Fennel Chutney

 

 

The mild, aniseed, aroma of fennel seems almost to good to waste on a mere vegetable.  Combined with onion and apples (home grown, naturally) it makes a splendid amber coloured chutney - the only drawback, is that it is necessary to wait a while until it settles won (a Champion chutney-maker or, "Champ-chutter," as they are known in the trade, who has a plot near ours tells us that she never tries a new summer flavour until after Christmas).  For those who want to give it a go, here's the recipe:

Ingredients

around: 1/2 kg fennel bulb, chopped small

1/2 kg white onion, chopped small

1 kg cooking apple, chopped small

1 tbsp fennel seed

500ml cider vinegar

600g soft brown sugar


Method

slowly stir sugar into the vinegar 

then add fennel (bulb and seed), onion and apple, and increase temperature to boil, before reducing to simmer.  Once surplus liquid has mostly evaporated  the bottom of our preserving pan should be visible for a few moments when you run a wooden spoon through the mix  (takes around 1.5 hours)

finally, cram into sterilized jars


 

 

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