Tag: fruit chutney

Gooseberry pickle

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Jars of home made gooseberry pickle | H is for Home

This year’s crop of gooseberries has been ever so slightly better than last year’s. We have a gooseberry bush in our back garden and another on our allotment, however both bushes seem to be afflicted by American gooseberry mildew. According to the RHS website, the fruit is still edible, each berry just needs to be given a good rubbing down and a wash – and the bushes need a good prune. It’s a good thing we didn’t have a bumper harvest then!

I went to my trusty vintage Cordon Bleu Preserving book to find some recipes that called for under-ripe (because, in all honesty, that’s what they were!) gooseberries. I found recipes for gooseberry jelly with elderflower, gooseberry jam, gooseberry ketchup, gooseberry pickle and gooseberry relish. The pickle recipe was the only one that specifically mentioned unripe berries.

The recipe in my book required 2 pints of gooseberries – a very strange measurement to use – I guess you just fill up a couple of pint glasses! I worked it out as being 2 pints = 1kg. I only managed a paltry 500g of gooseberries, so I’ve halved the recipe quantities here. The recipe also included cayenne pepper, but we didn’t have any to hand, so I substituted it with an equal quantity of paprika. Once made, the pickle needs to be jarred up and stored away for a good six months. I reckon it would serve as a great accompaniment to fish or cheese board – I’ll report back my findings in December!

Gooseberry pickle

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Ingredients
  

  • 500 g/1 pint gooseberries
  • 115 g/4oz demerara sugar
  • salt the book doesn't specify quantities so I added 5g/⅕oz
  • 570 ml/1 pint white wine vinegar
  • 7 g/¼oz mustard seeds
  • 85 g/3oz garlic
  • 170 g/6oz raisins
  • 7 g/¼oz ground paprika
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Instructions
 

  • Clean, top and tail the gooseberries and put them in a pan with the sugar, salt and half of the white wine vinegar
  • Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and cook until the gooseberries are tender
  • In a large heatproof bowl, bruise the mustard seeds, chop & crush the garlic and mix both with the raisins and paprika
  • Pour the boiling gooseberries over the mixture and add the other half of the cold vinegar
  • Stir before decanting into sterilised Kilner jars
  • Immediately screw down the jars and store for at least 6 months before use

Spiced apple chutney

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home-made spiced apple chutney | H is for Home

There were still LOADS of apples left over after making an apple & blackberry pie a few weeks ago. I hate wasting food so had to do something with them. “I’ll make apple chutney!”, I thought.

vintage red wire bucket of apples

My Cordon Bleu Preserving book contains recipes for 4 different versions of apple chutney however it was the spiced one that took my fancy (for this read, “It was the one where I already had all the ingredients in the house.”) This recipe makes a humongous amount of chutney, but it’s easily adapted if you don’t have that much fruit to preserve. It’s a steeper, the flavours mellow if the chutney is left a week or so before consuming. So far, we’ve discovered that it makes a delicious accompaniment to a cheeseboard. It really suits a creamy brie and sharp cheddar – not so much blue cheese. I’m vegetarian, but I’ve had it on good advice that it’s also very good with pork pie (Justin) and sausage rolls (Duncan). What do you recommend?

vintage plate with a slice of pork pie, pea shoots and dollop of home made spiced apple chutney

Spiced apple chutney

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Ingredients
  

  • 36 large apples - peeled cored & sliced
  • 1½ lbs/680g sultanas
  • 3 lbs/1.4kg demerara sugar
  • 4 oz/115g mustard seeds
  • 2 fresh chillies sliced into rings
  • 2 rounded tsps ground turmeric
  • 2 oz/60g ground ginger
  • 1½ lbs/680g onions halved & thinly sliced
  • 6 cloves garlic peeled & crushed with salt
  • 2 pts/1L vinegar I used distilled white vinegar, but you can use ordinary malt vinegar

Instructions
 

  • Put all the ingredients into a large pan (a jam pan is ideal) and simmer for 1½-2 hours until very soft and pulpy
  • Turn into sterilised jars and cover
A few tips for making successful chutneys, relishes & ketchups:
-1- Once opened a jar must be refrigerated and consumed within a week.
-2- Don't allow the vinegar to come into contact with with metal whilst in store.
-3- When preserving with vinegar, don't use copper or brass preserving pans. Use aluminium or stainless steel and only use enamelled iron pans if there are no chips to the enamel.
-4- It's important to cook chutneys and sauces thoroughly otherwise they will not keep.