Place the cinnamon sticks and cloves into the middle of a square of muslin, tie with kitchen string into a pouch. Place into a heavy based pan along with the rest of the ingredients.
Stir well and slowly bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally to dissolve the sugars.
Simmer for approximately 1 1/2 – 2 hours, stirring regularly, then more frequently towards the end of cooking. This will help to prevent the melange sticking to the base of the pan.
Your chutney is ready when the ingredients are well reduced and thickened.
Remove from the heat, remove the muslin bag and allow to cool.
While your chutney is cooling, sterilize your storage jars.
Fill clean jars with boiling water and allow to stand for at least one minute.
Discard the boiled water, dry with a piece of kitchen paper and spoon the chutney into the warmed jars. Allow to cool further before sealing with airtight lids.
When cold, label and store in a dark place for at least one month before use.
Tips
The chutney will keep for up to one year unopened.
Once opened, store in your refrigerator.
You can also sterilise the jars by washing in hot soapy water, rinse, then dry in an oven heated to 150°C/fan130°C/gas 2. Or run through a dishwasher on its hottest setting.
This chutney makes a great Christmas gift, so just double up the recipe and maybe use a preserving pan or large heavy based saucepan.
If you can’t get hold of fresh cranberries, you can use frozen instead. Defrost thoroughly before using.
I’ve been making my Old School Chicken Liver Pate for Christmas over for more years than I care to remember, so I thought for this year (2020), I’d maybe try a different recipe but without drifting too far away from my original list of ingredients, which has always been a huge hit with family and friends.
Trawling through the old interwebs, I found a recipe, similar to mine, by the brilliant Tom Kerridge and thought I would give it a try. Defo well worth the time and effort and really straightforward to prepare and cook. As you would expect, I’ve made a few minor modifications to Tom’s recipe but I’m fairly sure he’d approve.
Recipe inspired by Tom Kerridge
Ingredients
100ml red wine
2 tbsp Spanish brandy
1 banana shallot – finely diced
2 cloves garlic – microplane grated
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
400g chicken livers
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
50ml double cream
250g unsalted butter – melted
100g unsalted butter – clarified
Nutmeg – freshly ground – good pinch
6 thick slices brioche
cranberry & orange chutney
Method
Trim off the livers and place into a small chinoise (strainer) to drain off any surplus liquid.
Pour the wine, brandy, shallot & garlic into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer until reduced by 2/3rds, pour into a separate container and set aside to cool.
Heat half the oil in a large, heavy based frying pan over a medium high heat. Once hot, fry off half the drained livers and sear for approximately 1 minute either side, so that they are brown and lightly caramelised on the outside but remain pink in the middle. Tip into a small colander to drain off any surplus oil.
Repeat #3 with the remaining livers.
Tip the livers into your food processor, with the cooled red wine mixture. Add half the thyme leaves, all the cream, melted butter and nutmeg.
Blend to a fine puree and then season generously.
Pour into a sterilised terrine, individual ramekins or mini Kilner Jars.
Place onto a tray or similar and transfer to your fridge to set for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Once the parfait is set, sprinkle some freshly picked thyme leaves over the surface and then gently spoon over a 1-2mm layer of melted clarified butter and place back into your fridge to set.
To serve: Toast or griddle slices of brioche and serve a separate pot of your home made chutney for your guests to help themselves.
Once chilled this will keep nicely but should ideally be eaten within 3 days.
You can freeze this if you wish, but once defrosted, it can turn a little bit ‘grainy’.