Recipe of the Week
Old World apple chutney
Courtesy of
Richard Blunt
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Ingredients
40 oz. cider vinegar
1-1/2 lbs. brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. pickling spice
6 whole cloves and 1 bay leaf tied in a spice bag
4 lbs. fresh-picked underripe apples
2 lbs. Spanish onions
2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. golden raisins
Method
Combine vinegar, brown sugar, kosher salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, pickling spice, and spice bag in an 8-qt. sauce pot. Mix and bring to a slow boil over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
While sugar syrup is cooking, peel, core, and coarsely chop the apples. Peel and coarsely chop onions, and mince garlic clove. Uniformity is not necessary; this chutney is meant to be chunky.
Combine apple, onion, and garlic in cooked syrup and cook mixture over low heat for 1-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.
While chutney is cooking, carefully wash jars, screw bands, and lids in hot soapy water and rinse with plenty of hot water. Fill clean jars with boiling water and cover with a clean towel. Place screw bands and lids in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand this way until ready to fill them. Time this process so that the boiling water will not cool below 160° or remain in the jars for more than 10 minutes.
Arrange all necessary utensils so that you will be able to fill, seal, and cap the jars efficiently.
Fill canner to 1/2 of its capacity with water, place racks on the bottom, and start heating to a boil. Have an additional kettle of boiling water available to add more boiling water to the canner after the filled jars have been put into place.
Fill jars with hot chutney to 1/2 inch from top, using a wide-mouth funnel to minimize spilling. Remove any trapped air from the jars by running the narrow blade of the spatula down the sides of the jar. Carefully wipe the rim of the jar with a clean cloth that has been wet with boiling water to remove any traces of food.
Set sealing lid on rim of jar and screw on band until it is firmly in place. Put jar in canner. As you are placing the jars in the canner, set them so they are not touching each other or the side of the canner.
Add enough boiling water to canner to cover the jars with 2 inches of water. Do not compromise this step; proper processing requires at least a 2-inch covering of rapidly boiling water.
Process filled jars for 15 minutes in rapidly boiling water.
To compensate for altitude add at least 2 minutes of processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.
When processing is complete, turn off heat. Using jar lifter, carefully remove jars from canner and set on a towel-covered flat surface to cool. It is important not to disturb the jars during the next 24 hours. During this period the jars will cool and the vacuum-sealing will occur. With the modern Mason jars the vacuum created during the cooling period will pull down the dome in the center of each lid to make the air tight seal. If the seal does not happen, just store chutney in the refrigerator and eat within a few days.
