Nov 6th, 2008
Apple & Plum Chutney
I seem to have a small obsession with pickling at the moment. A neighbour gave me a bagful of windfall Apples so I had to find a recipe that required a load of Apples, and fast. A quick flick through my recipe books and I found this Apple & Plum Chutney - with the usual adjustment for Raisin haters.
Apple & Plum Chutney
Ingredients:
900g Plums
900g Apples
75g Craisins (Dried Cranberries)
450g Brown Caster Sugar
570ml Cider Vinegar
450g Shallots (chopped)
2 teaspoons salt
quarter of a knuckle of fresh Ginger
1 teaspoon Cloves (ground)
1 teaspoon Allspice
1 teaspoon Ground Pepper
Method:
Stone the Plums and peel the Apples. Chop into small cubes. Place in a pan with the cider vinegar, Shallots, Craisins, salt and spices, ginger, salt and pepper.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer until the mixture has reduced to a thick, gloopy consistency. Mine took a few hours on a low heat.
Boil the jars and bottle. Then process (boil the full jar) for 30 mins. This recipe made four large, snap-shut jars.
Sounds good Gill, am looking for a good chutney recipe for christmas : )
Love those jars. I’m hoping to move from old american jars (my grandma’s and mom’s) over to the Weck ones from Germany. I have a few French ones like yours. Love them.
Another good recipe when you have lots of spare apples is tomato & apple jam. It’s surprisingly lovely. BTW you can buy similar jars from Dunelm Mills, I did.
I know what you mean about pickling this time of year! I just can’t stop wanting to preserve things! I just made some spiced Christmas apple chutney.
Hello,
I don’t post many comments, but I love the blog. I’m just starting to get into gardening and have started a blog about it - http://www.slcveggies.blogspot.com I’ve added you to my blog list, and would appreciate if you would do the same for me, if you don’t mind linking to blogs on this side of the pond. I can always use suggestions on how better to do things.
Cheers,
Nate
i like ,it usefull receipt
I enjoy your blog and as a fellow gardener like the tips I get from you. We’ve had and still got tons of apples this year and they’re really good as well, sometimes a big harvest seems to compromise the quality of the fruit. this seems like a good idea (along with storing them wrapped in paper and freezing them for baking) for making sure they don’t go to waste.
Hi Gill, This is my first time over at your blog and I think I will be coming by regularly now.
I have linked to your apple and plum and green tomato chutneys for my next post on making preserves as Christmas/Winter Solstice gifts. It will be up on Tuesday. Hope that’s ok!
Holler
tinnedtomatoes@googlemail.com
You mention raisin haters. I think whole raisins in chutney are horrible so always mince or chop them (by hand or in a food processor) before adding them. That way you get the sweetness of the dried fruits distributed throughout and it improves the texture.
This sounds lovely but, I’m not sure what you mean by process. Do you mean that you pot and seal the chutney and then put the whole pot into boiling water for 30 mins?
(Sorry if this sounds a bit stupid!)
Hope you don’t mind me commenting on the last comment…….
The process of boiling the whole jar is called bottling or canning, and is the same sort of process that is done when produce is put into tin cans.
It differs from the usual (at least in the UK) method of preserving in that chutneys, pickles and jams rely on the addition of sugar, salt or vinegar to the food, producing an environment unappealing to microorganisms.
When bottling or canning the food is put into a sealed jar/can and then heated up to a temperature that (hopefully) kills all microorganisms within the jar. This means that the food doesn’t necessarily need the addition of lots of sugar, salt or vinegar, and so retain more of the original taste. It’s much more widely practiced in the USA.
You do have to use special jars that can withstand the heat - for example Kilner jars. (Unfortunate fact - the Kilner jar was invented by one of Jeremy Clarkson’s ancestors)
More information here http://www.allotment.org.uk/allotment_foods/bottling-canning/index.php
only just found you recipe for plum chutney (unfortunatley) but the chutney I made tastes way to much of vinegar is there anything I can do to rectify this.I will use your recipes in future for definate!!!!!
Hi,
Just found this recipe and your note that you need to boil the jars. Can you only use clip top or screw top kilner jars or could I use the jam jars I have been saving all year? Has any one else tried recycling old jam jars, is the worry that they will not cope with the heat, I suppose I could put something in the bottom of the pan for them to sit on …………..
Would appreciate any feed back :0)
Thanks in anticipation.
I only ever use old jam jars etc., but have never tried to boil them up. What i do is super clean them in very hot sudsy water, rinse and sterilise by placing in a hot oven upside down on the oven racks for about 10 minutes and then put heated chutney in and seal. I have not yet had any breakages.