It has become tradition to go apple picking with my high school friend Marcy and her family at Carlson's in Harvard Mass. We throw down a blanket in the middle of the orchard, cut some just picked apples to go with sharp cheese, drink a few octoberfests, and oh yeah - there is the picking too! The trees are so full at Carlson's we can fill a half bushel bag in minutes. It makes for a perfect fall day, until I get home and realize just how many apples I have.
I developed this recipe based on Daniel Mattrocce's reknowned pear-cranberry chutney. It makes use not only of the abundance of apples but also the dozens of hot peppers I grew in the back yard.
6 pounds cortland or macintosh apples, peeled, cored and diced small
note - use cortland if you want the apples to maintain their shape, macintosh if you want them to break down completely.
3 cups minced yellow onion
3T finely minced fresh ginger
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups golden raisins, coarse chop
20 each fresh habañeros, seeded and minced, (use gloves!)
3 cups cider vinegar
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2T white mustard seed
2T ground tumeric
3T kosher salt
6 ea. cinnamon stick
1 1/2 t ground allspice
3t ground ginger
3t ground cloves
zest of 3 limes plus juice
place all ingredients, except apples in a large, shallow pot, bring to a simmer. Add apples and cook until soft, for cortland or thick and pulpy for macs.
Remove solids and reduce liquid to a syrup.
Put into hot sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath for ten minutes.
Here are detailed instructions for canning in a water bath
makes about 12 half pints
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