Sunday 22 November 2015

Apple and cranberry chutney



A few nights ago we had a terrible weather. Perhaps I wouldn't call it a tornado, but it was very blustery and the ground was strewn with broken branches the next morning. All the apples from our apple trees were thrown down by the strong winds. These were the apples I couldn't reach, even with a step-ladder. They got quite bruised in the fall, so I won't be able to keep them for long, and some of them were already pecked by the birds. I picked a few kilograms from the ground, and need to do something with them as soon as possible, before they get spoilt.
The first thought was an apple jelly, but I made so much last year, and I think we still have some jars left. I fancied making something festive and seasonal, preferably a combination of apples and cranberries. Having googled for recipes (how did we live before Google?!), I came across a promising looking recipe for an Apple and cranberry chutney.



I have followed the recipe closely enough, slightly changing it (if you want to read the recipe, please follow the link above. It's a pretty easy and straight-forward recipe). I added a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and half a teaspoon of ground cloves to make it more festive.
Also I didn't use a combination of cookers and eaters. Our apple trees are different varieties, though they are all eaters, albeit on a tart side. Actually they are at their best right now, they sort of mellowed in taste.
So in my recipe I used 1 and a half kilograms of eating apples (not a sweet variety). The recipe on Good Food didn't specify the type of onions they used, but I cooked this chutney with two big red onions.
The chutney is lovely, it's a good mix of sharp, tart and sweet flavours.



It didn't turn out as red as in the Good Food's photo, mine were more pink than red. Maybe cooking the cranberries a bit longer would result in a different colour.
It was enough to fill in six jars of different sizes. The prettier ones (Kilner) I plan to use as Christmas gifts. I'm thinking of doing a few mini-hampers with a decent chunk of cheese, a box of good crackers and a jar of homemade chutney.


This is a delicious chutney, which is perfect with cheese. I think it will work well with cold meats too. The apples are jammy-gooey with whole cranberries which have a nice bite.
Are you making any Christmas foodie gifts?


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