Chicken with Mango Chutney Sauce

If I think about the way we most often eat chicken, it's simply oven-roasted and served with mango chutney and plain rice or Spanish rice. There's just something wonderful about the way the sweet and sour chutney balances the savory chicken. If you don't have mango chutney on hand, you can easily make your own chutney-based sauce with a couple mangos, onions, ginger, spices, and some sugar and vinegar. An easy mid-week meal.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs chicken thighs, bone in, skin on, trimmed of excess fat
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

• 2 ripe but firm mangos, cut and peeled, cubed into 1/2-inch cubes
• Olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup chopped onion)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 Tbsp chopped candied ginger (or fresh ginger)
• 2 Tbsp chopped raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• Scant pinch of red pepper flakes
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp white vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt to taste

METHOD

1 Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the chopped mango, ginger, raisins, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, vinegar, water, and sugar. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover the pan, and let cook gently for 30 minutes.

2 While the chutney is cooking, cook the chicken. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in the middle position. Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil. Rinse the chicken thighs in water, pat dry. Rub some olive oil all over the chicken pieces, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place chicken pieces in roasting pan. Cook in oven until the juices run clear when poked with a sharp knife, or when the internal temperature of the thighs is 180°F, about 30 minutes. If the chicken pieces are not browned enough for you, you can finish them in the broiler for the last 5 minutes of cooking. If your chicken pieces are extra large, after 30 minutes, lower the heat to 350°F and cook until the chicken pieces are cooked through. Remove chicken and roasting pan from oven.

3 Remove chicken pieces from roasting pan. Pour off rendered chicken fat, save for a teaspoon or so. (Do not pour down the drain or it will solidify and block your drain). Put mango sauce into the roasting pan with remaining chicken drippings. Spread the sauce over the whole bottom of the pan. Let sit for a few minutes to soften the drippings, then scoop up and place into a serving dish. Adjust seasonings. If too acidic, add more sugar. Add salt to taste.

Serve chicken with mango chutney sauce and steamed rice orSpanish rice.

Serves 4.

Apple and Sausage Pie

With apple season in full swing, and cooler weather on the way, here's a casserole pie that combines sweet Italian sausage with Granny Smith apples, and a mix of cheeses. Our neighbor Pat (the wonderful neighbor who has been teaching me all about organic gardening) brought over this delicious casserole for a block party recently. What a hit!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 basic pie dough recipe, rolled out and lining a 9 or 10-inch pie dish, or 8x8 baking dish, chilled (or one frozen pie crust)
• 2 large tart Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped (about half a cup)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage (bulk, or removed from casings)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 cups shredded fontina, provalone, and or asiago cheese
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Line the inside of a pie shell with heavy aluminum foil, pressing the dough against the side. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove foil, poke the bottom of the pie crust with the tines of a fork to create air vents. Return crust to oven, bake for an additional 4 minutes, or until the crust just begins to brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

2 Melt butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the apples, onions, and sugar, cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. In the last 30 seconds or so, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Transfer mixture to a separate bowl. Increase the heat to medium high and in the same skillet add the Italian sausage. Cook, stirring only infrequently, until sausage is browned on all sides and is cooked through. Remove from heat. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon to a dish lined with paper towels to absorb the excess fat.

3 In medium sized bowl, mix together the cheeses and beaten eggs.

4 Place sausage on bottom of pre-baked pie crust. Add the cooked apple onion mixture over the sausage. Pour the cheese egg mixture over the apple mixture and spread it so it evenly covers the pie.

5 Bake at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8.