Apple and carrot chutney

I've just noticed that the past few months, all my posts have been written on a Monday! What a strange and completely unconscious decision of mine! Anyway, today is TUESDAY and I'm going to write a post about my chutney. I haven't actually tried it yet – family, please can I have some feedback on the chutney? I'll only post the positive responses of course – my scientific mind is wincing at the very thought of this bias – but it's only a blog!

I found this recipe because I thought a carrot chutney would be interesting and good value (since I was not making my chutney in the traditional way when there is a glut of fruit or vegetables, but for Christmas, I needed something that wasn't really expensive because it was out of season). As it happened, this is more of an apple chutney with a bit of carrot thrown in. No matter – it was still fun to make and (I hope!) tasty.

Apple and carrot chutney

Thank you good people of ScotClans from where this recipe was borrowed. Not having much experience of making chutney, I didn't want to chance it with an experimental batch!

225 g onions, chopped
900 apples, cored and chopped
110 g carrots, topped, tailed and diced
2 garlic cloves very finely diced
110 sultanas, or raisins
50 g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
15 g ground coriander
15 g paprika
15 g mixed spice (allspice)
15 g salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
340 g brown sugar
750 ml malt vinegar

Put the onions, apples, carrots and garlic into a preserving pan with the vinegar. Cook gently until all softened, then stir in all the other ingredients. Slowly bring to the boil, then simmer for ½ hour, stirring from time to time to stop the chutney sticking to the pan.

When it is thick enough that you can draw a wooden spoon across the base of the pan and leave a channel behind it that does not immediately fill with liquid, the chutney is ready.

Turn into sterilised jars, seal and cool. (There should be enough to fill 12 jam-jars)

Store in a cool, dark cupboard for at least 2–3 weeks before eating.

This did make our house smell of vinegar for the whole weekend, so I wouldn't advise any fancy parties or estate agent viewings on a chutney-making weekend. It probably works in the opposite way to freshly brewed coffee and baking bread...

Cardamom and cocoa cookies

The Christmas hampers were well received! I had great fun making them - it was a great week of cooking. We still have to wait and see how the chutney turns out but everything else was scoffed in record time (even considering all the other Christmas goodies tempting everyone).

The cookies I included in the hamper are a favourite of mine. The recipe is from Anna Hansen's book, The Modern Pantry. We visited the restaurant for brunch recently too (in fact, we couldn't go without trying a bit of everything, so we had a three-course brunch consisting of pastries followed by a hot main dish and finished off with some of their lovely truffles). It goes without saying that it was all delicious!

Cocoa and cardamom cookies

Makes 16 cookies

80g unsalted butter
175g soft brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
200g dark chocolate, melted
110g plain flour
40g good quality cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon of ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
150g macadamia nuts, lightly toasted and chopped

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in the egg, followed by the melted chocolate. Sift the dry ingredients together and fold them in, followed by the macadamia nuts. If the dough is too soft to handle, chill it in the fridge for 20 minutes or so, until it is manageable, then roll it into 16 balls.

Arrange them 5 cm apart on baking trays lined with baking parchment and place in an oven preheated to 150 degrees Celcius. Bake for 15 minutes, until just firm, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.