Free chutney - Ornet Coleman style condiment cooking goes off!

HBO TV's Homeland would have you believe that Jazz is the preferred musical genre of the disordered mind.

This is likely true.

However, I would like to take this particular theory one step further and say Jazz is also the preferred soundtrack of the disordered cook, the pantry improviser. Muddy has often referred to me as the Miles Davis of the stove, but last Saturday, I confess I was more Free Jazz than Be-bop. Ornet Coleman if you will. Improvising ingredients and quantities as I made a batch of tomato chutney for the first time.

Last month, friend and work colleague Slim Wheels presented me with a jar of home-made tomato chutney which he'd made from his nanna's recipe. It was delicious, on cheese and toast, grilled snags and steaks, and in bacon and egg wraps. Needless to say, it did not last long in Chez Karpitz-Venetian, and I found myself scraping out the last dregs of sweet 'n' tangy goodness from the jar in less than a week.

Which is why I enlisted Slim for an afternoon of Nanna's chutney cooking (and much imbibing of Pimms 'n' Dry Ginger Ale and good French bubbles) last Saturday.

Here is the recipe - Classic version:

Ingredients

• 1kg tomatoes
• 2 large apples
• 3/4 cup of currants - same sultanas
• 1 tbsp whole cloves
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
• 3 cups brown vinegar
• 3 large onions, sliced
• 1 cup water
• 3 cups white sugar

Method

1. Peel and chop onions, remove skin from tomatoes, chop coarsely; peel, core and dice apples.
2. Put all ingredients into pan and stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Bring to boil, then simmer uncovered for 1.5-2 hours, or until thick
3. Turn into hot, sterilised jars and seal.
　
Here is the recipe - Free-Jazz redux. Sort-of double quantity...
2 kg tomatoes (chopped but not peeled)
5 small pink lady apples
1 1/2 cups sultanas
1tbsp whole cloves
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp hot chilli flakes
6 cups brown vinegar
5 small onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cups water
5 heaped cups white sugarMethod - as per Nanna Wheels' classic recipe above. Cooked for three hours then poured directly into hot sterilised jars and sealed instantly. Made 6 jars of varying sizes.

Enjoy with meats, cheese, on bread and roast vegies and Jazz - on vinyl please.

Awesome.