Picked my allotment!

After about a year on a waiting list, I finally got to pick my allotment today!

Not wanting to take on too much in one go, I've gone for a half-plot, affectionately called 40A!

Although it's only a half plot, it was bigger than the other halves I was shown and seemed bigger than half of the only full plot that was available. Mine is on the 'larger' side of the access drive whereas all the others were on the shorter side.

It seemed in quite good condition - no massive build up of grass or anything. I think the bloke said that the person that had the whole plot couldn't cope so handed half back, after getting it nearly ready for working.

I should get my forms and stuff by the back-end of next week.

Right - I'm off to buy some potatoes.

And onions.

And carrots.

And broccoli. You get the idea.

Green Tomato Chutney (at last)

I've been meaning to write this up for ages!

With my left over green tomatoes there is only one thing to do - Green Tomato Chutney of course! I looked about for recipes and it seems like everyone's got their own, so I borrowed bits from all over the place, but the main idea was taken from margeland.co.uk

I had to adjust the quantities to marry up with the amount of tomatoes I had. I also sterilised my old coffee jars in a Milton solution overnight (the same strength as used for babies bottles).

Now the main point of this Matt's Patch entry is really for my own benefit (to record the recipe) as I think the resulting chutney is a little too sweet - not much mind, just a tad. Sort of heading towards a sweet tomato/onion relish. Having said that it is very nice and is beautiful on some strong mature cheddar!

One thing that surprised me about Green Tomato Chutney, is that I thought it would be mainly, well, green tomatoes. However that's not the case - there are a lot of other ingredients.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 650g green tomatoes
• 330g cooking apples, peeled and diced
• 340g shallots, peeled
• 300g sultanas
• 300g demerara sugar
• 300ml malt vinegar
• 1 chilli
• 1 piece of ginger, about 1cm
• 1 tsp salt

The weights above are what I put in but as a rough guide I think they are about half the quantity of the tomatoes (600 vs 300).
Method:

1. Prepare the tomatoes. Wash them and cut them in half or smaller if they are quite big.
2. Cut the chilli in half and remove the seeds.
3. Peel the ginger and gently squash it a bit to allow it to release its flavour.
4. Place the tomatoes, shallots and apples in a food processor and chop them up, but not too much.
5. In a large, deep cooking pot place the chopped items along with the vinegar, sugar, raisins and salt. Mix well.
6. Add the chilli and ginger and stir again. Put the heat on and bring the chutney to the boil. Keep stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves and the bottom of the pot doesn't catch. (It was at this point I panicked that I'd overdone it with the vinegar but it all turned out ok in the end, though it does get in your nose while it's cooking!)

Just starting to cook


7. Once the mixture is at a good boiling stage turn the heat down to a simmer. Simmer the chutney for at least an hour, if not more. Also you will need to stir the chutney from time to time.

Coming along nicely


8. Once the chutney has attained a jam like consistency it is done. Take out the chilli and ginger and discard.
9. Carefully spoon the chutney into the sterilised jars. It is a good idea to make sure the jars are warmed too so as not to crack when the hot chutney goes in! You want to pack the chutney in so there are no air bubbles.
10. Create a seal over the surface of the chutney with a bit of folded clingfilm. Put the lids on tightly.
11. Leave the jars to cool thoroughly. It is this process that 'seals' the lids on tight! Once opened keep the chutney in the fridge.

Two jars of GTC!

Next time I make this I will reduce either the sultanas or the sugar, just to ease off on the sweetness.