August 10

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SPICED PEACH & POMEGRANATE CHUTNEY, CHORIZO GRILLED CHEESE

Posted by on August 10, 2014 in Quick & Easy, Recipes, Thermomix | Leave a comment

Gluts don’t have to mean gluttony. But for a singleton brought up in a Calvinistic home where the suggestion of throwing food away was usually converted into a needless conveyance of barely edible matter through the alimentary tract, I have a hell-fire terror of waste. At this time of year, when those luscious late summer crops are piled high in the market with enticingly low prices, it’s hard not to load the fruit bowl in the vain hope that you’ll actually be minded to eat 3 peaches a day until Michaelmas.

photo 3Never fear though. Help is at hand in the form of Thane Prince and her wonderful new book ‘Perfect Preserves’ or as I like to call it, ‘Thane Prince’s Perfectly Preserved’. (Say it out loud. It’s true…never a lovelier woman has walked the byways of Islington).

I turned to Thane when, having roasted a load of peaches for supper the other evening, they were still languishing in their baking dish 2 days later. As it happened she had a recipe for Peach and Pomegranate chutney using pomegranate molasses – an ingredient that has fast become my go-to sweet and sour secret addition. (Available in Waitrose these days I noticed…) With its fragrant notes of ginger and cardamom, I had a feeling this recipe couldn’t fail…

I decided to give the Thermomix a go at stirring my chutney, especially as previous attempts have led to a sticky bottom and pan-soaking requirements. And I have to say, it was a dream. I made half of the amount Thane’s recipe made and threw in a languishing red chilli for a bit of extra heat. Perfect with a gruyere and chorizo toastie – or as we have to call it these days, grilled cheese sandwich…

FOR THE CHUTNEY

  • 400g peaches, stoned and roughly chopped (I used flat, but regular would be fine too)
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 30g fresh ginger, peeled
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded
  • 
200g red onion or shallots, peeled
  • 5 cardamom pods
  • A good grind of fresh black pepper
  • 
1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 60g red wine vinegar
  • 60g cider vinegar (or all cider… I ran out!)
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 50g pomegranate molasses

METHOD

  1. Place the garlic, chilli and ginger in the Thermomix. Blitz at speed 10 for 3 seconds. Scrape down.
  2. Add the onions. Speed 5. 6 seconds.
  3. Using a pestle and mortar, crush the cardamom pods and remove the husks. Pound the black seeds until they are a powder.
  4. 
Add the peaches to the Thermomix bowl with the cardamom, pepper sat and vinegar. 100C/Reverse Speed Spoon/10 minutes TM on.
  5. Add the sugar and molasses. Varoma/Reverse Speed Spoon/25 minutes/TM off
  6. Check after 20 minutes. If the chutney seems thin, reset for another 5-10 minutes.
  7. The Chutney should be syrupy and separate using a spoon. It will firm up as it cools.
  8. Sterilise 3 small jam jars and lids in the oven at 100C for 20 minutes.
  9. Pour the chutney into the hot jars to the shoulder. Place the lids on top but do not screw closed until completely cold.

You can eat this chutney immediately, but it will improve for up to a year.

FOR THE CHORIZO GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

  • 2 slices fresh white bread
  • A few cubes of cooking chorizo
  • 40g gruyere or other hard nutty cheese, grated
  • butter

METHOD

  1. Heat a small frying pan on a medium heat and fry the chorizo until it has just released its oil. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  2. Butter two slices of bread. Lay the first slice, butter side down in the same frying pan you used for the chorizo.
  3. Gently place the cheese and chorizo on the bread in the pan and place the second slice of bread, butter side up in the pan.
  4. Turn over immediately to coat the other side in the chorizo scented oil before one side soaks it up completely.
  5. Allow the cheese to melt, turning the sandwich a couple of times until it is golden brown.
  6. Serve with the peach chutney and a few salad leaves.