Refined Sugar Free Feijoa Chutney

It is raining feijoa it seems and wherever we look or go fruit is littering the ground!  We love them here; fresh, as jam, as chutney in baking…. you name it we will have a go.   Our own tree isn’t that great at producing big fruit however the kids always manage to find a feed when they are out playing.  Yesterday though, while visiting the Mother in Law the kids managed to collect several large bags from the place where she lives.

Feijoa, washed and ready to use.

So over the next 2 weeks at least…. maybe more depending on how many more people give us Feijoa…. I will share a few recipes that we use.  This week I thought I would share a Feijoa chutney recipe which I have adapted to use honey instead of sugar.  This yummy recipe comes from ‘Vegetariana’ by Susie Shaw and Wendy Baxter (which was a freebie with an magazine many moons ago and doesn’t seem available except on the link given for a Trade Me sale) so I’ll put down the original recipe and just add my honey modification in brackets.   Another point is they didn’t use the skins in their recipe whereas I do (waste not, want not) so my instructions are below rather than theirs.

Yum!! Feijoa Chutney for our stores

Feijoa Chutney (makes 4.5 x 225 gm jars)

-12 Feijoas

-2 cooking apples (I used large eating apples so it was sweeter)

-1 tsp mixed spice

-450 gm sugar (150 gm runny honey)

-2 onions

-250 mls cider vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar… guessing it is the same)

-1 tbsp salt (I just did a few grinds of himalayan salt)

– 1 tsp cayenne pepper ( I use 1/2 this amount or none)

• Top and tail the washed feijoa and chop into chunks (size depends on what you like)
• Dice onion along with cored and peel apples
• Put all ingredients into a pot and bring to the boil
• Simmer, stirring frequently for around 30 mins
• Pour into clean jar and seal.

Until next week and another recipe …. man I’m on a roll at the moment!… I hope you are enjoying the fruits of your life.

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Time to preserve

The plum trees are full and ready for the picking along with the apples, the last of the citrus are falling and finally stone fruit is cheap in the supermarket.  It seems that Autumn is on its way and the time is ready for preserving.

Getting ready for a small batch of  plum sauce

This is just a quick post, and maybe a tad annoying for those who like measurements, to remind you that all those yummy preserves don’t need to be sugar laden.  For some years now I have been creating marmalade, plum jam and plum sauce without the aid of sugar and instead just use honey as a sweetener when needed.  It definitely takes a little longer and a bit more watching, for me though the results are worth it – refined sugar free stockpiles to get us through winter.

So far I have only used plums (jam and sauce) and citrus (marmalade) which have been a success.  With jam I pretty much just cut the fruit then half cover with water and then boil until fruit is soft and the liquid has reduced a fair bit.  At this point I take it off the heat and taste before adding a bit of honey and reducing further. The rest of course is the heat the jars and bottling the stuff up to enjoy :). It is a trial and error process but not too strenuous if you are around the house anyway.

Here is a Plum Sauce recipe I have adapted out of the good old kiwi Edmonds Cookbook

Plum Sauce

• Plums
• White Vinegar to cover
• Honey to sweeten
• 1 or 2 cloves chopped garlic
• black pepper to taste
• ground cloves (amount depends on plum amount 1 tsp for 1.4 kg plums)
• ground ginger (amount depends on plum amount 1 tsp for 1.4 kg plums)
• ground mace (amount depends on plum amount 1/2 tsp for 1.4 kg plums)
• cayenne pepper (optional)
• salt

-Cut up plums and cover with vinegar.  Add the spices and garlic.

-Bring to the boil, stirring frequently and continue boiling until mixture is pulpy.

-Take off the heat and taste then add honey to your desired sweetness (sometimes the plums have already done the job).

-Return to the boil to reduce down a little further but still leaving runny enough for a sauce.  You can then bottle like this or blend the mixture first depending on how smooth or chunky you like your sauce.

The sauce is great as a base on pizzas or as a side to home-made chips (fries) and a definite favourite around here!

Hope this finds you enjoying the sweetness of the season and I’d love to hear from you if you’ve used other fruit to make preserves without refined sugar:)

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz