Everywoman's Autumn Chutney

This is the next in a series of recipes that I have used to capitalise on the abundance that is so much part of autumn.  The downside of abundance of course, is waste and it hurts me to see apples lying unused, even crab apples from urban trees. And  I refuse to ditch our copious crop of green tomatoes, just because they won't ripen. When the blight comes, I act fast.

So these recipes capture the joy of celebrating harvest, and at the same time combat waste.  The apples, a key ingredient, have come from different sources, but none of them, a shop or even (as if!) a supermarket.  They have been apples not good enough to sell in the Church Farm veg and fruit box.  They have been scrumped from ancient trees by River Stour in Dorset, (actually just by an arboretum), or  a hedgerow in the National Trust property, Dyrham Hall.  Or they have been come from gardens: a colleague's at work and my brother's in Wales.  You can see this splendid specimen below.

Because it just uses fruit and omits onions, this particular chutney is deliciously sweet and sticky.  And it is another instance of using up food waste, in this case three veg and fruit boxes which were not picked up by members of the Church Farm scheme.  The pears were at the hard and crunchy stage which made them ideal, while the tomatoes were at their ripest; the apples were cookers from a colleague's garden. 


The recipe below comes from 'The Preserving Book' mentioned before but I would also like to quote what Katie Stewart in her introduction. She recommends making 'the standard recipe exactly if it is a first time brew of chutney but after a little experience, vary the fruit and vegetables used or change the quantity or mixture of spices'.  So, rather than going out to buy the correct sugar and spices, I actually resorted to using up store cupboard inredients.  This means my version will not be the same as hers and if you try the recipe, your chutney won't be the same either.  On the other hand, you now have permission to tweak. 

Go on, try it out and come up with your own Autumn chutney!

Ingredients
1kg (2lbs) cooking apples
500g (1lb) pears
750g (1.5lb) red tomatoes
125g (4oz) seedless raisins
125g (4oz) sultanas
1kg (2lb)soft brown sugar
625 (1pint) vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon salt
1tablespoon salt
15g (1/2oz) salt
12 red chillies


Yield: about 2.5kg (5lbs)

Peel the apples and pears, core and cut into small pieces. Skin the tomatoes and chop them.

Put the apples, pears, tomatoes and all the remaining ingredients into a preserving pan.  Stir well and simmer for 2 hours until tender, golden brown and thick.  Stir occasionally to prevent  sticking.

Put into hot jars, cover and seal.