carrot & coconut mutney

it's a dirty job

but somebody's gotta do it.

i can't help it.

when the days get shorter, and colder, i become a serial
citrus shredder.

i luv me my lemons, limes, grapefruits, tangerines, tangelos, clementines, oranges, blood or otherwise...

and i'll slice 'em up any chance i get.

the two sourpusses up there, they never had a chance

not with all these accomplices

let me tell you, they had nooo trouble jumping right in - in fact these wise guys, they couldn't wait to feel the heat.

to get in the mix


know what i'm sayin?

they were in like flynn-

and in no time i had a few of these sealed up and


buried in the back of my larder.

now forget we ever had this conversation.

carrot & coconut mutney

adapted from well preserved by mary anne dragan

2 lbs carrots
1 orange
1 lemon
1 1/2 cups dark or demerara sugar
3/4 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup dried coconut (not the kind with added sugar)
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1/2 tablespoon black or brown mustard seeds
1/2 tablespoon dried chili flakes
1 pinch cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 very thin 3 inch piece of cinnamon
3/4 half pint canning jars

1. peel and slice the carrots into uniform slices. cook them in boiling water until very soft, drain and mash them until quite smooth. you should have about 2 and 1/2 cups of mashed carrots, if you have more save the rest for another use.

2. peel the zest of orange and lemon, trying to take away only the outer skin and leaving as much of the white pith on the fruit. once you have the outer skin off the fruit slice it into thin shreds. :)

3. slice off all of the white pith from the fruit and discard. slice and then chop the meat of the fruit, taking care to capture the juice. discard the seeds.

4. in a non-reactive (no iron or aluminum) pot add sugar, vinegar, and citrus zest. heat on low until all the sugar dissolves and then turn the heat up to bring to the boil. cover and turn down heat to keep at a steady simmer for 5 minutes.

5. add the mashed carrots, dried coconut, chopped dried apricot, chopped citrus, and salt & spices to pot. turn heat back up to medium and bring back to a simmer.

6. simmer for approximately 40 minutes, until it thickens. stirring constantly toward the end so it does not burn or stick to the bottom of the pot.

7. while the chutney is cooking prepare the jars and lids, process filled jars for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

this really is a cross between a marmalade and a chutney because it is very citrus-y, with chunks of dried fruit and (coco)nut. it taste equally as good as a condiment to an indian or south asian meal as it does on toast with butter, or even with a triple creme! go figure!

(blogger's note: i couldn't decide if i should call it a mutney or a charmalade. charmalade rolls off of the tongue quite nicely, but i thought mutney sounded more fittingly post noir, no?)

oh, and i am so excited i can hardly cantain myself! so far there's 15 bloggers on for the jam and a handful of non-bloggers too! there's gonna be a whole lotta cannin' going on in 2010!

if you don't yet know about the jam, click on this for the full dish!