Peaches Part II

Peach Tomato Chutney...

During our experiment to see how much I can get done with only a few winks, I thought I'd share a one of the things that one can accomplish with minimal sleep. I've found if I can get past that hump that comes somewhere after exhaustion, my body suddenly gets a surge of energy trying make up for it. That's usually when things like this happen: peach tomato chutney. Mmmm! I was inspired by Sarah's fruit cocktail. I too had a few peaches lying around. They were just a bit too ripe to eat on their own, but not past the point of no return. That's the great thing about chutney recipes, you can use fruit that's gone just a bit soft but still too good to throw away. They work great with plums, mangoes, and anything else you have sitting on the counter. I also had some pretty cute small canning jars in my cupboard I've been dying to do something with, so chutney was the perfect answer!

Now, I should mention something about my method of cooking. I'm not very patient when it comes to following recipes. Some may say I'm a lazy cook. I admit that I get a little bored half way through with measuring everything out just exactly. I once saw a woman who actually measured out the weight of things while baking on a scale - I'm sure her cookies turn out perfect every time but what a lot of work! My motto- if it takes longer to cook it than it does to eat it, not a recipe I want to make. Because of my "laziness," most of the things I make end up being improvised or with me taking short cuts. I fully recognize this is why I'm not a top chef. But with chutneys, this is kind of OK. You can put the ingredients in the pot, let it cook up, and voila, ready to slather onto a yummy grilled chicken sandwich, slather onto some pork chops for all you pig eaters out there, and even spread on some warm zucchini bread. Possibilities galore. The best thing about making a chutney is that you can toss everything into one pot and let it simmer away! Some recipes only cook for 15-20 minutes, but most recommend around an hour. I think my ended up simmering for 1 1/2 hours before I got back to the pot. I didn't seal the jars since I planned to use it up sooner than later. This means my chutney will last in the fridge about two weeks. If you can the jars, they will obviously last much longer.

So this particular batch ended up being a blend of two recipes. I had to make some adjustments to accommodate what ingredients I had on hand, as well as what I thought sounded better taste wise. Like I said, I had some peaches just hanging out on my counter that were starting to get bruised. I just cut them up, bruises and all, into a glass measuring cup. Then I just stuck the knife in and started slicing them up more. Like I said, I'm kind of a lazy cook. Four peaches gave me about two cups. I also tossed in a small bag of peaches I had pulled out of my freezer the night before that I had gotten at the Dollar Tree. That's right! The dollar store now sells frozen foods for, you got it, a dollar! I added the extra peaches because I wanted it to be really peachy! 

I also had a few tomatoes from my in-law's garden sitting around that were starting to get that wrinkly look like they'd sat in the bath too long. They were still good, but too soft to slice for a sandwich. I ended up using a few small roma tomatoes, and a handful of cherry tomatoes. So I simply cut those all up into small-ish pieces, and tossing them in with the rest of the ingredients. Many chutney recipes call for onions, which I don't always love so I left them out. Plus, the one onion I had didn't look too safe to eat and I tossed it.You can try the recipe with onions if you'd like.

                                         

One recipe I had called for lots of brown sugar, the other used a tablespoon of honey. I wanted it to be a bit sweeter, but remember, I already planned to add lots of peaches. So I did some brown sugar, and some honey. Honey is kind of a pain to put in a measuring cup since it's so sticky, and I feel like I lose some of the honey along the way when it sticks to the measuring cup. I just squeezed a fair amount into the pot, using the change in amount of the honey bottle to estimate how much I had used. 

Chutney's usually call for a good blend of spices: ginger, mustard seeds, red paper flakes, etc. Again, I just used what I had in my cupboard that was as close to the recipe as possible. I did measure these out, since too  much of one can make the whole thing take a turn for the worse. I love ginger, so I would recommend making sure you have that for your chutney. Fresh grated ginger would be ideal, but I had to use ground ginger. Also, mustard seeds would give your chutney a good flavor and texture, but ground mustard works too. One of the ingredients I didn't change was the apple cider vinegar. Vinegar is an important part of chutneys and helps give a good balance to the amount of acid in the recipe. I used a whole cup which one recipe called for. The other only used a tablespoon. The only downside to the cider vinegar is that it will make your house smells vinegary and your husband will probably complain the whole time the chutney simmers. Just tell him to calm down and reassure him he'll enjoy the results. I've put the recipe that I ended up with below. It tasted great!  Feel free to adjust it a bit according to your liking. 

Rachael's Peach Tomato Chutney

1 Tbs. butter

2 tsp. minced garlic (or 2 cloves)

1 med. sweet onion, chopped (if you want, I didn't)

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 pint cherry tomatoes (or what you have)

2-4 cups peaches, pitted, peeled, and diced

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1 Tbs. grated ginger or 1/2 Tbs. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds

1 tsp. chili powder (you could add more to amp up the heat if you want)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup raisins or cherries (craisins would work too)

zest/juice of 1 lemon

Melt the butter in a sauce pan on med. heat with the garlic and onion. Once the garlic starts to be fragrant, only a minute or two, start adding all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil, then turn town and keep it simmering for 1 hour. Stir occasionally. I tasted mine part way through to make sure it was turning out how I wanted. Towards the end it will thicken a little and may stick to the bottom of the pan, so stir it more often near the end of cooking. Take off the heat and let it cool down before putting in jars. Makes just about 4 cups of chutney. Enjoy!