First Aid for Dull Food

Every home kitchen needs an emergency first-aid chest that has chutney, relish, mustard pickles, a green salsa and a good tomato sauce, just waiting to save the day when you have only dull leftovers and need to produce a nice supper on the spot.

The idea is not only smart, it’s part of our heritage. Early American home cooks understood that every scrap of food was needed for the family. The Pennsylvania Dutch community, for instance, had the wonderful custom of serving “sweets and sours” with every meal. This was an array of pickles, fruit butters, vegetable chow chows, jams, jellies and relishes. Those small extras gave the tired leftovers a new taste.

My own pantry extras helped out with dinner the other night. I had about 1 1/2 cups each of leftover chicken and rice, and they looked drab. I thought a good lively chutney would give them a fresh new taste, but I didn’t have any chutney.

I did have a partly used jar of apricot jam. As I reheated the chicken and rice, I dumped the apricot jam into a small saucepan and heated it slowly, stirring until it had melted and was sauce-like. Then I grated in some fresh ginger (I like to keep ginger root on hand--it lasts a long time and is a great addition to many dishes). I also threw in chopped onions, half a cup of raisins, some lemon juice and a good pinch of ground cloves.

You would be surprised at how much that on-the-spot chutney improved the chicken and rice. One tip: When you’re improvising, always add ingredients in small amounts and taste constantly until you like the result.

Applesauce Chutney

Active Work Time: 10 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 25 minutes * Nonfat

After making the apricot jam into a chutney, I decided to make a couple of jars of apple chutney with apples I had on hand. The following recipe is quick and easy, and if preserving sounds intimidating, just cook it and put it into a jar with a snug lid and freeze until needed.

6 cups peeled and chopped apples

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup finely chopped ginger root

1 cup white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon clove

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar

Wash 2 (1-pint) jars with lids or 4 (1/2-half-pint) jars with lids thoroughly, then set aside.

Cook apples, raisins, ginger and sugar in large saucepan over medium-low heat until mixture comes to boil, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring every few minutes, until apples are soft enough to mash easily with fork, 10 to 15 minutes. Mash and stir chutney until almost smooth. (add allspice, clove and cinnamon now or earlier? kg) Don’t worry about little lumps as long as apple is soft.

Fill jars, leaving about 1/2 inch of head space in each jar. Put lids on snugly, and either refrigerate chutney for use within 1 or 2 weeks, or freeze until needed.

4 cups. Each 2 tablespoons: 6 calories; 1 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.19 gram fiber.

Green Sauce

Active Work Time: Total Preparation Time:

(note missing times in line above. kg)

This is a good all-purpose sauce. Put a little on cottage cheese, potatoes or cold meats. Or thin it down with olive oil and use it on salads as a vinaigrette.

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons prepared horseradish

2 cloves garlic

1/3 cup chopped parsley

2 green onions

Mix olive oil, water, vinegar, salt and pepper in food processor and process until well blended (or stir vigorously by hand). Add mustard, horseradish, garlic, parsley and green onions and process to rough puree. Store in airtight jar in refrigerator.

1 cup. Each 2 tablespoons: 123 calories; 165 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 14 grams fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.07 gram fiber.