7/30/13

Tales of Tuesday

Today I dedicated myself to working with the peaches I bought at the Portland Farmer's Market on Saturday.  These are Red Haven peaches, and they were recommended by the farmer as being the best she had on hand for making chutney.


I've been in search of a recipe approximating an apricot-mango chutney I had recently, but haven't found anything that was just right.  This recipe is my own concoction inspired by combinations of different recipes I found in this book:


The recipe in the Ball Blue Book uses nectarines instead of peaches and it also calls for a chili pepper.  I substituted crushed red pepper flakes since I didn't have any peppers on hand.  Also, the technique is of my own design since theirs seemed unnecessarily complicated.  I don't think peaches and nectarines are so different.  In any case, here is what it looked like when it was all finished.  And man, oh, man, is it tasty!


This will be good on chicken or fish, and it's also really good spread on a cracker with cream cheese.  Can you tell I am a great fan of chutney?

Want to know how I did it?  Here's the recipe I came up with:

Peach Chutney
Recipe By:  Barbara Stanbro
Yield:  about six half-pints

2 quarts sliced, peeled, pitted peaches (about 10 large)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped onion (about 1 large)
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger -- minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 cup bottled lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot.  Simmer until thick, about 1 hour.  When chutney has cooked down some, use a potato masher to break up peach slices, if necessary.  Continue stirring frequently to prevent sticking.  Ladle hot chutney into hot half-pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.  Adjust two-piece caps.  Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Add five minutes of processing time for every 1,000 feet of elevation.

I'm updating this post to say that I'll be linking up to:



That took me most of the day, but I still had time to finish up the July block for the Hello Moon quilt along.


This quilt along is designed by April Mae Designs.  Her original block sort of had the tent and fire floating in space, and she suggested adding some grass.  Seemed like a good idea to me, so here's how my block ended up.


These blocks are such fun to make.  Here are the rest of the blocks I've made so far.  


That's seven down, five to go.  Now I'm excited to see what she comes up with for August.

And with that, I'm ready to put my feet up for the time I have left before Mike gets home.  Fortunately, I have leftovers for dinner, so no more cooking for me today.

How did your Tuesday go?

10 comments:

WoolenSails said...

I have been eating nectarines myself, no fuzz so good to eat fresh, but i love peaches for cooking and to sweeten things. That is another fun block.

Debbie

quiltzyx said...

I keep thinking that I would like to try canning something again one day. The chutney does look & sound delicious.

I'm looking forward to the Moon quilt too - I like the smiley flames in this month's block! lol

Vroomans' Quilts said...

The recipe sounds yummy and look at those lovely jars!! Your Moon quilt is looking stunning - hmm, look out Mr Sun, Mr Moon might take my favors.

Brown Family said...

I have never eaten any chutney, but it looks good. !

Denise :) said...

There's something particularly satisfying about having a row (or rows) of newly filled jars of jam or produce! Your peach chutney sounds fabulous! The most I fool with anymore is freezer jam -- our fig tree is getting ready to explode and I will definitely put some of that up! Your "Hello Moon" is coming along very nicely!! :)

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

Glad the peaches worked out for your recipe!

Snoodles said...

Mmmmm, got the recipe, now to find the right peaches!

Dogwood Lane Rambles said...

I have just enough peaches left to try your recipe - yummy!

Diane Wild said...

I don't know if I've ever eaten chutney but it looks yummy and I see you're a big fan. The campfire block of the Moonie quilt is very cute. Looking forward to seeing the finished quilt. I only did a few blocks for the IQ Challenge.

Kate said...

Those Hello Moon blocks are such fun. Your's look great, the background fabric is just perfect.