![]() In my family, I’m the flower grower and Jim is the veggie gardener. His enjoyment of all things veg has put him on the committee of the DVGC (Dunedin Vegetable Growers Club). Being a good supportive wifie, I go along to the meetings with him, and occasionally …. when they are really really desperate for a speaker, I do a little cooking demonstration or some other random presentation. The club is fairly well attended, with over 80 members. So far, I’ve done a presentation on homemade cleaning products, homemade castile soap, preserving food and making herbal teas. I think there are a few other ones in there but I choose to block them forever from my memory. So, a funny thing happens when you become a member of a group or a club and you do these kind of presentations. People actually believe that you are an expert!! How gullible is that? Then they talk to other people, who talk to people and so on. Hence, a phone call from our very own Mitre 10’s kitchen department. So, pretending to be Martha Stewart over the last month for two Saturdays I set up a kitchen with a small team of orange shirted helpers and demonstrated my amazing skills of reading and following recipes. Cooking and preserving in particular in the middle of a busy store, was certainly challenging. I completely underestimated the amount of time it would take to set up and look like I knew what I was doing. Together, with my team of little orange helpers, we muddled along just nicely. The first demo was jam making and chutneys. Before long the delicious smell of caramelized red onion chutney and home-made jam filled the store. A couple of hundred pikelets with jam and cream, crackers and chutney were happily consumed by those who wanted to check out the process and ask questions. Believe it or not, there seems to be a real revival on making home preserves at the moment, and I was amazed at the number of folk who were just learning for the first time how to go about this. ![]() A couple of weeks later, I did my last demo and this time it was bottled beetroot and bottled pears. Seriously, there is no comparison to the home grown delicious bottled beetroot and the insipid pale canned rubbish we buy at our local supermarket. At one stage I think I had about 20 people gathered around watching me ladle pears into hot jars whilst sampling beetroot. In this crazy, mad world, it’s nice to go back to the simple things in life. Growing good food, enjoying that same food around the family table and sharing a bit of knowledge with others who wish to do the same. Even though (with my other commitments) it made this last month a bit on the insanely busy side for me, I really enjoyed the change of environment, the lovely folk who got involved and making some new friends in the foodie world. I had fun. I know you are all probably wondering when the tv series will begin … but in the meantime, here’s my “award winning”, kidding, recipe for Caramelised Red Onion Chutney. Caramelised Red Onion ChutneyOnion chutney requires only a few ingredients - onions of course (any will do, but red onions give the nicest colour and sweet taste), a vinegar - sherry, red wine, or balsamic are all ideal, and brown sugar, together with some bay leaves and peppercorns or chilli for flavour.
Ingredients 6 large onions– finely chopped 3 cups vinegar (2 cups balsamic & 1 cup white vinegar is good) Olive oil (approx 1 tbsp) 3 cups brown sugar 2 bay leaves 15-20 crushed black peppercorns Method In a good sized saucepan heat the olive oil and add the onions. Cook until softened. Add brown sugar, vinegar, bay leaves and peppercorns. Bring the mixture to the boil and then simmer gently for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the onions have gone translucent and all the liquid has evaporated. Pour the hot mixture straight into hot sterilised jars, seal, and store somewhere cool and dark or in the fridge. The chutney should keep for at least 6 months. To ensure the chutney can keep even longer (1 year plus), put the sealed jars in boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes. Chutney should be left for 4-6 weeks to mature allowing all of the wonderful flavours to develop and mix. Chutney Recipe Variations Additional ingredients can be added to this recipe according to your personal taste. A couple of garlic, cumin, thyme, redcurrant jelly, cloves, sultanas, mustard, apple, and tomato puree all work well. Add a tablespoon of cornflour to thicken up the chutney if desired. Recipe has been modified, but original idea came from: http://www.self-sufficient.co.uk/Make-Caramelised-Onion-Chutney.htm ~Robyn Bazika
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