Sunday, October 21, 2007

Ruth’s Mom’s Apple Chutney




2lb apples
1/2lb each of pears, tomatoes, and onions
1/2 tsp each of mace, cayenne pepper, pepper, cloves, white pepper, and ground ginger
1/4lb raisins
1/4lb sultanas
2 pints of vinegar
1 tsp salt
2lbs sugar

Chop up fruit very finely.
Add all ingredients except the sugar to a pot and simmer for 2 hours.
Add sugar till completely dissolved, and boil rapidly till the desired consistency.

I got this recipe from my friend Ruth. She made a batch right before I did, and warned me that hers came out a little liquidy, so I took that into account while cooking it. I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to do, but after the sugar was all dissolved I let it boil and reduce down with no lid for about 30-45 min. It worked like a charm, the chutney came out nice and thick and has a really beautiful flavor.

This makes a big batch, I used about 4 canning jars to keep it all. Ruth gave me a tip about sealing the jars too. She said that when her mom used to make this she would use lard to seal the jars. You melt it down to a liquid, fill the sterilized jars with the chutney, and then pour on a layer of lard, which will harden into an air tight seal (you put a lid on too obviously). From what I understand, jars sealed this way can last years. I was told that Trex would work too, though it won't harden quite as much, but that’s what I had in the house, so that’s what I used.

This was a really fun process, and the chutney is great! If you are reading this Ruth, Thank you!

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