I have been meaning to make chutney for a couple of weeks now, but for some reason the urge came upon me fairly early on Saturday morning, when I was still in my dressing gown. Two hours later and I was still tousle-haired and wearing an apron over my pajamas, but the pot was bubbling away on the stove and I was clearing up tomato skins and marrow seeds from the worktop.
I use Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's recipe for Glutney from his book the River Cottage Year - unfortunately it's not on his website. I have made my own tweaks, of course - I substitute a third of the white wine/cider vinegar for balsamic vinegar and half of the soft brown sugar for dark muscovado sugar, and I add some prunes, all of which makes the chutney extra sweet and tangy. 
The red onions on the right (Red Baron) were from the allotment, and the marrow was also homegrown: no tomatoes left I am afraid. I don't know if anyone else finds this, but my homegrown onions seem so much more juicy than shopbought ones - presumably because they are so fresh. I was crying so much while skinning these that my face was a mess! Having a food processor certainly makes processing all the raw ingredients a hell of a lot easier, particularly if you're an impatient type like me!
The pic on the right is the chutney simmering away on the stove, with the spice bag (blades of mace, coriander seeds, black peppercorn, fresh ginger, cloves ...) in the foreground. I've got a couple of "orders" in from friends who have become chutney fans so all I need to do now is write out some labels ...
Earlier this year we ended up making 15 pounds of tomato chutney, as well as 10lb each of damson jam and "hedgerow jelly" (elderberry, damson, blackberry, anything else you can find) - all of which have been extremely well received by all who've tried them.
Congratulations on doing so well yourself!
Posted by: Lyle | November 14, 2005 at 11:40 AM