Plum and Apple chutney

I'm getting rather into this preserving chutney making, there's something so oldy worldly about it that it makes me feel very comforted by it. This recipe took a while to prep but on a Saturday afternoon when the weather is a little to wet and nippy, and you have plenty if tea and good company to keep to going, its perfect to just close yourself away for a few hours. I don't have as much time as i'd really like to really spend making things, i think that's something i might have to add my news year resolutions. I've already got two on there, another can't be so bad.


So here we go - 

Recipe for Spicy Plum and Apple Chutney, now on the recipe say it will fill 4-5 jars well, i took 4 190ml thinking that would  be enough- oh how wrong was I! in total it made up 9!! 2 200ml jars and  3 250ml jars! plenty to go around if like me you're making these for Yule/Winter Solstice/Christmas.


Ingredients

• 1 garlic bulb
• thumb-size piece fresh root ginger
• 2 large onions
• 1kg Bramley apples
• 3 star anise
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 500ml bottle cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1kg plums
• 450g golden caster sugar
  
  

  Method

• Start by getting the ingredients ready. Peel the garlic cloves and cut them into slivers. Peel and thinly shred the ginger. Halve, peel and thinly slice the onions, then put them in a large, wide saucepan or a preserving pan with the garlic and ginger. Peel, core and chop the apples, then add to the pan with the spices, vinegar and salt.
• Bring the pan to the boil over a gentle heat, give everything a good stir, then turn down the heat and cover the pan (if you don't have a lid use foil). Simmer for 30 mins until the apples are cooked and pulpy.
• While the apples are simmering, stone and quarter the plums, then add them to the cooked apples with the sugar. Stir well and leave to bubble away, this time uncovered, for another 40 mins stirring regularly until the plums are cooked but still retain some of their shape. Ladle into the sterilised jars, seal and label. This chutney is best kept for about a month before eating as the vinegar needs a bit of time to mellow. If you don't want the flavour of the spices to develop any more, then take out the cinnamon and star anise before potting. It will keep for 1 year in a cool place but once opened store in the fridge and use within a month.

Fingers crossed the family like my efforts, still to be made -  Red Onion Chutney and Beetroot and Orange Chutney.

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