Chutney

Just back from a soroptimist social – the president cooked us lovely lamb tagine with cous cous followed by fruit salad. I walked up, naturally, and as I left I contemplated going back into the flat for my sunglasses… 10 minutes later I was sheltering from a cloud burst, soaked to the skin and literally dripping. Luckily it was a warm evening, and within half an hour of arriving at Val’s I had dried off!

Dress & cardi: charity shops;
shoes: Dotty P’s

Before I left I quickly cooked off the rest of the mirabelle plums into a chutney. I had a recipe from a book but ended up twisting it slightly, adding an extra spoonful of sugar to taste, a good handful of sultanas for texture, a grating of fresh nutmeg for that Christmas edge, and using cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar for that apple ‘bite’:

Mirabelle Chutney Recipe

Ingredients
500g mirabelle plums, halved and pitted
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup/110ml cider vinegar
3 tbsps water
Good handful of sultanas
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup/100g demerara sugar

1) Place the shallots in a stainless steel saucepan with the oil and saute for 5 minutes until softened and sizzling.

2)Add the chopped plums, vinegar, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, sultanas and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for about 15 minutes until softened and slightly thickened.

3) Pre-warm your chosen (sterilised) jars, either in boiling water or in a warm oven (120C). Spoon the chutney into the warm jars, seal, then leave to cool completely.