Green Tomato Chutney

When I moved to the UK from Kansas, one of the first food dishes I was introduced to was chutney. Specifically, a green tomato chutney that had been passed down through the generations. If you grow your own tomatoes, this recipe is a great way of using up the green ones at the end of the growing season.

Green Tomato Chutney

Chutney ingredients

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds green tomatoes
• 8 - 12 apples (approximately 3 pounds) originally mixed windfalls, but I use bramleys.
• 2 pounds dark brown sugar
• 1/2 pound sultanas (sultanas are raisins that have been made from white grapes)
• 2 ounces salt
• 1 ounce ground ginger
• 1/2 ounce dried red chillies
• 1/4 ounce white mustard seeds
• 3 large Spanish onions
• 3 pints malt vinegar

You will also need: 

• muslin or net bag
• large pot

Method:

1. Turn the burner on to a low heat.


2. Pour the vinegar in the preserving pan


3. Add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved over low heat.


4. Add sultanas, salt, ginger, mustard seeds and stir well.


5. Slice the apples, tomatoes, and onions either by hand or in a food processor and add to the vinegar.


6. Finally add chillies in a net bag


7. Boil for 3 hours, using a disperser if cooking over a gas burner. Stir every 15 - 30 minutes.


8. Remove the net bag


9. Spoon into large jars and cover while hot.

How long does green tomato chutney keep: 

I recently found a jar that had been made 3 years ago, and it was still perfectly okay. 

Potting chutney

Potted chutney

Use large preserving jars, kilner jars, or crockery jars. Run hot water into each and dry the inside thoroughly, or run through a hot cycle in a dishwasher then dry thoroughly on the inside.

Fill each jar leaving about 1 inch space at the top. Place a clean lid over each jar and seal, or cover with a double layer of cling film and seal it up with a rubber band. These do not have to go through a hot water bath after filling.

Then put them to mature for a few months in a cool dark place. The back of an understairs cupboard works well or the back of a larder.

The large amount of sugar and vinegar serves as a natural preservative and the chutney can easily keep for 1 - 2 years, or longer. If you haven't used it up before then. I found a forgotten pot in the back of the cupboard last summer which was at least 3 years old and it was still prefectly good. 

Meal ideas

Ploughman's Lunch

This particular chutney goes very nicely with pork and sausages, and also with mature cheddar cheese.

Sandwich idea
A cheese and chutney sandwich makes for a quick and delicious lunch. Spread a bit of butter on two slices of your favourite bread, add some slices of mature cheddar and a spoonful of chutney. Instead of cheese, you could had sliced cold pork or sliced cooked sausages.

Place these components on a plate separately and add a few slices of apple or a few cherry tomatoes to create a Ploughman's Lunch.

Supper ideas
After fixing a roast pork dinner, serve the pork as part of a cold lunch or supper the next day. Dish up slices of cold pork, pickled onions, gerkins, or beetroot, thick slices of bread, and of course a couple spoonfuls chutney to make a complete meal.






When making bangers and mash for dinner, use this chutney as a condiment.

An Unsolicited Book Review - Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen

I love Mexican foods. So when I came across this book which was being sold through my UK source for Mexican cooking supplies I decided to go ahead and purchase it. I was very much impressed with the range of Mexican foods and dishes that were included.


Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant Flavors of a World-Class Cuisine contains so much more than just recipes though. Bayless provides a range of handy hints and background information on the recipes and the ingredients. He takes the mystery out of Mexican cooking, and helps readers to believe that creating these dishes is not out of their grasp. He also helps pull people away from the belief that Mexican food is nothing more than beef burritos, chillies, and lots of cheese.


Mexican Kitchen contains over 400 pages of recipes, hints, tips, and personal stories. It is divided into 9 chapters.

• Chapter 1: Essential Flavours of the Mexican Kitchen
• Chapter 2: Salads and Other Starters
• Chapter 3: Light and Hearty Soups
• Chapter 4: Tacos, Enchiladas, and Other Casual Fair
• Chapter 5: Vegetable, Bean, Rice, and Egg Dishes
• Chapter 6: Classic Fiesta Food
• Chapter 7: Main Dishes
• Chapter 8: Desserts
• Chapter 9: Wine and Margaritas 

In addition, this book provides resource list for commonly used Mexican ingredients that you might not be able to find in your local grocery store, and a section on alternative ingredients in case you can't find one particular ingredient and need to substitute.

It is a cookbook that I dip into time and time again. I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys cooking and eating Mexican foods.

I featured a recipe from this cookbook in an earlier blog post. Achiote-Roasted Pork Tacos with Pickled Red Onions.

About the Author

Rick Bayless is an award-winning chef from Chicago. He is a past winner of Top Chef Masters and has hosted Mexico-One Plate at a Time on PBS for over 9 series. He has written more than 8 cookbooks. His second book, Mexican Kitchen, won the Julia Child IACP cookbook of the year award in 1996, and his fourth book, Mexico-One Plate at a Time won James Beard Best International Cookbook of the Year award in 2001.

In addition, the Mexican government has awarded Bayless its Order of the Aztec Eagle, for work benefitting Mexico and the Mexican people.


Bayless his staff created Frontera Farmer Foundation in 2003 to support small farms in the American Midwest. Grants totally over $1.2 million have been awared since then to over 71 farms. This has enbled farmers to make capital improvements and increase their productivity and profitability. In addition, they have also created the Frontera Scholarship which sends a Mexican-American Chicago Public School student to Kendall College to study culinary arts.

Frijoles Refritos

(A recipe from Mexican Kitchen)


Every culture has as one of its staples a mashed pulse of some sort. In India you find dhal made from
lentils, around the Middle East and the Mediterranean countries you can find houmous made from chickpeas, and in Mexico you have Frijoles Refritos, or refried beans.

refried beans

Frijoles are traditionally made using pinto beans, but feel free to experiment with any other beans you might like. I think these are especially nice made with black beans.

I must admit for every day eating I am more likely to buy tinned refried beans and heat them up, but for special occasions I like to make my own using this recipe from Mexican Kitchen (page 237 in my edition).  
 
Image credit: Image from Wikimedia Commons and in the public domain. 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons lard (omit or use a substitute such as a cold-pressed vegetable oil for vegetarian cooking, olive oil will have too strong a flavour however)
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 4 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
• 900gm undrained cooked beans slightly warm for easy mashing
• salt to taste
• about 55gm crumbled Mexican *queso fresco or other cheese as noted below
• handful of tortilla chips

Instructions  

Frying and mashing the beans

1. In a large frying pan heat the fat over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until deep golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cook for a minute or so, then use a slotted spoon to scoop in about 1/4 of the beans, leaving most of the liquid behind. With a masher or the back of a large spoon mash the beans into a coarse puree. Add another portion of beans, mash them in, and continue until all of the beans have been added and coarsely mashed.
2. Add about a cup of bean liquid (or water if you have no liquid) and stir frequently over the heat until the beans are a little soupier than you would like to serve them. They'll stiffen up as they cool. Taste and season with salt if needed. 

To serve
Spoon the beans into a warm serving platter or onto individual plates, sprinkled with crumbled cheese, and serve with tortilla chips.

*Cheese - If you can't find Mexican queso fresco try either a dry feta, or Parmesan cheese.

 

 

Spicy Butternut Squash and Chickpea Soup

This is one of my most favourite winter-warmer soups. Made as is, it is a delicious vegan option.
In our house, we do eat meat so I like to add either bacon or bits of cooked ham. Either way, it's very nice. Add in a slice of crusty bread and perhaps some butter (or an olive oil spread) and you have the perfect meal for a Winter day.

Spicy Butternut Squash and Chickpea Soup

Number of Servings: 6

Butternut Squash

You will need:
1 Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed
2 Teaspoons Cumin
1 Onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Red Chilli, seeded and finely chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 tin Chopped Tomatoes
850 mililiter Vegetable stock (1.5 pints)
1 tin Chickpeas (Garbonzo beans)
salt and pepper to taste


Instructions:
Fry the onion for 3-4 mins in olive oil at a moderately-high temperrature until brown. Add a little of the stock if needed to stop it sticking.

Add the chilli, garlic and spices, stir and cook for 15 seconds.

Add the butternut squash and stir to coat in the spicy mix. Add about 3 tablespoons of stock, cover and leave to cook for 5 mins over a medium heat.

Add tomatoes, remaining stock and half the chickpeas, season well, stir, bring to the boil, then cover and cook over a medium heat for approx 20 mins or until the squash is tender.

Let it cool a little, blend, and then add the remaining chickpeas. Bring back up to heat and serve.


Non-vegetarian butternut squash soup


You could roughly chop about 250 grams cooked ham and add that to the soup after blending,
Or,
Chop 3 - 4 sliced smoked, dry cure back bacon.
Cook this on a low eat with a small amount of olive oil until crispy.
Add the onions and cook down slowly until browned.
Continue to follow the recipe as directed above.

How do you chop up a butternut squash?

This video demonstrates how to cut up a squash a lot better than I can explain it.

Butternut Squash Risotto

I used to think that risotto was a time consuming, difficult dish to create. I found the one recipe though that is so easy to follow, so simple, that even the least confident cook can make a tasty risotto. Adding butternut squash gives the dish an extra creaminess and just hits the spot on cool Autumn evenings.


Risotto is a dish that you can add more or less of what you like to. When I make butternut squash risotto, I like to add a cup of peas to the mix about half way through the cooking. This adds a nice splash of colour to the dish.

I frequently serve this dish with fish to make it a non-vegetarian meal.

It starts with the rice

Arborio Rice

Risotto rice contains more starch than other rices that are used in most cooking. This is what gives your risotto its creamy texture.

The grains are short, fat, and slightly oval shaped. Because it undergoes less milling than most rice, it retains more of the natural starches.

A pound of arborio rice can absorb up to 6 cups of liquid without becoming mushy.

"Oryza sativa, the Latin name for rice, was first cultivated in Italy around the fifteenth century. The japonica subspecies forms a round and large grain, grown for its starchy qualities - indispensable when making risotto. The types include carnaroli, vialone nano, arborio and, less well known, baldo."
~ From the Official Antonio Carluccio web site

Basic Risotto 

Risotto cooking

2 tbsp olive oil
55g (2 oz) butter
350g (12 oz) risotto rice
1.7 litres (3 pints) vegetable stock, simmering
55g (2 oz) Parmesan, freshly grated (omit or substitute vegan parmesan if making a vegan mean)
Salt and pepper to taste

Use a heavy saucepan with a rounded bottom, big enough to contain the rice, plus the liquid. Heat the oil and half the butter in this, then add and carefully coat the rice before adding any liquid. Turn the rice with a wooden spoon. You start to add the boiling stock when the rice is well and truly impregnated with butter and starts to stick to the bottom of the pan. Add only a ladleful at a time. Continue to stir and add the stock until the rice appears to be cooked (after 20 - 25 minutes).

At this stage remove the pan from the heat and, without stirring, let the rice absorb the last of the liquid. The risotto should have a creamy consistency,but the grains should still be firm to the bite (al dente). Just before serving (with the exception of seafood risottos), stir in the remaining butter and the freshly grated Parmesan. This last operation is called 'mantecare', possibly from the Spanish 'manteca' which means 'fat'. Taste finally for the right seasoning and serve straightaway. It is important to time the cooking so that this little work of art can be enjoyed and fully appreciated the moment the cheese has melted and the risotto is ready.

 Butternut Squash Risotto

Follow the recipe as directed above.

After adding the rice, before adding the liquid, add 1/2 butternut squash (peeled and cut into bite size or smaller pieces).

Continue to stir and add fluid as directed.

As the risotto cooks the butternut squash will cook and break down, adding to the creaminess of the risotto. I like to cut the squash into varying sizes between bite-sized and smaller. That way some pieces are broken down completely while others remain somewhat intact.




Arborio Risotto Rice 500 g

Vegan Parmesan 60g