Inspired by Obsession

Chutney is marvelous. I'm mad about it. To me, it's very imperial.
- Diana Vreeland

I am obsessed with lip gloss. It is the one thing I simply cannot leave the house without. There are tubes and pots of it scattered throughout our house - at least two per room. I used to take it to meetings along with my notebook & pen.



I received this lip gloss last Christmas from my sister-in-law. She got me the set of three - cranberry, pear, and mint. They are magical - smooth, not sticky - and they smell divine.

As I sat looking at one of the tubes the other day, I had a thought - pear & cranberry chutney with mint! What better thing to draw inspiration from than one of my favorite things in the world?


We had friends over Saturday night, so I decided to make the chutney - and a pork tenderloin to serve with it. Oh, and am I glad - this pork was perfect, and the combination of tart cranberries, sweet pears, and fresh mint was a great match.

I marinated the pork for four hours in a mixture of olive oil, honey, chopped green onions, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, salt, pepper, sage, and rosemary. I roasted it for 25 minutes at 425 degrees, then reduced the heat to 375 and continued cooking it for another 20 minutes. I let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing it. It turned out succulent, with a crust on the edges.

For the chutney, I combined fresh cranberries and pears (peeled and chopped) with diced mint, sugar, and a bit of water and boiled it slowly until the fruit was tender and the mixture was thickened.

I served it with crisply steamed sugar snap peas tossed in garlic, sesame oil and sesame seeds, and sweet pearl onions simmered in garlic, salt, white pepper and cream - and we dove in.