I usually throw out the watermelon rind like any other normal person, but I decided to save it last week and see what I could make out of it. I decided to try this watermelon rind chutney recipe from Epicurious with a some slight modifications using what I had in the house. The chutney turned out great and we've been enjoying it all week. It's got a little bit of warm heat to it, but it's not too hot. A little cream cheese with the chutney will temper the heat a tiny bit to take the edge off.
Ingredients:
- Diced watermelon rind from 1 small watermelon. Should yield about 6 cups of diced white watermolon rind.
- 1.5 cups cider vinegar
- 1.5 cups water
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cups grated fresh ginger (I keep a frozen nob in the freezer and use a microplane)
- 1 tablespoon Siracha
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flake (the kind you put on pizza)
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1.5 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed
Feel free to mess around with the proportions on the peppers / hot chili paste /fresh pepper ratio. I didn't want to go out on a rainy day to buy fresh peppers so I just raided my fridge.The ratio I used was pleasantly hot so be cautious when adding any more heat.
Instructions:
- Dice up white watermelon flesh only. Remove any green peel or pink watermelon fruit
- Boil rind an all the other ingredients in a heavy pot over moderate heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved
- Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 60-80 minutes until rind is tenter and translucent and you can create a little valley when you scrape the the bottom of the pot. It should be kinda jammy rather than liquidy. Keep simmering and reducing until it's jammy enough
- Cool, store in a jar and let flavors mellow and meld for a day
- Enjoy! Delicious with cream cheese on crackers.
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