It's only FALL!!!

We got hit with an unexpected frost the other night.  It was supposed to go down to around 5 degrees but for some reason or another, Mother Nature decided that was too warm.

At 6:45 I got in the car to head to work. My lovely husband had left my window open a crack so the outside and inside of my car windows were covered in a thin layer of ice.  The not-going-away-with-the-defroster ice. I had the pleasure of having to scrape (YES SCRAPE!!) off ice in SEPTEMBER!  Seriously?  What.  The.....oh nevermind.

Needless to say, my tomatoes were done with the idea of growing and after the frost, they looked pretty sad.  When I got home from work I massacared picked the remaining green tomatoes off the plants and thought to myself what on earth am I going to do with these?

Low and behold I did a quick search and found what seemed to be a good recipe for green tomato chutney.  As per "me" I decided to try it but wanted to tweak it a little bit.  Boy am I glad I did!.  This recipe turned out really well and it is a bit weet, but tangy with a bit of spice as well.  Tastes like Christmas!

Green Tomato Chutney

makes 7 cups

12 cups chopped green tomatoes

2 1/2 cups chopped onion

2 cups white vinegar

3 cups brown sugar

4 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cloves (use a teaball or spice bag to keep them from overpowering your chutney)

4 cinnamon sticks

6 star anise pieces

1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes (use more for a spicier chutney)

1 cup dried cranberries (or raisins if you don’t like cranberries)

2 teaspoon sea salt (if using regular table salt, use 1 teaspoon)

Combine tomatoes, onion, vinegar and sugar in a large non-reactive pot over medium heat. 

Add the ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, star anise and red chili flakes. (I put the cloves and star anise in a tea ball so I didn't have to pick them out individually at the end)

Cook over low heat for approx 1.5 to 2 hours, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.

About half way through cooking, add cranberries.  

Add salt at the very end of cooking (to taste).

When it has reduced by more than half, and become deep golden brownish in colour, turn off heat.

Remove cinnamon sticks and star anise/cloves tea ball. Fill jars, wipe rims, apply lids and screw on rings.

Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

Eat on turkey sandwiches, or with a bit of goat cheese.  YUMMY!