Autumnal Cooking: Chutneys, Jellies & Cyser
Autumn is my favourite season and for me there’s nothing better than going for a windswept walk in the autumn sun, taking in the beauty of the season in all its glory and then coming home to delicious food and drink.
There are still apples on the trees, rosey in their ripeness or perhaps windfallen and bruised and I’ve just plucked the last of the ripe tomatoes from the vines. Some have split and others are not quite as firm as you’d like for a sandwich but these are great for cooking with. The green ones too. Autumn is about enjoying the last of the ripe fruits and preserving them so that you can have a taste of autumn in the winter months. Here then I’ll share with you some of my favourite autumn inspired recipes.
Sterilising Jars
Just a quick note on jars. You can buy jars and sometimes I’ve had to when I’ve made huge amounts of jams, chutneys and pickled onions but for the most part I save food jars and give them a thorough washing. Whether you use store bought or save your own jars, they will need to be sterilised. An easy way to do this is to pop the clean, dry jars on a tray or board, right way up along with the lids and place in a cold oven before setting to a medium low heat and leaving for 30 minutes.
When it comes to sealing, put the lid on the jars either when the product is piping hot or cold. This stops condensation from forming. I tend to do it when it is piping hot.
Tomato & Apple Chutney
To make this classic chutney, you will need:
2 kg of tomatoes (either ripe or green tomatoes) peeled and chopped
400g of apples peeled and chopped
240g onions chopped
330g sugar
1.25 litres malt vinegar
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
Place all of the ingredients into a large pan and stir over a medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved before bringing to the boil. Turn to a medium heat and allow the mixture to simmer for around an hour and thirty minutes or until it is thick, stirring occasionally. Spoon into hot sterilised jars and seal while hot.
Spicy Tomato Chutney
If you like your chutney with a bit of a kick, then spicy chutney is perfect. You will need:
2 kg of tomatoes (either ripe or green tomatoes) peeled and chopped
400g of apples peeled and roughly chopped
240g onions chopped
1 or 2 hot chilli peppers chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
330g sugar
1.25 litres malt vinegar
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
2 tsp curry powder
Place all of the ingredients into a large pan and stir over a medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved before bringing to the boil. Turn to a medium heat and allow the mixture to simmer for around an hour and thirty minutes or until it is thick, stirring occasionally. Spoon into hot sterilised jars and seal while hot.
Pear & Walnut Chutney
This chutney is luxurious and delicious. For this recipe you will need:
1.5kg pear peeled and roughly chopped
2 large apples peeled and roughly chopped
250 ml white vinegar
Juice from one lemon
200g brown sugar
150g raisins
120g chopped walnuts
Place all of the ingredients into a large pan and stir over a medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved before bringing to the boil. Turn to a medium heat and allow the mixture to simmer for around an hour and thirty minutes or until it is thick, stirring occasionally. Spoon into hot sterilised jars and seal while hot.
Rowan, Rosehip & Crab Apple Jelly
This is the perfect autumnal recipe and what I love about it is the fact you can go out for a lovely walk and collect the ingredients at the same time! For this recipe you will need:
1kg rowan berries & rosehips combined
500g crab apples peeled and roughly chopped
Sugar
To begin, remove the rowan berries and rosehips from their stalks and place in a pan with the peeled and chopped crab apples and add enough water so that the fruit is just covered. Bring to the boil before turning the heat down and allowing to simmer, stirring the fruit occasionally and using the back of the spoon to push the fruit against the side of the pan so that as much juice as possible is extracted.
Strain using a sieve or preferably a clean cotton or muslin cloth, squeezing as much of the juice as possible from the mixture. You will need to measure how much juice you have as this will determine how much sugar you will need to use. For every litre of juice, you will need to add 750g of sugar. Place into a clean pan and stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has fully dissolved before boiling quickly. You can use a kitchen thermometer to determine when the mixture is ready, but I don’t have one so what I do is place a small plate in the fridge until it is cold and then drip a little of the mixture onto it. If, after a few seconds, it doesn’t run and the top crinkles when prodded, your mixture is ready. Remove the mixture from the heat and spoon into hot sterilised jars. You can leave for a few weeks to mature and will keep for up to a year if stored correctly.
Easy Cyser Recipe
A cyser is mead fermented with apple juice instead of just water and is delicious! Now I must say this is an extremely easy recipe, partly because I’m too impatient and can’t be arsed with the faff of getting the correct amount of pectins and tannins and whatnot, and beside and to me, there isn’t that much of a difference, but then I am no connoisseur. For this recipe you will need:
Around 3 standard jars of honey (around 1kg)
Water
2 litres of pure apple juice
1 sachet of ordinary bakers yeast
1 lemon, juice and zest
2 apples roughly chopped
Place the honey in a pan and add 1 litre of water. Heat gently, stirring continuously until the honey has fully dissolved and add the chopped apple, lemon juice and zest and transfer the mixture into a demijohn. Top up with the apple juice and add the yeast. Give it a good shake and seal using an airlock. You should notice it begins to ferment rather quickly (when it starts bubbling) and leave until the fermentation process has completely finished (when it stops bubbling). Strain into a clean demijohn and allow to stand for a week or two until the sediment falls to the bottom. Syphon into clean bottles and let mature for at least a month, if you have the patience that is!
As we descend into the darker months, enjoy the beauty of autumn along with these perfectly autumnal recipes.
EMMA KATHRYN
Emma Kathryn, practises traditional British witchcraft, Vodou and Obeah, a mixture representing her heritage. She lives in the sticks with her family where she reads tarot, practises witchcraft and drink copious amounts of coffee.
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