My garden is producing loads or rhubarb right now and I am out harvesting every week. Rhubarb while not a fruit make wonderful jams, chutneys, pies, and other deserts. It is an amazing vegetable and one that my mother baked with a lot. Her rhubarb and apple pie always made me feel safe, warm, and loved no matter what the world was throwing at me.

As many of you know, I am a cheese maker, so I am always looking for something to go with cheese and today I wanted to make something a little different. Rhubarb chutney is not something you see that often, which is a shame because it is delicious. The recipe is also simple so give it a go. You won’t be disappointed.

 Ingredients:

• 1 kilogram of cleaned and trimmed rhubarb stalks, cut into small pieces.

• 2 brown onions, finely diced
• 3 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup raisins
• 2.5 cups brown malt vinegar
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Prepare your 250 ml jars and lids by sterilising them in boiling water for ten minutes. The sterilisation step can be skipped and you can use washed, rinsed, hot jars if you are processing for 10 minutes or more in the boiling water bath at the end of the recipe.
• Combine all of your ingredients in a large pot and cook on medium heat until the rhubarb has softened and the chutney has thickened. This will usually take about an hour. Stir every now and then to make sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan and watch this closely as it gets thicker. You don’t want it to go from perfect to burned.

• Once cooked, using a ladle and jar funnel place your chutney into your hot, 250 ml jars, leaving a one and a half centimetre headspace. Clean the rims of the jar to ensure you get a good clean seal and cap with your new lids.

• Process your filled jars in a boiling water bath for five minutes.
• Alternatively, if you did not pre-sterilize your jars and lids, process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.  This is what I do.
• Once the jars have been processed for the required time, remove them from the boiling water using a jar lifter to ensure you don’t scold yourself.
• Allow then to cool and then label them with the contents and date made.

The acidity of this chutney is the perfect accompaniment for the fat of a creamy Brie or Camembert. I tried it with an aged cheddar and loved it.

I hope that you give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.

As always, live well.

Valerie