Of all the things we cooked up last year at the Kepner Homestead, the clear favorite was our Sweet and Spicy Tomato Chutney. My brother Andy calls it “the good stuff.” It’s now become a must for him on his hamburgers.

 

This year we grew our own tomatoes from seed for the first time—a variety called Early Darling from Gurney Seeds. We had excellent germination and devoted one entire raised bed to

our seedlings.

 

Wow did they produce! The plants were healthy and yielded tomatoes in clusters like

giant grapes.

 

I lost count of how many batches of tomato chutney we made this year. Suffice it to say that the kitchen smelled great for over a month because of all that chutney.

 

How can you use tomato chutney? Any way that you’d use ketchup: burgers, fried seafood, fried fish, French fries. We use it as a sandwich spread with just about anything. We dipped air-fried zucchini in it and made a supper of it. When we roast parsnips and other root vegetables, we dip them in tomato chutney.

 

We’re excited about sharing this year’s bountiful batch of tomato chutney. Let me know how you use it.

 

Ingredients: fresh tomatoes, fresh onions, fresh garlic, raisins, brown sugar, white sugar apple cider vinegar, canning and pickling salt, hot pepper flakes, cumin, ginger, lime juice, black pepper