Apricots. Yes, apricots. Upside down apricots in this case, but apricots. Processed (quite literally) apricots. But definitely still apricots. Local apricots. Yes, upstate NY apricots. And, many of the other ingredients also local, such as the honey in one of these three forms of apricots being preserved (though not all, I do admit, of the additional ingredients are local).
There are three forms of preserved apricots here, for those of you who cannot read upside down -- as I cannot seem o turn the picture in the blog entry! First: halved apricots in honey. Second: a chutney from the Washington Post. And Third, a spicy sweet chutney.
All apricots are from a local place (which some of you elsewhere will know): Red Jacket Orchards. I (We) purchased a rather large basket of apricots -- not seconds though everyone told me to get seconds -- and eventually I made these three wonders from those very apricots. No: I did not let any spoil. YEs, a few seemed a bit like seconds by the time I got to the end of the process (get the word play) of creating and processing when is now in the jars. Lets' review what those orange to brownish things are!
First, again, halved apricots in honey. In this case, the recipe came from a beloved friend (and eventual interviewee on this blog) -- Julia Hoyle, winemaker par excellence at Hosmer. The recipe involved honey, water, apricots, and time. Here's what one does: (a) go out and buy honey (unless you have some) -- preferably seasonally relevant to apricots, but just buy some local you fool! (I went with Wixson Honey, picked up at Red Jacket! No, not the same top as the apricots. Alas. As there was no spring flower honey on offer, I went with clover honey.) I also picked up some new ball jars as I am (gasp) running low!) The task was easy: put 1 and 1/4 cups of honey in a sauce pan with 3 cups of water. Warm up to a simmer. Meanwhile, wash and dry apricots and cut in half. Push as many apricot halves as you can into pint jars. Add honey/water to about a half inch from the top. Make sure to get rid of bubbles and air pockets. Process for a while (in my case I went with 30 minutes.) And voila -- beautiful! Thank goodness for friends.
Second option: make chutney from the Washington Post discovered via google. Why the Washington Post? Two reasons: (a) I found the recipe there and liked it; and (b) they are doing us all a service in today's horrifying political climate. Here's the recipe. Of course, as usual, I did not quite follow the directions. And, of course, as usual I did learn something.
Let's start with learning: in this recipe and the one following, the recipe calls for GRANNY SMITH APPLES. I was surprised -- but the reason given various places was the reality that apples are a natural source of pectin. In this recipe, the apples are unpeeled. Inthey re-eppear the next apricot chutney recipe discussed, they reappear peeled.
So what did I do with the Washington Post recipe: I made a huge batch is the first tweak. The second: I did not use a habanero but some local jalapeños and related peppers. I did use local peaches from (if you are following along you guessed it): Red Jacket. But, as they had no apples I had to go with Wegmans for the apples. A few other things: (a) under no circumstances was I willing to use a thermometer because a) I am not sure we own one and b) I forgot. Nor did I really test the consistency the way the recipe suggests. And I just automatically processed the stuff.
And technically, I should admit: this is peach apricot chutney or apricot peach chutney. With apples.
Third option, and second version of chutney? Here's the recipe, discovered by my partner. There were several reasons we liked this option: star anise; spices including mustard seeds, and yes, for me, onions are a plus. A few tweaks: I could not locate cabernet sauvignon vinegar though I have seen it and know it exists. I used a nice red wine vinegar. It did not say whether to peel the apples or not, so I peeled in this instance. And I made a big batch. So. . . . and processed it in pint jars. Hence the picture above with THREE Different forms of preserved chutney.
I feel I am cheating by just linking to the two chutney recipes, but there you go. And here are a few links: one, two, three, to other entires to Cooking with Ideas on chutney! First: peach chutney. Second: Chutney, Chutney, Chutney . . . how I love you. And this very one is number three, so no link because. . . here you are!
