Preserving the harvest

Tomatoes galore

Now that summer is in full swing, there is fruit aplenty and sometimes, an overabundance even. Rather than forcing oneself to eat yet another tomato fresh from the garden or letting fruit rot on the vine, the best alternative is to preserve the harvest.

In our eagerness to have fresh tomatoes, we had planted 8 plants, including several heirloom varieties, and beginner's luck would have it that all are producing more than we can eat. In case you are wondering - we have Black Krim, Purple Cherokee, Golden Nugget, Tommy Toe, Green Zebra, Red Roma and 2 heirloom ones, which we cant remember the name of.

Tomatoes and Apricots, all chopped up, ready to cook

Anyhow, we get about 250 - 500g of tomatoes everyday, that plus some apricots from the supermarket that refused to ripen (never buy stone fruit from supermarkets if you can help it) made me decide on cooking up a chutney.

The recipe is really simple, and you can add any fruit to the tomatoes - cooking apples, add body and texture, sliced onions do the same. Sultanas or raisins add some sweetness - anything goes really. The aim is to get a mixture of sweet, tart, spicy and slighty salty flavours that will slowly blend together as the chutney matures.

Aromatics

So here's the recipe:

Tomato - Apricot Chutney

• 0.5kg fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 0.5kg fresh apricots
• 2 large onions finely sliced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 cardamom pods, peeled
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
• 2 tsp salt
• 250g brown sugar
• 150ml malt vinegar

Put all ingredients into a non-reactive pot, bring to the boil, let simmer with low heat for about 30min or till fruit and onions are soft, stirring occasionally to prevent mixture from catching. Taste and season if neccesary. Meanwhile, prepare jars for bottling.
Once mixture is ready, bring rapidly to a boil (a.k.a. jam making) for 5min till silky and jammy.
Bottle while hot.

Chutney simmering away

The chutney may be eaten fresh but letting it mature in a cool, dark place for a week or 2 is better. (some things are better when aged a bit...)

Chutney bottled, ready for maturing

This chutney goes well with cold meats, especially pork and chicken and will do well as a sweet but tangy glaze for a ham. Enjoy!