Making chutney

Another domestic weekend. On Saturday, we went to the local Farmers’ Market and stocked up (this one only happens once a month). In addition to the usual things, one stall was selling not just wild rabbit but also hare! So, one of each (the last hare!) went into our bags – at £3 for a rabbit and £6 for a hare, it had to be done! Sadly, what with everything else going on, both have had to go into the freezer for casseroling (or jugging in the case of the hare) at a later date. Not ideal, but better than nothing :-)

On Sunday, we picked all our remaining tomatoes, because the plants are starting to look ill (probably potato blight), which produced quite a lot of green fruit. Added to the two marrows and the pears that are starting to get ready for picking, we had quite a pile:

Of course, we didn’t use all of that – only one marrow and the cherry tomatoes (the plum tomatoes are destined for fried green tomatoes and other good things!). That was still 4 pounds of tomato and the same of marrow, though. Once they were chopped into our large pan, plus onions, sultanas, sugar, vinegar and spices from the shops, it all got a good boil:

And, after 4 or 5 hours, it had turned into some rather delicious chutney:

The recipe was Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s, from his River Cottage Year, which is basically “chutney made from whatever is in glut in your garden”. Which described our situation perfectly. It already tastes pretty good, so it will hopefully be even better after a couple of months of maturing.

With that lot out of the way, the only fruit left to deal with will be the pears. If we can find enough jars to jam them or freezer space to freeze them!

pax et bonum

Article posted at 7:25pm on 26 September 2005
Category: Food, Life, Struggling, General