Part of the reason why I love blogs and blogging is that you get to meet people from all over the world and you get to learn all kinds of new things.
Today, as part of my small blogger guest series
I am excited to introduce to you Jude from the other side of the pond as they say.
Jude can normally be found blogging at Cocojude
but today, she is here showing us how to make an apple chutney.
My name is Jude and I live in Brighton, South East England.
I enjoy all sorts of craft, and tend to dabble!
Each year, I have got into a routine of making apple chutney, which I then palm off to as many people as I can. The reason for this is that my grandma has a very old apple tree in her back garden. Most years it produces masses of cooking apples. Last year there were no apples at all, probably down to all the rain we had in the UK, but this year the tree was back on form. So when we went home the other week, I came back with a huge bag full to make apple chutney. I have been waiting for a full day to tackle the job properly, as it involves a lot of peeling and chopping and mess!
Ingredients (This makes around 10 jars of chutney) - 1.5 kg cooking apples
- 500 g onions
- 500 g sultanas
- 750 g demerara sugar
- 500 ml cider vinegar/white wine vinegar
- zest and juice of 2 lemons
- 1 small chilli
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground all spice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 pepper corns
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- Wash, peel, core and chop the apples into fairly small chunks.
- Peel and chop the onions.
- Measure out and then add all the ingredients into a big pan and bring to the boil slowly. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Simmer gently until thick, stirring occasionally. The chutney is done when you can drag a spoon along the top and it leaves a track mark. It should take over an hour.
Pour into sterilized jars while both chutney and jars are still hot, and seal.
To sterilize the jars
Preheat oven to around 130 degrees
Wash out the jars with liquid and water, then rinse them in really, really hot clean water.
Put the jars on a baking tray in the oven for around 15-20 minutes, until the water has dried off. I put the lids through the same process. The chutney stores for years, and is best when you leave it for a few months. It is really good with sausages and cheeses like cheddar.
Oh my goodness, doesn't that look fantastic!
If you are looking for a hostess gift or a holiday gift for your neighbors, I think this would fit the bill!
Thanks Jude for sharing.
Please head over and see what other things Jude is doing on her blog.
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