Wednesday 25 November 2015

Making Chutney for Christmas presents


First of all, my lovely sparkly lights bought with Christmas in mind.  I decided to have them on tonight (they run off batteries) to give a bit of atmosphere as I was making the first of the Christmas gift preserves, some River Cottage Hearty Ale Chutney  On the camera, before I downloaded this photo, it looked for all the world like I had captured a spooky ghost behind the lights, but of course it is just glare from them - although in a subsequent photo that didn't show at all . . .


This is the recipe from the River Cottage Preserves book (Pam Corbin's lovely recipes).  I hope you can read it clearly, if not shout out and I will type it up.  It was actually quite a clever recipe as it used 150g of tomato puree, which is of course a thickener and really helped to thicken this up whilst it was being cooked, besides adding flavour and colour to the mixture.  I used apples from the garden, my own home grown garlic, and the rest of the swede is now chopped, blanched and in the freezer for Christmas as G likes it - you know, the really fussy daughter . . . .


Basic ingredients all in there, chopped up and sprinkled.  Then came the vinegar.


Then a few good stirs to thoroughly combine the ingredients and a slow start so you can dissolve the sugar properly.


Simmering nicely,


Nearly finished - a little faster temperature at the end to evaporate the last of the beer (I used a bottle of Newcastle Brown which had come from my friend Annie's - she was teetotal).


Here's the end result.  A lovely reddy-brown colour from the tomato puree.  Where possible I always use new lids (got from Lakeland I think) but some jars are a non-standard size so just have to have their own lid - scalded and heated - back on.

Tomorrow it's jam making and some Persimmon Curd.  I'm looking forward to trying that.

15 comments:

  1. Looks lovely Bovey. I have had my eye on that recipe for a while. Persimmon curd sounds lush. Let us know what it comes up like. Your photo is very interesting and I like the lights xx

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  2. Persimmon curd! Aha - I've got a whole tree full of the things!

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  3. Thank you for your comments on my yesterday and todays post. I wrote a reply on there and am looking forward to finding out about Persimmons

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  4. Hubble bubble boil and ................ its looks very tasty what you were cooking up in your cauldron, love the little lights very atmospheric :-)

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  5. There are lots of Persimmons in the shops now, I have never used them in a preserve, perhaps I should.

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  6. My kitchen still smells of chutney, but NOT the very vinegary sort of chutney smell I usually get as not too much vinegar used in this recipe.

    Pam - they're pleasant to eat and have lots of Vitamin C. Worth trying them as a preserve.

    Dawn - I felt very witch-like - just needed that conical old Welsh hat!

    Sue - put another reply up. Will report back tomorrow.

    Vintage Maison - hello again. I think you should put your Persimmons to good use then!

    Pattypan - there we are, tried and tested now. I'll let you know how it tastes in a couple of months' time.

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  7. This looks so good. I love all kinds of chutney.

    cheers, parsnip

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  8. I have to admit parsnip, I'm not mad on it so just make it to give away, and only use Mango Chutney (home made) in my curries.

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  9. BB, chutney looks fab. I use a tweaked recipe of my mums for chutney. I am with you on the lights, too. I have some up on my baking shelf but they need batteries. I told a new friend the other day that I decorate my kitchen at Christmas, she laughed, it is the first room I do as I love spending time in their making all the yumminess for the festivities! I love nothing more than a bit of atmosphere and I normally have my xmas CD on, a pot of cranberries, cinammon, orange on the back of the stove whilst doing my doings. Eeeek, I love getting ready for Christmas.x

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  10. By the look of the chutney I wish I was on your present list!

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  11. Louise - we always decorate the kitchen. I spend a lot of time in there and love to have it feeling Christmassy.

    Pat - that could be arranged if I could work out a way of packing it so it doesn't smash in the post. I'll get my thinking hat on!

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  12. The chutney looks delicious - such a gorgeous colour :) Made my Christmas Puddings yesterday - Christmas cake and mincement next! Sometimes I think I enjoy the Christmas preparations more than the event itself!

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  13. Hi RR. I did my mincemeat back in September I think it was, using windfall apples from our trees. It smells amazing when I take the cork out of the (earthenware) jar. I would love to get back to making my own C/Pudding again but I am the only one who likes it and it's fattening, so . . .

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  14. Skipping the delicious looking food completely, you've made me want to go up into the loft and get the Christmas lights down!

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  15. Suzie - well that has to be seen as a positive!

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