This best of British fruity relish is just the ticket to serve with a nutty hard cheese or cold cuts. When cooking preserves and pickles, I tend to make smaller batches, as I find it easier and more accurate to double the quantities if I have a glut of fruit rather than having to reduce quantities to make a small number of jars. This also means that I can fill my cupboards with a nice variety of preserves rather than having groaning shelves of a single type.
Makes 4 jars
Ingredients
2 large dried smoked chipotle chillies
4 crisp eating apples, peeled and diced
4 firm pears, peeled and diced
400ml cider vinegar
325g light muscovado sugar
3 large shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
Equipment
4 x 450g jam jars
Method
Soak the chipotle chillies in a bowl of just-boiled water while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
Tip the fruit into a large stainless steel saucepan and add all the other ingredients. Drain the chipotle chillies, remove the stalks and finely chop the chillies, seeds and all. Add to the pan and stir to combine. Set over a low–medium heat and slowly bring to the boil, stirring from time to time. Continue to cook over a low–medium heat for about 40 minutes or until the fruit is very tender and the liquid is reduced, thickened and syrupy.
Slide the pan off the heat and spoon the chutney into the warm sterilised jars. Seal with the lids and leave until cold before labelling. Store in a cool, dark cupboard for 1 month before opening, then store in the fridge and use within 2 months. The unopened chutney will keep for up to 6 months.
Taken from Summer Berries and Autumn Fruits, by Annie Rigg. Published by Kyle Books, priced £19.99. Photography by Tara Fisher
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