the flavor. Once the 20 or so minutes have passed, gently stir in the last tablespoon of butter.

Now all you have to do is decide how you want to enjoy this delicious concoction. To expand on the fun, you could try adding mint leaves or replacing the blueberries with blackberries or even raspberries if you were so inclined. Plus, blueberries (and other berries) are pretty easy to freeze, so save your extra berries and you could enjoy this chutney in the winter time as well!

We used the following local vendors for this recipe:
La Esperanza Farms (blueberries)
Brazos Valley Cheese
Texas Honeybee Guild