As it is now autumn and autumnal fruits are in abundance, it is the usual time to make jam. However, I for one have difficulty in keeping my weight down. This is a perpetual challenge. As this is my new adopted home, I am still game for new things. Since I have done jam, now I must do something else other than jam.
I was in the dog ‘school’ a few weeks back and came across an elderberry ‘tree’ ( it is actually a shrub, but I think it must be pretty matured/old to grow to tree height). The lady at the Kennel club saw me admiring the fruits and we had a chat. She said it was ok for me to pluck the berries ( Mind you, the branches are from the neighbour’s. But it is ok as what ever falls or goes over the fence belongs to the neighbour/public. Anyway, that was what I learnt in law lessons.)
So I decided to pluck the berries. I went home and weighed it and it was not even 500 grammes. So I kept it in the fridge and took some more the next week.
I now have about a kilo. Not wanting to consume too much sugar, I decided to make chutney instead of jam. I searched the internet and found several recipes and tweaked it here and there. This is the first time I am making chutney.
It turned out not to be as daunting as I thought. I ran our of vinegar so I used a mixture of malt, cider and wine vinegar and it turned out the flavour is not so sharp or tart. So it is ok. I gave one to my friend and he likes it. Yay…!
Here is the recipe:
Elderberry Chutney
Quick Info
Makes: 2 regular jars
Difficulty: easy
Cost: £
Time: 40 mins to prep,
Ingredients
1 kg Elderberries
1 Onion ( about 150g)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon powder
1 tsp Nigella seeds or onion seeds
¼ tsp Nutmeg powder
¼ tsp Cloves powder
¼ tsp Ginger powder
500 ml Vinegar ( malt or a combination)
2 Medium sized Bramley apples – chopped into 1 cm cubes (about 500g)
100g Raisins
150g Brown sugar
2 Jam jars
Method:
- Rinse the elderberries and pick the fruits off the stems using a fork.
- Chop the onion and add all the ingredients except the apples, raisins and brown sugar.
- Bring to boil and simmer for about 45 minutes. Check and stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Press the mixture through a wire sieve. This will take a while and is quite tedious.
- Place the strained mixture back to the pan with the apples, raisins and sugar and bring it to the boil again, making sure the sugar has dissolved.
- Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Spoon into the jars. Cover with wax disc and put on the lid while still warm.
- Leave aside to cool and store.
- Once opened, it can be kept in the fridge…for quite a long time. About 2 months.
I still have mine in the fridge and it is still fresh.
I hope you like my new adventure.
Please ‘like’ and ‘share’ the post.
Do try the recipe and tell me how yours go.
Till the next post, cheers.
Penang Lassie
