Other things to do with chillies and peppers - end of season chutney.

We don't eat chillies, we grow them for their colour. There are other things to do with chillies rather than cook with them, they give instant colour to our cottage kitchen .

No good trying to peek through our kitchen window as I haven't found a place to put them yet.

There are some windows you just can't help look into.

Mark and Becca were at Soggibottom last weekend, we decided to go to Cockington Court to walk off a long lunch. 

The earliest part of this Manor House is Medieval, there has been a building here since the 10th century but the exact age of the Court is unknown. Most of the early construction is concealed by subsequent changes and alterations.
A sad looking ghost is said to haunt Cockington Court, thought to be Sir Henry Cary, a staunch Royalist during the Civil War who was knighted by Charles 1st.

 The war left him a ruined man. To pay fines imposed by Oliver Cromwell after the war, he was forced to sell his ancestral home.

No ghosts when we were there over the weekend, none that we could see at least. Cockington Court seems to have been taken over by a craft centre since our last visit.  A very interesting craft centre I add.

The grounds around the house are a dog walkers paradise. Especially good if the dog in question is a young pup that needs constant attention.

Well, most of the time she has constant attention.

I never gave a recipe on soggibottom's last post.for the tomato chutney I had made.
Thanks Miss Kodee  for reminding me.

This is a quick and easy way to use up all the unripened tomato's, use up a couple of stray onions, you can even add a few chillies or peppers. You can use red, yellow, green tomato's. In fact all that is left at the end of the season that will spoil if left sitting around.

2 lb. red or green  -  I mixed red, green and yellow tomato's.
8 oz  dark sugar, you can use white sugar if you prefer. .
A good teaspoon of dried ginger, or freshly grated ginger
!/2 pint of Malt (dark) vinegar
I teaspoon of pickling spice
1 rounded teaspoon of mustard powder
A couple of large finely chopped onions
2 Large cooking apples peeled and cored.
8 oz sultanas
1/2 teaspoon of salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of pepper,  give your pepper grinder a real treat and use it for more than just a few turns.
A couple of de seeded chillies or red peppers.I wear gloves for this job.

Put the onion and peppers into a saucepan with 2 - 3 tablespoons of vinegar and simmer gently until soft.
Add the chopped apples, sliced tomatoes, spices, salt pepper, mustard, ginger and sultanas.
Simmer gently until all the mixture is quite soft, stirring from time to time.
Add the vinegar and the sugar.
When the sugar has dissolved boil steadily until the chutney is a thick consistency.
Put the hot chutney into warmed jars and seal down.

It's always best to use aluminum saucepans when making chutney.
Don't attempt to cut down on the quantity of sugar or vinegar in a chutney recipe as this is the preservative.
Don't put in all the vinegar at once, put in about 1/4 of the vinegar, then add the rest gradually during cooking.
Cook the chutney with the lid off the pan so it thickens, stir from time to time.
Use pure malt vinegar, white vinegar can be used for light coloured chutneys.
It's not advisable to put hot chutney straight into cold glass jars. Warm your jars first. 
Never put metal tops directly next to the chutney otherwise the vinegar in the chutney will spoil both taste and colour, it will also make the lid rust and be very difficult to remove. You can buy special pickling jars or instead put a round of waxed paper on to the chutney.

Store in a cool dry place, preferably in the dark to keep well.
 
If you never grew tomato's this year, it's never too late to get started on your vegetable patch for next year.

I know of a certain pup that is an expert at digging.

It might take a while to get her to distinguish between weeds and plants.

I'm sure she will get the hang of it eventually.

You can find more of Freya's antic's on her blog The Cat flap Cavalier