Actually, we've had a couple of hard frosts and so this bed, below, looks quite different right now. But as of 10 days ago, this was the evidence of the mistake I made when trying to find a place for the last two tomato plants that just wouldn't fit into the garden beds that you see in the background there — in the sun.
I know this.
I know that these beds (there are three) get the sun for too short a time. I know because of the trees and the leach field/hill that looms over them, as the days get shorter, the beds get even less sun than you would think. They are okay for kale and potatoes maybe.
Yet.
I persist.
Of course those two plants would prove to be the most prolific. Quite possibly it was that extra load of aged manure I put in there in the spring… But frost was coming, so the green tomatoes had to come inside! Bowls and bowls of them. Some will ripen on the counter, but the majority needed to be made into something…
I knew I wanted to make this chutney. Just a note: You could use green apples if you happen not to have been a silly head like me. In fact, chutney can really be made with anything that seems firm and a bit tangy, so don't get too particular about this recipe. If you have hard-ish pears or peaches or mangos, go for it.
So fabulous with all sorts of things. We had it passed around to nestle next to our slices of baked ham this Sunday, and it was yummy. (And that is why there is even less pictured here than I made, a paltry few jars. This is how relishes end up being when all is said and done. Relishes and jams. They take a lot of fruits and veg to yield their little jars, don't they?)
Full of deep acidic tang, thanks to the tomatoes, vinegar, and a finely chopped lemon (I actually used half a lemon and half a lime, just because they were already cut and why not?), and sultry spices, thanks to the cumin and coriander, chutney just rescues you when all you've done is just made plain things. But you know what? Plain things are good. And even better with a little zing!
As for the canning, I tried to describe all this process in this post in a way that I would have appreciated when I was overthinking things back in the day (I never do now). That is, detailed but helping you over the parts that seem clear to the initiated but opaque to the over-thinker.
The main thing is that when you have done it a few times, this step will cease to trouble/overwhelm/scare/otherwise defeat you and you can do it in a spare 1/2 hour, as I did last night, because after I made the chutney I realized I didn't have the right sized jars (can you say “plan ahead Auntie Leila”). The whole thing can just sit in the fridge until you get it up to a boil again and then proceed with the canning.
For your information, these are half-cup jars and a very small spoon!
I still have more to go. Either I will make more chutney or maybe some relish. What are you making?
Green Tomato Chutney, Like Mother, Like Daughter
Makes about 3 cups. Maybe.
{A variation on the two basic recipes from the ever-helpful if quirky Joy of Cooking. For instance, it's not probably going to cook down for 2 hours. And I've added spices. And sort of combined the two recipes. So.}
1 seeded chopped lemon (as I said, I used half a lemon and half a lime, but lime peel is much tougher than lemon peel, so be sure to truly mince it)
3 heaping teaspoons of ginger-garlic paste (go here for how to get this in your fridge — and see? I told you that you'd use it for everything — you immediately notice that the recipe calls for garlic and ginger and you save yourself a step)
5 or 6 cups green tomatoes, chopped (again, you can substitute green apples, hard peaches or pears, or whatever seems to be going to work here, including some red tomato, which I did — it really doesn't matter!)
1 cooking apple, chopped (I like to use Macoun or a granny smith here — you need it to be firm)
1 cup of raisins (I used golden and dark, half and half)
1 medium chopped onion
3/4 cup dark honey (this was some of our boiled down honey from the harvest — you could use all brown sugar)
1 cup brown sugar (after all is mixed, see if this results in the sweetness of relish that you like — if not, add more)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups cider vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (this is a LOT for me and I consider this chutney to be right at the limit of what I can bear, but the others hardly noticed it)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon mustard seed (if you have it — I didn't so you don't see it in there, but it would be good)
Cook all of this up, simmering in a pot until the liquid gets syrupy and thickened. Joy says 2 hours, I say 45 minutes or so.
Here is how you make the liquid syrupy without turning the ingredients into mush: After about 15 minutes of simmering everything together, strain the liquid into another pot (I use the lid). Boil that down (perhaps giving the straining another go after a bit; more liquid will have settled in your main pot) until it is syrupy and then pour it back with the solids.
In any case, keep an eye on it because you don't want it to burn!
Put it into sterile, hot, small canning jars, seal, and put in a hot water bath for 10 minutes for little jars, 15 for pints.
And for such little jars, you can certainly use your normal 8 quart stock pot with a round cake rack in the bottom.
Ona says
Oh my goodness…….chutney “nestled up” to baked ham? love that description!
priest's wife @byzcathwife says
…I think persimmons would work in the recipe..hmm…
Crete says
Hmm.. something else to do with green tomatoes. Usually mine end up in pickalilly- slightly different flavor, but same idea.
Katherine says
I think it’s very poor timing on the part of Mother Nature that everything seems to ripen and needs attention RIGHT NOW at the beginning of the school year. I’m trying to keep up. I feel so guilty when home-grown produce goes bad (well, not quite as guilty if we didn’t have a compost pile or chickens). I juiced the last of our pathetic looking pears this morning. I peeled the remaining apples and made two apple pies (after my husband dropped unsubtle hints at the dinner table last night) and I think I still have enough left to dry. I know the green tomatoes will be coming next, so I’ll keep your chutney recipe in mind.
NY Mom says
Right there with ya, Katherine. I spend too much time searching for the perfect bowl to hold our pears, only to find three days later fruit flies hovering over the bruises and soft spots. Sometimes I’ll just pitch them (cleaned, of course) into the applesauce to assuage my guilt, but keeping up with home-grown produce is almost a full-time job this time of year. The deer do a better job of using our fruit than I do.
Robin says
Just in time, Auntie Leila to the rescue! Those green tomatoes are sneaking up on me and there are already some BIG jars of chow chow (relish) in the fridge from a big sack of green tomatoes a neighbor inexplicably brought us early in the season. Now I know what to do, and it will make the husband very happy indeed! I do need to get my act together and just can stuff already since my extra fridge crashed–so I’ll be looking up that old canning post as well. Thank you!
Maxine says
What a good idea! I have never had chutney, though I keep hearing about it. We made fried green tomatoes a few times, then my daughter made green tomato pie, which was actually really good (http://nunezfamily5.blogspot.com/2015/10/isabel-baked-what.html). We ended up making three of those over time, then the rest of our tomatoes turned red so we made sauce. Maybe next year we’ll try chutney. 🙂
ElizabethClare says
This looks delicious. I will have to pass it along to my mother (who has more time and tomatoes on her hands than I do!). I’ve also heard of green tomato pie that tastes just like apple pie. I think I’ll have to try that sometime too!
Dixie says
Doesn’t Ma make green pumpkin pie in one of the Little House books? Maybe it was in one of the LH offshoots. Anyway, it was described as tasting like apple pie!
Margo, Thrift at Home says
that looks so good! Love the idea of chopping up a lemon and putting the whole thing in there. I’ve made various kinds of chutneys over the years and we just love them. They make wonderful hostess gifts.
I’ve used green tomatoes before in a green tomato curry (the link is buried somewhere in my pinterest boards). It was delicious.
pam says
Hi, the chutney looks delicious! Last week I made some Autumn Olive jelly & pickled peppers. Your right, sometimes you just have to go with it: either mix it up partly or pick & go. I pre cooked then froze the Autumn Olive berries till I could can them and the peppers were off the bush approx 10 mins before they were sliced, pickled, processed & sitting on the counter popping.
Caitlin says
I used up the green tomatoes that I had left (aka mocking me) and made this yesterday. IT IS AMAZING. Although I didn’t have the full five cups I approximated and halved the other ingredients and it worked beautifully. I liked it so much I had some on toast for lunch- it’s incredible!!
Monica Olsen says
I just wanted to come back and say Thank You for the recipe! I gave jars as special Christmas gifts last December, and they were much loved. I decided to write about my cheeky experience making your recipe, linking back to this article. http://orthodoxmothersdigest.blogspot.com/2021/07/green-tomato-chutney.html