Jars and Jars of Chutney

I had such grand plans for getting things done in the kitchen this weekend. Grand plans, which would have left the kitchen looking almost done. Grand plans of glosswork, shelves, and curtains. Grand plans that didn't survive first contact with reality.

I've put up four of the curtain rails, and glossed the outside & frame of the door (inside still to come), and that's it. We got distracted in the middle of yesterday by going to see reindeer (from the wild herd that lives on the Cairngorms, which we visited in 2004), and then today turned into a chutney-making day.

We had meant to make chutney during our week off work at the end of October, but it didn't happen. The apples, though, are starting to look a little unhappy, so we thought we should get round to it. Thus, we appear to have spent the entire day cooking. That said, we've now got some two dozen jars of chutney, in four flavours, so it seems quite well spent.

We started with 'Grandma's Hot' apple chutney (from the National Trust preserves book), and then made some apple, peach and apricot chutney, mango chutney, and simple spiced apple chutney from a birthday present recipe book.

I'm quite fond of mango chutney, but mangoes are pricey, as fruit goes, and so we've only made chutney from them once before. However, I found a kilo tin of 'mango pulp' in the supermarket around Eid, which is 90% pulped mango flesh, with some added water and sugar. Ideal, I thought, for forming the basis of chutney. The recipe bulks out the mango with apple (also in ample supply), making it even more economical. It's turned out really nicely, though a little spicier than I'd like, and I don't think it needed as much vinegar. Notes duly made, and next year's batch will be even tastier.

The apple, peach and apricot version is also good—if a bit spicer than I'd like. It nominally contains dried fruits, but dried apricots and tinned peaches worked nicely.

'Grandma's Hot' is, predictably, properly spicey. The basic apple chutney is bit milder, and I think will mellow really nicely. Modified, as-concocted recipes will eventually make their way to the recipes page. Note, eventually.

Given the state of the apples, we also prepared enough apple mush to make a batch of sloe chutney, and a couple of jars of mincemeat. We probably won't get round to cooking either for a while, but purée-d apple freezes well. For the sloe chutney, one nominally uses the sloes from making sloe gin, but I'd like to make more chutney than one batch of gin will allow, so I plan to soften the sloes by soaking in the chutney vinegar, instead of gin. We'll see if that works!

All the chutney making relied on our lovely preserving pan, and the enormous wok-burner (a triple hob) on the new cooker. An excellent inauguration: it worked really well at heating the big 5l batches.