Apple Chutney!

My parents bought some apple trees last year and so this year they had their first harvest, of so many apples I don't think they knew what to do with them! So Mum delivered me a bucket load of home grown apples to my delight last weekend! Right - time to give preserving a go....

I bought my first preserving book last year.

 

I have always loved the idea of it and have been meaning to have a go for a while. I also have a plan to make Christmas hampers full of these kind of things this year for friends and family so this looked to be the perfect opportunity to try...

Having looked through the book at all the possibilities of things to do with apples I concluded that this recipe...

...for Apple, sultana and date chutney (or at least an adaption of it) was the best way to go as I already had all of the ingredients or at least subsitutes for the things I didn't in the pantry.

Here's how I did it...

I started off by peeling, chopping and coring all the apples...

 

I then weighed them and found that I had around half of what the recipe stated, so I then halved all the quantities of all the other ingredients too.

I found a suitable pan for everything to fit and cook in...

I went for my faithful stock pot which I have had for so many years now, I bought when I was a student on eBay for around £10 and it has been one of my most useful and reliable pans ever since, perfect for soups, pasta, especially spaghetti and now preserving too!

I then  added the following....

2 ONIONS

DICED

2CM OF ROUTE GINGER

DICED

AROUND 50G OF RAISINS (IN PLACE OF THE SULTANAS AS THEY WERE WHAT I HAD IN)

AROUND 50G OF PRUNES

DICED

THEN HALF A TEA SPOON OF MUSTARD SEED

Then I gave it all a good stir together before adding....

500ML OF VINEGAR, WHITE BALSAMIC INSTEAD OF CIDER AS IT WAS WHAT I HAD IN

AND FINALLY 250G OF GRANULATED SUGAR

I then gave it all a good stir again and brought it up to the boil before leaving it all to simmer for 1 & 1/2 hrs with the lid on.

This is what it looked like when I came back....

It suggested in the recipe that you should stir for the last 5 minutes of the cooking time, so that is what I did.

Once it had cooled a little I divided it up in my jam jars using my jam funnel (an incredibly useful item which every kitchen should have)...

 

 I then labelled them all using some of my lovely Cath Kidston labels...

Job done! So pleased with the result. Recipe states to store for a month before using for the best results so that's what I intend to do....

I could really get into this preserving thing! Please let me know what you think.... I always love to hear from you. xx

Chicken Soup for the Soul - with a few added extras!

Chicken Soup is still one of my most comforting comfort foods, and when I'm feeling a little under the weather there is nothing better to make me feel so much better too. My Grandma Jo started the tradition of chicken soup in my lifetime and then my Mum carried it on from there. They would both refer to it as Jewish penicillin due to its healing properties, and placebo or not placebo it always seems to work for me when I am feeling one degree under. Here is my basic method for chicken soup - but tonight I'm going to add a bunch of extra ingredients to make it into a proper meal... it's still cooking right now but smells yummy and as it is at the simmering stage I thought I would take the time to blog the method whilst I was waiting for it to finish cooking. I hasten to add all of this is complete guess work so I just hope it tastes as yummy as it smells as I'm getting seriously hungry....

So I started with frozen batch of home-made chicken soup which I knew I had in the freezer (defrosted in the microwave for 5 minutes before adding straight to the pan to defrost fully and warm through)...

To this I added 2 carrots...

Half a pepper (diced)

Half an onion (diced)

Handful of runner beans from Mum & Dad's garden (diced)

2 small courgette, also from Mum & Dad's garden (diced)

2 of these handfuls of brown spaghetti, snapped in half

1 glove of garlic (crushed)

A good grind of both salt and pepper

Chopped fresh herbs from our garden (I used thyme, basil, chives and oregano, but whatever you have would be fine)

 

All the lovely ingredients now in the pan....      

Bring to  the boil....

Then place the lid on and leave to simmer for an hour or so...

After a taste test I then decided to add an organic vegatable stock cube (this is fine as there is nothing artificial in it at all so all it does is add a little more natural flavour)

I also added a swig of milk (modelled here by my Adam)

Done!

It was absolutely gorgeous, so nourishing and really filling too. I even, once cooled, kept a second portion in the fridge and heated it up for dinner the following day, the flavours had only intensified and it was even yummier again! So please with the result. Completely made up method - definitely one I will cook again and again!