Flaherty Wines

Apricot trees are alternate bearing, meaning they bear a heavy crop every other year. We therefore planted two trees when we built our house, to ensure that we had some apricots every year. The only problem with that plan is that our trees are not, in fact, alternate bearing. Given that apricots ripen all at once, this means that we have a lot of apricots to process in early summer, with plenty left over for the birds. In practical terms, this translates into apricot jam, apricot pie, crumble, cobbler, honey-roasted apricots, apricot ice cream and sorbet, apricot smoothies, frozen apricots to use in winter, and (as the title of this post indicates) apricot chutney. Please let me know if I’ve left anything out.

Apricot chutney

1 kilo (2.2 pounds) fresh apricots. pitted and sliced
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1  1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 cardamom pods (seeds only)
4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Place all the ingredients except the lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until the apricots are pulpy and the liquid is reduced (although the chutney will be runnier than store-bought chutneys). Remove from the heat and stir in the fresh lemon juice. Serve at room temperature with, for example, grilled pork chops, chicken, or lamb. Makes about four cups.