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Try my losing Spam recipe
Topics: SPAM, cooking, recipe, chutney, Kern County Fair
Posted by jbaldwin Wed Nov 30, -0001 00:00:00 PST
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After five years of saying I would, I finally entered the Spam cooking contest in the Kern County Fair this year. I lost. Big time. In fact, one of the judges seemed to grimace as she took a bite of my dish. After the contest, she asked me which entry was mine.

"I'm not saying! You wrinkled your face when you took a bite!" I said.

"No, no, no. I liked all the entries," she said with a smile that won me over.

"OK, mine was the Spam bites with pineapple-mango chutney," I said, sheepishly.

"Oh! That one was interesting!" she said.

Interesting is better than gross, so I'll take it. I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of Spam. But I sure did come up with a great chutney recipe to go with it. So even if you forego the Spam, make this chutney at home for any type of meat or Indian dish. I promise you'll like it!

Grilled Spam bites with pineapple-mango chutney

Ingredients:

2 12-oz. cans Spam Lite
2 fresh mangos, diced
4 oz crushed pineapple with juice
1/4 red onion, minced
1/4 cup raisins
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 jalapeño, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 bunch fresh cilantro

Make a paste by combining in a food processor the jalapeño, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon and olive oil. In a medium saucepan, cook the paste, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.

In a bowl, combine mango, pineapple with juice, red onion, raisins, brown sugar and cider vinegar. Stir mango mixture into the saucepan with the paste and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until all the chunks break down and the mixture thickens, about 30 minutes.

Slice Spam into 1/2" steaks and grill over an indoor or outdoor grill. Remove Spam to a cookie sheet and cut each steak into four bit-sized squares. Spoon chutney onto the Spam squares and garnish each with a cilantro leaf.

Makes: About 40 appetizers. Note: Leftover chutney can be chilled up to one month.

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