mixed apple & berry jam & tomato and capsicum chutney
Mixed berry & apple jam
Recently, my mother-in-love gave me a stash of jars for making jams and chutneys. My first attempt at chutney was a success and I thought I’d make some labels for them as well, which was fun. The attempt at jam was a bit of a disaster and it ended up like hard candy, unable to be spread. I decreased the cooking time the second time around and came out with a beautiful dark jam that spreads nicely and has stored well. Once opened, the chutney needs to be kept in a fridge but the jam is fine for a couple of weeks if you keep it in a cool place.
500g berries/stone fruit of your choice
2 green apples, cored and sliced very thinly
1/2 cup freshly squeezed red apple juice
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 cups sugar (raw or white)
Pop all of the ingredients into a large saucepan. Stir over low heat until you can see that the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is bubbling. Boil for 20 minutes or until thickened. It can get too thick very quickly, so make sure you take it off as soon as the consistency looks right! Turn the heat off and let the jam stand in the saucepan for 10 minutes before spooning it into hot sterilised jars. Seal and store in a cool place.
TOMATO CHUTNEY
4 large red capsicums
500g fresh tomatoes, peeled (to peel: chop the very tops off and soak them in a saucepan of hot water for a couple of minutes)
4 medium sized onions
1 tbs salt
2 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups raw sugar
1 tbs mustard seeds
2 tbs flour
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp each paprika and turmeric
Dice all of your vegetables up and place them in a big mixing bowl. Sprinkle the salt on them and let it sit for around 3 hours.
Combine the vinegar, seeds and sugar in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil.
Add your vegetables and bring to a boil again, turning the heat down just a fraction and boiling until the vegetables are very soft.
Mix the flour, water and seeds and blend into a smooth paste. Add to the pot and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer until the chutney is the right consistency.
Pour into sterilised jars and seal!
Source recipe (slightly) adapted
