We’ve still got quite a lot of beetroot in our garden. I planted them around August time to have as salad leaves and never quite got round to picking them. They’ve now developed into proper beetroots (although some thinning wouldn’t have gone amiss as some are rather small). None of them have been bothered by pests of any sort which is rather refreshing (unlike carrots which get eaten to pieces if you leave them in the ground). So I thought I would preserve some in a chutney.
Ingredients
3lbs beetroot, peeled and chopped
4lbs cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1½lbs onions, chopped
12oz demerara sugar
14fl oz red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 teaspoons salt
Method
Put the whole lot in a large saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer until soft and thickened. This will take about 2-3 hours, and it’s a good idea to stir it now and again to prevent it sticking to the bottom. The more gentle the heat, the less likely it is to stick, but the longer it will take to reduce down. It’s ready when you can draw a spoon across the bottom of the pan, and momentarily see the bottom of the pan. If you want a smooth chutney (excellent for spreading on sandwiches) then blitz with a stick blender. Spoon into hot sterilized jars. Sterilize your jars by heating them in the oven for 20 mins at 100°C.
This chutney has a beautiful deep red/purple colour and is delicious in cheddar cheese sandwiches. We left this batch chunky as we like it that way.
Honeycomb is really easy to make and makes a great Christmas gift (tastes better than the shop bought stuff too!). Here’s what you need:
I’ve put my preserving hat on and gone a bit mad over the last couple of weeks. I’m very pleased with what I’ve managed to make, but the rest of the family are extremely disappointed. Why? Because I’ve made all this lovely jam, chutney, pickle and curd to sell at the School Christmas Fair. A jar or two have found their way into our cupboards and we’re hoping that I don’t manage to sell it all!
Scorzonera was our new crop this year that we’ve never grown before, and never even tasted before. We were confident that it would be good though as many of the vegetable books rate it very highly and the French and Italians love it. So what is it? Well, it’s a root vegetable which is very easy to grow, can be left in the ground until you need it, seems to have no pests and diseases and which is absolutely delicious to eat. You have to be quite careful digging them up as the roots break very easily, and beneath the dark skin is a creamy white flesh. After scrubbing them, we blanched ours for 3 minutes, peeled them, boiled them for about 10 mins until tender, and then coated them with butter. They were really really tasty. In fact, the whole bowl went in a flash before the rest of the meal was on the table.
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