whine & dine

I don’t really do Christmas presents. I mean, I love buying gifts for friends and loved ones when I’m out and chance upon something that I just know they’d love, but I never end up being able to wait until the next upcoming occasion to give it to them. And when a season like Christmas appears, I’m never able to find anything that I really want to get, and it just feels like such a waste to buy a present just for the sake of giving one. (Also, how many people really get that excited over a bottle of Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream?)

This year, I’ve decided to do something a little more personal. I’ve been doing a fair bit of preserving, so I thought I’d bottle up some home-made edible gifts. It’s especially good, of course, for those friends that already have everything they want. Also, once it’s eaten up, it won’t sit around, neglected, in the back of a shelf collecting dust either.

One of the preserves I’ve made already is a simple tomato chutney. It’s everything a great chutney should be – tangy, sweet but not cloyingly so, and with a lovely kick from a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes. In the picture at the start of the post, I served it alongside some duck breasts that sat in my sous vide supreme for 25 minutes at 60.5ºC before going skin side-down into a hot, dry pan to render out some of the fat from and to crisp up the skin. I also imagine it’d go great paired with some smoked cheddar and a hoppy beer, but I’ll leave the rest of the imagining to you. After all, this is one of the ways in which this gift keeps on giving :)

Note: I just made another – slightly larger – batch (which makes a little more sense, if you’re going through the trouble of cooking up a pot of the stuff, you might as well make a little extra and bottle it up for a rainy day. I’ve adjusted the measurements according to how I made it today, but – as with most of my recipes – it should be adapted to your own taste and preference.

Spicy Tomato & Onion Chutney
600g red onions, finely sliced
1.5kg mixed varieties of tomatoes, roughly chopped (I used beef heart and some vine-ripened cherry and honey tomatoes)
100g large red chilli, minced
100ml dry red wine
300g red wine vinegar
300g light muscovado sugar
3 tbsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp sea salt
olive oil

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium-low heat. (I used a medium-sized dutch oven.) Tip in all your sliced onions, add half the salt, and cook gently, stirring every couple of minutes, until the onions are translucent, very soft, and have just about started to colour in some places (about 15 minutes).

Once your onions have softened, raise the heat to medium, and tip in all the tomatoes, fresh chilli and wine, the rest of the salt, and about three-quarters each of the vinegar and sugar. Give the pot a good stir, then simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, stirring the pot every 5-10 minutes to ensure that nothing catches at the base of the pot (about 25-30 minutes). Stir in the chilli flakes, and have a taste. Add more sugar or vinegar as needed, but what you’re looking for is a good balance of flavours – keep in mind that they’ll continue to concentrate as the chutney reduces further.

Cook for another 20-25 minutes, or until the chutney is thick and jammy. The contents of your pot should start out a pretty liquidy, bright pomodoro-type vermillion, and slowly thicken and darken into a deep, brick-red chutney. Have another taste, and correct the seasoning if necessary. (Different tomatoes have widely varying acid and sugar contents, so it’s important to taste as you go along, as it’d be near impossible for me to give you the exact quantities.) Once you’re satisfied with it, spoon carefully into hot sterilized jars, screw the sterilized lids on and process in a boiling water bath or whatever your preferred method of sealing is.

Sealed, the chutney will keep in a cool, dark place for 4-6 months. Once opened, store the bottles in the fridge and consume within 4 weeks.

Yield: Makes about 6 cups worth of chutney, depending on the water content of your fruit.