Green with envy

Well the end of the summer crop is drawing to a close and the plants are all starting to look a little worse for wear. Last week we came close to the first frost of the year and the tomatoes took it badly. So this week i went out and picked everything that was left on the vines. Green, red and yellow tomatoes all went in the basket.

In considering what to do with them i went back to an old favourite, green tomato chutney. This is a classic from the NZ Edmonds cook book and definitely worth a try if you've never had it before.


Green Tomato chutney


2.25kgs green tomatoes 
6 onions, finely chopped 
1.25kg apples, peeled and chopped 
2 cups seedless raisins 
1 cup crystallised mixed peel 
4 cups brown sugar 
4 cups malt vinegar 
2 tablespoons salt 
1 teaspoon black peppercorns 
2 teaspoons whole cloves 
2 fresh chillies or to taste 


Put all ingredients except spices into a large pot. This recipe uses whole spices but it never have them so i always use slightly less of the ground variety. If you use the whole spices you need to put them in a muslin bag to boil with the rest of the ingredients and remove it at the end, if you use ground just chuck them in. Boil steadily for about 2 hours, stirring frequently until it reaches a thick jam like consistency. Pour into hot sterilised jars and waterbath for 15 mins. This is an all time favourite and is amazing on scottish oatcakes with cheese.


Because i had a mixture of coloured tomato i decided this recipe needed a more appropriate name.

Yum i'm hungry now, might go whip up some oatcakes. I know a few people who would be very keen on a jar of this!
Take care everyone. xx