Pepper Chutney Recipe from Jaime Oliver ? Great Spicy Condiment for Meat and Fish

Someone asked me the other day if I’ve had a favorite cookbook lately.  After some thinking, I happened on a book that I’ve unexpectedly liked over the course of the past year – Jamie Oliver’s Jamie at Home.  This recipe comes from the winter section of this book (I like books that are sectioned off and organized by seasonal ingredients…though the irony is that peppers are best in summer, so something’s not right here…) under the canning and bottling section and make a great holiday gift.

The best part of this recipe in my opinion is the way you can use your own peppers at your discretion, meaning you can make the chutney as spicy or mild as your wish based on your taste.  I used a few jalapenos, some serranos and even a habanero for that extra kick.  The end product is cooled down somewhat by cooking the peppers in the rest of the sauce for an hour to create that excellent, gooey, sticky chutney consistency.

It’s a great recipe to serve on the side of a cheese plate, or on top of some fish, pork or even steak.  Canning the chutney will increase its shelf life for some time – something I highly recommend learning (it’s pretty darn easy to do simply).  For more canning tips and instruction, check out the site linked to here.  Whatever you decide to do, this recipe will produce around 1.5 – 2 cups of the stuff, so if you’re just using it one time and don’t want leftovers, halve or quarter this recipe.  Here’s how to make it happen:

Around 8-10 red bell peppers
An assortment of other hot chili peppers – I recommend jalapenos, Anaheim chilies, red chilies, Hungarian peppers, whatever you can find or want to use, but keep them fresh!
1/2 cup of fairly good quality balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup water
2 red onions – rough dice
1 large sprig fresh rosemary – leaves removed and chopped
1 medium cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1/2 a bulb of fennel – finely diced
1/2 cup brown sugar
salt and black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Ok, so now that you got all the stuff, you’re going to need to plan on how to make the pepper roasting happen.  As you can see from the image above, I used my stovetop to make this happen (ass seen on Iron Chef America).  You can do the same thing, but be wary of the heat that the gas elements will produce – it’s pretty intense.  I’d recommend using a grill if you have one handy, or a broiler.  Wither way, get as much of the pepper skins blackened and then place the peppers into a paper bag or cover them in a bowl with plastic wrap.  This will steam the peppers and make the skins easier to peel

Now the fun part – peeling the pepper skins.  If you can get some help with this, use it, it’s really no fun at all.  It’s like peeling shrimp except the peppers are spicy and will hurt if you touch your eyes or really any other body part.  Wear gloves if available or just be careful.  Once the peppers are peeled, finely chop them all and reserve while you bring the rest of the ingredients together.

In a large heavy bottomed saucepan or dutch oven over low/medium heat, add the olive oil, onions, rosemary, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, fennel and season with a little salt and pepper.  Cook for a good while – 30 minutes or so – until the onions get nicely caramelized, then add in the peppers and mix to combine.  Add in the sugar, vinegar and the little bit of water and turn the heat up to high in order to being the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer

Cook the liquid down until the whole mix becomes gooey and sticky – should take around an hour depending on the sort of pot you’re using.  Once the consistency it to your liking, turn off the heat and season to taste.  Add the chutney to sterilized jars, or keep in the fridge.  Enjoy!