Actually, we've had a couple of hard frosts and so this bed, below, looks quite different right now. But as of 10 days ago, this was the evidence of the mistake I made when trying to find a place for the last two tomato plants that just wouldn't fit into the garden beds that you see in the background there — in thesun.
I know this.
I know that these beds (there are three) get the sun for too short a time. I know because of the trees and the leach field/hill that looms over them, as the days get shorter, the beds get even less sun than you would think. They are okay for kale and potatoes maybe.
Yet.
I persist.
Of course those two plants would prove to be the most prolific. Quite possibly it was that extra load of aged manure I put in there in the spring… But frost was coming, so the green tomatoes had to come inside! Bowls and bowls of them. Some will ripen on the counter, but the majority needed to be made into something…
I knew I wanted to make this chutney. Just a note: You could use green apples if you happen not to have been a silly head like me. In fact, chutney can really be made with anything that seems firm and a bit tangy, so don't get too particular about this recipe. If you have hard-ish pears or peaches or mangos, go for it.
So fabulous with all sorts of things. We had it passed around to nestle next to our slices of baked ham this Sunday, and it was yummy. (And that is why there is even less pictured here than I made, a paltry few jars. This is how relishes end up being when all is said and done. Relishes and jams. They take a lot of fruits and veg to yield their little jars, don't they?)
Full of deep acidic tang, thanks to the tomatoes, vinegar, and a finely chopped lemon (I actually used half a lemon and half a lime, just because they were already cut and why not?), and sultry spices, thanks to the cumin and coriander, chutney just rescues you when all you've done is just made plain things. But you know what? Plain things are good. And even better witha little zing!
As for the canning, I tried to describe all this process in this postin a way that I would have appreciated when I was overthinking things back in the day (Inever do now). That is, detailed but helping you over the parts that seem clear to the initiated but opaque to the over-thinker.
The main thing is that when you have done it a few times, this step will cease to trouble/overwhelm/scare/otherwise defeat you and you can do it in a spare 1/2 hour, as I did last night, because after I made the chutney I realized I didn't have the right sized jars (can you say “plan ahead Auntie Leila”). The whole thing can just sit in the fridge until you get it up to a boil again and then proceed with the canning.
For your information, these are half-cup jars and a very smallspoon!
I still have more to go. Either I will make more chutney or maybe some relish. What are you making?
Green Tomato Chutney, Like Mother, Like Daughter
Makes about 3 cups. Maybe.
{A variation on the two basic recipes from the ever-helpful if quirky Joy of Cooking. For instance, it's not probably going to cook down for 2 hours. And I've added spices. And sort of combined the two recipes. So.}
1 seeded chopped lemon (as I said, I used half a lemon and half a lime, but lime peel is much tougher than lemon peel, so be sure to truly mince it)
3 heaping teaspoons of ginger-garlic paste (go here for how to get this in your fridge — and see? I told you that you'd use it for everything — you immediately notice that the recipe calls for garlicand ginger and you save yourself a step)
5 or 6 cups green tomatoes, chopped (again, you can substitute green apples, hard peaches or pears, or whatever seems to be going to work here, including some red tomato, which I did — it really doesn't matter!)
1 cooking apple, chopped (I like to use Macoun or a granny smith here — you need it to be firm)
1 cup of raisins (I used golden and dark, half and half)
1 medium chopped onion
3/4 cup dark honey (this was some of our boiled down honey from the harvest — you could use all brown sugar)
1 cup brown sugar (after all is mixed, see if this results in the sweetness of relish that you like — if not, add more)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups cider vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (this is a LOT for me and I consider this chutney to be right at the limit of what I can bear, but the others hardly noticed it)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon mustard seed (if you have it — I didn't so you don't see it in there, but it would be good)
Cook all of this up, simmering in a pot until the liquid gets syrupy and thickened. Joy says 2 hours, I say 45 minutes or so.
Here is how you make the liquid syrupy without turning the ingredients into mush: After about 15 minutes of simmering everything together, strain the liquid into another pot (I use the lid). Boil that down (perhaps giving the straining another go after a bit; more liquid will have settled in your main pot) until it is syrupy and then pour it back with the solids.
In any case, keep an eye on it because you don't want it to burn!
Put it into sterile, hot, small canning jars, seal, and put in a hot water bath for 10 minutes for little jars, 15 for pints.
And for such little jars, you can certainly use your normal 8 quart stock pot with a round cake rack in the bottom.
