Dried Fruits to Sweeten Cold Winter Meals

About author / Amy Powell

World traveler; gourmet 30 minute meals; lover of exotic ingredients; winner on FoodTV's Chefs vs City; graduate French Culinary Institute. Her recipes will tantalize your taste buds.

Late January is just far enough removed from autumn apples and summer berries to give one a hankering for something fruity and delicious. Just in time, citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruit begin their harvest. Unfortunately, due to the harsh winter that Florida has endured these past few weeks, the outlook for this year’s citrus crop is not looking so good. California might be able to step in to pick up some of the shortage, but unless you are willing to fork over more dough than usual, fresh seasonal fruits might be a little hard to come by this winter.

When winter has wreaked havoc on fresh fruit, there is always the option of a pantry full of dried fruit at the ready to satisfy a sweet fix during these hard winter months. Summer’s berries taste best right out of the basket but turn to jam with little more than the most delicate of cooking. Stone fruits have the integrity to withstand a little more heat in the kitchen, but a touch too much will quickly turn a peach to a pile of mush. Apples take well to extended cooking times but they too will become applesauce if left to simmer too long. Whether eaten on its own or cooked to death, dried fruit can withstand everything from cold winters to careless cooks.

When the days get shorter and meals get heartier, dried fruit is just the thing to fill that fruit need when the fresh, seasonal variety has gone into hibernation. From apples and pears to papayas and mangoes, nearly every fruit is suitable for drying. Back in my early childhood, to get dried fruit one either had to live near to a hippie natural foods store or endure the arduous task of working a dehydrator in one’s own home. I do remember us owning a dehydrator growing up (a nod to my mother’s sometimes hippie cooking habits) but outside of some apple slices and banana chips, I think that dehydrator did more work collecting dust than it did drying food.

Lucky for us, even the average supermarket has moved beyond the limits of raisins and prunes to incorporate whole sections devoted to dried fruit. Dried cranberries, once too tart for eating on their own, now come naturally sweetened to eat alone or tossed into salads or rehydrated and mixed into rice pilafs. Immigrant communities have increased demand for dried tropical fruits so much that these days one can find everything from chili dried mangoes to candy-like papaya spears.

Dried fruit as a cooking ingredient and not just a snack really makes sense this time of year in the context of Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine. Dates, apricots, and figs have long been a part of Middle Eastern cooking, most frequently in their dried form. Figs are stewed with lamb and served over couscous in a tagine. Dates are a luxurious treat that marry as well with wild game birds such as quail as they do with a humble roast chicken. Dried apricots are cooked down into glazes, chopped and added to stuffing for pork roast, or braised alongside long-cooking meats like short ribs.

Indian cuisine also makes frequent use of dried fruit, from coconuts to raisins to currants. One of the easiest dishes to borrow from Indian cooking that uses dried fruit is chutney. Chutnies are served as tart-sweet-tangy accompaniments to roasted and grilled meats, as well as for punching up the flavor in vegetarian fare. Dried fruit chutney might use a combination of fruits, such as figs and dates, along with garlic and sometimes onion. The dried fruits and vegetables are stewed with a bit of sugar, spices such as ginger, clove and cinnamon, a healthy amount of vinegar (red or white wine) and water. This mixture generally simmers for about 20 minutes until it forms a jam-like consistency. Chutney will keep for a while refrigerated in an airtight container, waiting to dollop on pork chops, spread on pita sandwiches, or eat right out of the jar.

Before breaking the bank for small taste of the sunshine that fruit brings to our diet, remember there is now shelf upon shelf of dried fruit waiting to brighten up a meal. This frost may have robbed grocery stores of much of their winter citrus offerings, but a little sweetness can always be had--be it golden raisins in a couscous side, apricots in a stuffing, or a fig and date chutney adding a punch of flavor and just the right amount of sweet alongside many of winters heartier meats.

Serves/Makes: 4

***Date and Fig Chutney***

• 4 ounces dried figs
• 4 ounces dates
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/3 cup sherry vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

***Lamb Skewers***

• 1 1/2 pound ground lamb
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper