Recipe: Apple and Brazil Nut Chutney

Phew, at last- my final batch of apple based chutney of the year! At the moment i am just drowning in jars of preserves and i really honestly need to stop making things! The only thing i've got left to make is a couple of batches of chilli jam, and then I'm done. I've definitely stored up enough stuff this year to not even have to bother making anything next year actually, which is a good thing because i'm sure by February-time i'll be up to my ears in my degree work/revision. This chutney is a festive tasting, very sweet chutney. I would say interestingly that this chutney would go best with meats such as duck and pheasant, due to it's orange flavour and it's sweetness.

Apple and Brazil Nut Chutney

6 small white onions, thinly sliced
950g peeled diced apples
200g Brazil nuts, diced
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp allspice
Zest and Juice of 1 Orange
400ml cider vinegar
450g sugar

1. Place all the ingredients into a large saucepan, put on a high heat, and cook covered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove the lid and cook for a further 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take off the heat and allow to settle for 10 minutes, then transfer to jars. Allow to cool, and then seal with the lids.

Recipe: Apple and Cranberry Chutney

I'm so pleased with how this chutney turned out- not sure whether it really shows up in the photo i took, but the jars look really beautiful. The deep red colour looks really attractive, and i think these will make perfect Christmas gifts. This chutney would work very well at Christmas dinner actually, now that i think of it- the apples are good if you're eating roast pork, and the cranberries of course are the classic accompaniment to roast turkey! On the cheeseboard too, I think this chutney would go really well with wensleydale- cranberries and wensleydale go really well together, infact you can buy the cheese with cranberries already in it from the supermarkets. Almost finished with the preserving this year though, I am drowning in various jars of things now- I need to give it a rest soon!!

Apple and Cranberry Chutney

900g peeled diced apples
300ml red wine vinegar
2 large white onions, finely diced
300g dried cranberries
400g sugar
20g crushed ginger

1. Put all ingredients in a large pan, on a high heat, covered, for 15 minutes.
2. Lower the heats, remove the lid, and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally (but not too much- you don’t want to break down the chunks of apple completely).
3. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then pot and seal. Wait for two weeks and serve!

Recipe: Apple and Sage Chutney

I realised that this food blog has started to become a bit of a preserving/jamming blog these days! It's always the way though, I would say that August through to November is the time when people get all their jam jars out and have a go at turning their homegrown/home gathered produce into things that will keep for the rest of the year. The good news is that certainly for the next month, I will be getting a nice steady stream of scrumptious apples, courtesy of my friend Ralph who has a shared garden full of fruit trees. It's a regular oasis, ralph's garden, with damsons, plums, pears, apples and blackberries- I must admit i'm a little bit jealous! Anyway, the more apples he gives me, the more jars of apple chutneys/preserves he'll be getting back- I think thats a fair deal! With most, if not all, apple based chutneys, you should avoid heavy stirring, because it's nice to try and keep chunks of apple in the chutney, rather than it all mushing down.

Apple and Sage Chutney (makes 2kg)

1.8kg cooking apples (unpeeled/uncored weight), peeled and diced
2 large white onions, finely diced
20g fresh sage, finely chopped
120g sultanas
550g sugar
170ml red wine vinegar
230ml cider vinegar
50ml Worchester sauce

1. Put all the ingredients into a large pan, covered, and cook on a high heat for 5 minutes.
2. Uncover (by this time the mixture should be boiling), and cook on a medium heat for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, but gently (to try and stop the apple pieces from “mushing up” too much).
3. Allow to settle for 10 minutes, pot, and seal!