I'm really intrigued with this one since I've become a chutney fanatic, but I can't quite make up my mind about the safety of it because of the beets. What do you folks think?

Ruby Beet and Apple Chutney

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

Beets are a novel but beautiful ingredient in chutney. Their sweetness marries deliciously with apples and helps counter the acidic thrust of the vinegar.

This recipe makes 6 serving(s)

Ingredients

8 large beets, (2 lb/1 kg)
1 lemon
3 cups chopped peeled apples
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups cider vinegar
1-1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup diced candied ginger
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Preparation:

Trim beets, leaving tails intact and 1 inch (2.5 cm) of stems. In saucepan of boiling water, cook beets for 30 minutes or until skins can be slipped off easily; drain and let cool. Slip off skins; dice to make 4-1/2 cups (1.125 L).

Meanwhile, with zester, remove rind from lemon. (Or pare off thin outer rind and cut into thin strips.) Squeeze and strain juice into large heavy non-aluminum saucepan.

Stir in lemon rind, apples, sugar, onions, vinegar, raisins, ginger, mustard seeds, salt and pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer, stirring often, for 30 minutes or until apples are tender. Stir in beets; cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until thickened.

Remove from heat. Pour into six 1-cup (250 mL) canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch (1 cm) headspace. Seal with prepared discs and bands. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Let cool.

You have 2 cups of undiluted vinegar plus the juice of 1 lemon and with the long cooking the diced beets should be thoroughly acidified. In other words the acid is going to penetrate the low-acid vegetable.

It's predicated on the assumption you don't let the chutney get too dense for adequate heat penetration during processing.

For more specific information you'd need to contact Canadian Living for their canning recipe development practices. Generally reliable Canadian sources use the USDA guide for their benchmark.

Carol

I think I'm going to spring for the book anyway. I really need more canning books, right? I just got my gently used copy of Fancy Pantry. It was my bedtime reading material last night, and I love it already!

Carol

Daniela Payne, web food editor for Canadian Living here.

Canadian Living has always developed its preserving recipes using the safe-preserving guidelines outlined by Bernardin, the Canadian canning experts who produce home canning equipment. We always follow their guidelines to ensure our recipes have the correct pH (in other words, are high enough in acid) to make them safe to process in a boiling water canner.

We also follow Bernardin's guidelines on processing times, making sure our jars are boiled for enough time to ensure that any bacteria is killed. That's inevitably 10 minutes or more, but times vary depending on the density of the food in the jars and the size of the jars themselves - the denser the food or the larger the jar, the longer it should boil to ensure that the centre comes up to the proper temperature. The best insurance is to always process jars for the amount of time stated in the recipe - never reduce it.

For our new preserving book, The Canadian Living Test Kitchen updated and retested many of our classic recipes, so they are all safe to can at home. If you want to check the acidity of, say, a heritage family chutney you're unsure of, you can buy a pH meter from a reputable source and test your preserves BEFORE you put them into the jars. High-acid foods should have a pH of 4.6 or lower - these are the only foods safe to can in a boiling water canner. Anything with a pH greater than 4.6 is considered low-acid and can only be processed in a pressure canner.

Hope this helps!

Happy canning.

Great to know that your test kitchens are aware of pH issues in canning, etc. so that definitely adds to the comfort level of using your recipes. I'm frequently surprised at the number of well-respected magazines that publish...shall we say questionable?...canning recipes.

The book is gorgeous - coffee table worthy - kudos to the team who put it together. Many interesting recipes and twists on old familiar favorites that I can't wait to try when the garden cooperates. Beet chutney this weekend for certain.

Looking forward to using the cookbook. Thanks again.

The link in the PDF is no longer valid, so I linked the new page below.

If only other authors and editors of canning books were as forthcoming.

Carol