Too Many Green Tomatoes? Make Chutney

There’s something about the very word “chutney” that I’ve always thought exotic.  I suppose that’s because it was something foreign to me as a child.  We had Welch’s grape jelly (in Flintstone glasses or maybe Tom and Jerry) or we had pickle relish.  Chutney kind of mixes those together.

I do vaguely recall Christmas gift packages my parents would receive, filled with cheese, meat, crackers and a jar of something with “MajorGrey” emblazoned on it.  Since then I’ve seen jars of all kinds of chutney, including the Major, in gourmet food shops. But still I kept my distance.  It was unfamiliar.

So why make chutney?  Why now?

1. I’ll eat anything.  (Just ask Mr. Rosemary.)
2. I love to experiment. (Ditto.)
3. I had a whole bunch of green tomatoes still sitting on the vine.  With a heavy frost sure to hit any day now, I needed to do something.

Enter Martha.  I often turn to one of my big bible-type cookbooks when I have a need to make an indefinable something with a particular something.  I found this Green Tomato Chutney recipe in the huge The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook, The Original Classics.  That’s the orange one. I have the blue one, too; that’s the New Classics version.  And I do consult them often.

So I had all the ingredients, I knew the chutney would keep a long time and I had visions of, not sugarplums, but pretty jars of my homemade chutney as charming Christmas gifts.

This particular recipe was pretty time-consuming, though.  And I found that paring green tomatoes is a whole lot harder than with ripe tomatoes.    

My verdict?  It’s pretty good.  And I didn't waste the tomatoes.  I’ve been eating it on my morning toast, on top of a smear of mascarpone cheese.  My neighbor Dick stopped by soon after I finished making the chutney and I made him taste it.  He’s a great guinea pig.  He just took the cracker I offered  without even asking what it was and immediately declared, “Tastes like mincemeat.”  A spot on description.

Chutneys are just a condiment, and as varied as any salsa or relish.  Usually, it’s a sweet-sour mix of fruit and vegetable combinations with vinegar and sugar, cooked well down. Next time, I’d use apple instead of raisins.  (Mr. Rosemary's comment:  "I relish relish; I don't 'chutney' chutney.")

But my visions of Christmas presents of chutney?  Sorry, but not gonna happen.

Green Tomato Chutney

from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook, The Original Classics

1 large bunch fresh mint, roughly chopped

4 pounds green tomatoes

2 yellow onion (1 pound), finely diced

1 ½ cup white vinegar

1 ½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup golden raisins

1. Cover and bring a large stock pot of water to a boil. Tie mint in a piece of cheesecloth.  Set aside.  Prepare an ice water bath. Set aside

2. Using a paring knife, remove the core and score the end of each tomato with a shallow “x”.  Blanch the tomatoes in the boiling water for 30 seconds.  With a slotted spoon, transfer the tomatoes to the ice bath.  Using a paring knife, peel off the skin and discard. Cut the tomatoes into ¾ inch chunks and set aside.

3.  Combine the onions, vinegar, mint bundle, sugar, salt, raisins and 1 cup water in a low-sided 6-quart saucepan.  Cover and bring to a boil over medium high heat.

4.  Add the tomatoes and reduce to a simmer.  Cook, stirring frequently until the tomatoes are tender, about 1 hour.

5.  Increase the heat to high and continue cooking stirring frequently until almost all the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat and discard the mint bundle.

6.  Transfer the chutney immediately to a large bowl over the ice bath to chill. Chutney can be stored, refrigerated in an airtight container up to 4 weeks.

Makes 6 half-pint jars.