Recipe: Okanagan Apricot Chutney

Okanagan Apricot Chutney from Bobbie Burgers

Ingredients
3 cups chopped fresh apricots
1½ cups cider vinegar
1 white onion, finely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper

In large saucepan or small pot, combine apricots, vinegar, onion, sugars, garlic and ginger and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cook for 30 minutes, then add cilantro, mustard seeds, cumin, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cook until thick enough to mound on a spoon.

We don’t properly can ours, but in nice jam jars it keeps for several weeks in the fridge, and it freezes well. Serve with cheeses, prawns or seared venison. Makes about 4 cups.

For Venison

We buy our venison from a local abattoir. A nice tenderloin is best kept as simple as possible: sprinkle with salt and pepper and leave it to come to room temperature. Quickly grill it over cherrywood coals, just enough to sear it—venison is lean, so it can dry out very quickly. It’s also fabulous pan-fried in butter. Let it rest, then slice thinly and serve with steamed-then-roasted baby carrots and a side of apricot chutney (and a glass of something special from our friends at Culmina winery, of course).

Recipes by Bobbie Burgers
Photographs by Evaan Kheraj