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Relish this savory-sweet idea for summer produce

Recipe: Plum-plum tomato chutney like a chunky ketchup

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED AUG 11, 2019

Dark plums and ripe plum tomatoes combine in a summery chutney. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

An overload of Juliet tomatoes and a big basket of purple plums inspired this recipe.

After I made several batches of plum jam and tomato sauce, it was time to move on to something that combines the sweet with the savory: Chutney.

This version is nothing like commercial, vaguely Indian chutneys. My tomato-based chutney tastes more like an upscale chunky ketchup with a pleasant balance of sweet and tart. It’s a tasty relish on burgers, hot dogs or sandwiches as well as an accompaniment to pork chops or tenderloin. It works with French fries, too.

Meatier in texture, plum tomatoes cook down faster than their round counterparts, so I like to use them in chutneys, which thicken on the stove. (And it makes for a fun recipe name.)

This recipe can scale up or down, depending on how many tomatoes and plums you have sitting on the counter.

Plum-plum tomato chutney
Makes 4 cups

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds plum tomatoes
1 ½ pounds dark plums
1 cup onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons red wine
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon ginger
½ cup raisins
¼ cup sugar or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Wash and roughly chop tomatoes. Pit and finely chop plums. Set aside.

Chutney simmers for up to an hour or more.

In a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, melt butter. Sauté chopped onion until translucent.

Add tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt. Stir and sauté for 5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to soften.

Rinse raisins with boiling water.

Add broth, red wine, vinegar, ginger and raisins to the tomato mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, uncovered.

Add chopped plums, including any accumulated juices. Adjust heat to keep mixture bubbling but not a full boil, stirring often.

Add sugar, adjusting the amount to the sweetness of the plums.

Let mixture cook down to desired consistency, stirring often to prevent sticking. This can take 20 minutes to an hour or more, depending on how juicy the tomatoes and plums are. Be patient and keep stirring every few minutes.

When chutney is almost done, add salt and pepper to taste.

Store in the refrigerator or process in jars. This chutney also freezes well.

To process in jars: Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Makes 4 half-pints.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes tomatoes gardening Sacramento canning plums chutney backyard produce produce management

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Garden Checklist for week of April 21

This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.

* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.

* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.

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