Ben Cooper's Chutney

Ben Cooper's Chutney

What's in Season in October

Aubergine, Apples, Beetroot, Blackberries, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celeriac, Celery, Chestnuts, Chicory, Chillies, Courgette, Cucumber, Elderberries, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Marrow, Onions, Parsnips, Pears, Peas, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Radishes, Rocket, Runner Beans, Spinach, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Summer Squash, Swede, Sweetcorn, Swiss Chard, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watercress, Wild Mushrooms, Winter Squash.

Chutney is a great way to use up vegetables and fruit at the end of the season that you don’t want to see go to waste. It’s a perfect way to experiment with different flavours and if you don’t like the end result you can use the chutney as a base to cook stewing meat in the slow cooker adding beer or wine and stock cubes.

For the following recipe, I have literally collected vegetables and fruit together that have either been gifted to me and I have excess and ingredients that need using up rather than seeing them go to the food waste bin or compost.

diced chutney ingredients

The basic ratio I use for chutney is 1:6 wine/cider vinegar and sugar to the total weight of vegetable and fruit. 

Other chutney combinations you could do try - 
Apple and Sultanas
Beetroot and orange 
Green Bean and Courgette
Pear and Ginger
Tomato and Chilli Chutney

Green Tomato Chutney

chutney ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 2kg diced green tomatoes
  • 600g diced cucumber
  • 100g finely sliced green chillies
  • 2 tsp of mustard seeds (optional)
  • 500g diced onion
  • 300g sliced celery
  • 500g halved green grapes
  • 650 kg demerara sugar
  • 325ml red wine vinegar
  • 325ml cider vinegar

 Method:

  1.  In a large heavy based, non-reactive pan lightly fry the onions, green chillies and mustard seeds for 5-10 minutes to soften without adding colour.
  2. Place the tomatoes, cucumber, celery and grapes in the pan with half the vinegar
  3. Bring to the boil then gently cook for about 1 ½ hours stirring from time to time, until the liquor reduces and thickens.

Editor's note - at this stage you could transfer to a slow cooker on high setting for 5 hours. 

Meanwhile sterilise your jars
Pre- heat the oven to 140°C

4a. Wash your jars and lids in warm soapy water. Rinse well to ensure no traces
of soap and do NOT dry your jars with a tea towel or cloth
4b. Place a piece of baking paper on a baking tray and place your wet jars on it.
Ensure the jars aren’t touching each other
4c. Place in the oven and heat for twenty minutes
4d. Whilst the jars are in the oven, place your wet lids in a saucepan of water
and boil for twenty minutes
4e. If your chutney hasn’t finished cooking once the twenty minutes are up, keep your jars in the oven with the door closed and keep the lids in the saucepan of water.  Cold jars will crack or shatter if you put hot food/liquid in them so you want to keep them warm.

Please note - to sterilise Kilner jars with rubber seals then it’s best to remove the rubber seal and boil that in water.  This is because rubber doesn’t tend to react well to being dried in hot air.  The jar (minus the rubber seal) can be placed in the oven with no problem.

  1. Add the salt, sugar and the rest of the vinegar to the chutney, stirring well until the sugar dissolves. Continue cooking until the mixture has thickened
  2. Pot into sterilised jars while the chutney is still warm. Drain the lids through a colander. Tighten the lids to seal the jars and leave for 6 weeks to mature.

chutney and cheese, classic

Back to blog