When is jam not jam? When it's chutney, of course!

The light is different. The Greek island of Lesbos opposite is starting to emerge from its hazy summer shroud so we can see its beautiful silhouette once more. There is a change in the air, the nights are much cooler, Osman Bey next door is no longer sleeping on his roof, his snores gently punctuating my stargazing. The displays of fruit and vegetables in the Ayvacik market yesterday were not quite so lavish and there was generally a fin du saison feel about it. The truth is, summer is almost over.

The zuccaciye where I bought my first lot of jars for bottling the tomatoes, still hasn’t stocked up on that most convenient size so I had to buy the larger ones, for today we had a project! Having your own vegetable garden may be a rural idyll but with all the lovely hot sun we have been having, Elaine’s has been relentless. It has been producing copious amounts of all sorts of things including aubergines, green peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers all summer long. They cannot be ignored; they clamour for attention on an almost daily basis. Just eating a few now and then will not suffice.

Here are our ingredients

Today’s recipe was actually for Chilli Jam using sweet red peppers with apples. Now, Elaine’s patch doesn’t do red peppers but what she did have was huge amounts of the green ones that had to be dealt with. With great panache, she adapted the original recipe so that it was no longer for jam but for chutney! It was a perfect exercise in using what you have and not worrying too much if you haven’t got quite the right ingredients.

Adaptation according to Elaine:

• 1kg green peppers – there were a few little red ones in there too. By the way, these peppers are not hot, they just look it. However, we tested a few just to make sure!

• ½ kg apples – ours were sweetish but the good news is that you can use any kind, sweet or sour

• 150 gr granulated sugar

• 110 ml. Vinegar: we had rice wine so you can see any will do! The locally available apple vinegar (elma sirkesi) would be fine

• ½ tbsp salt

Makes 3 small jars or 1 ½ big ones.

Method

1. Wash and deseed the peppers.

Here are the peppers, all prepared and ready to go

 You can put them in a bowl of water as you go so that any remaining seeds fall to the bottom. You don’t want them. Lay the peppers in a single layer on an oven tray and put in a pre-heated 200 deg oven till slightly brown. The idea is to soften them up (about 10 – 15 mins).

2. Wash, core and cut the apples into quarters. We didn’t peel them.

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Don't you think they look delicious?

3. Put apples and softened peppers into a large saucepan and add the other ingredients. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and let simmer for about an hour.After about 15 mins, scatter a few flakes of red chilli pepper (pul biber) just to add a little bite.

The chutney is ready when the water has almost all boiled away and the apples and peppers have merged into each other, the colour of warmed earth, sweet-smelling and soft.

Well, what do you think?

Using a stick blender, give the mixture little bursts to break it down further. Be careful: you don’t want to overdo it otherwise it becomes like baby mush. It is a chutney, after all.Spoon immediately into your prepared jars (see my first blog about bottling tomatoes for how to sterilize in the oven. Also Elaine’s method, below). Let cool slightly then screw the lid on.

We had a little taste and though we say so ourselves, found it quite delicious. The real test was Peter, that most English of Englishmen. We watched his face apprehensively as he popped a spoonful in his mouth: to our great delight, mmmmm was the verdict!

Conclusion: we may not have Military Pickles but we do have Elaine’s Pepper and Apple Chutney!

Tip

• Elaine has another way to prepare the jars: first, put them in the dishwasher. Then take them out and fill them with boiling water. Leave them like that for 1 hr. Done like this, filled, they should still be kept in the fridge till needed.

• Another friend of ours has a further tip: turn the jars upside-down after sealing. Leave that way to cool. This ensures that any pockets of air, which could cause mould, disappear.



And now we are off to the beach!