Apple Pie for winter!

*1kg cooking apples (if using eaters, use less sugar when you cook them)
*Couple tablespoons sugar
*Cinnamon/nutmeg if you have a less picky boy than me
*Decent sized knob of butter
*1 beaten egg

I've used disposable foil pie dishes so that I can freeze them, 1kg apples filled two dishes.

I also used ready made sweet shortcrust pastry partly because I am appauling at making pastry and partly because I didn't have the time or patience to tackle that particular bug bear.

-Peel and core all the apples and cut into wedges (about 8 to an apple, depending on size).
-Chuck all the appples, butter and sugar into a big pan and cook them until the sugar has dissolved and the apples have softened, but not turned to mush. About 15 minutes.
-Put apples to one side to cool slightly (apples can be bagged and frozen at this point to use for pies etc later on) and roll pastry.
-Line pie dish/es with a thin layer (about 5mm) of pastry, trim off the excess.
-Fill dish with the cooked apples, they need to be fairly full, with a sort of mound on top.
-Brush beaten egg around edge of dish and pastry and top with more rolled pastry.
-Brush lid with egg and sprinkle with sugar and stab a couple of holes in the lid to let out the steam.
-Put in the oven at about 180c until pastry is crisp and sugar has browned.

I've frozen my pies after I've cooked them so they can be reheated at a later date. If you use the foil trays, remember DON'T microwave them!

Green Tomato Chutney

- 4 lb of green tomatoes
- 2 lb of onions
- 2 lbs of apples, sharp eaters of cooking apples
- 1 pint cider vinegar
- 500g granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp pickling spice
- muslin (cheesecloth) bag for spices

- Large heavy bottomed pan
- Sterile jars (run them through the dish washer or wash them in hot water and put on a tray in the oven for about 20 minutes at 150c)
- Jam funnel (not a staple but makes life a lot easier

This recipe makes about 7/8 jars depending (rather obviously) on how big your jars are.

- Dice the tomatoes, onions and apples into chuck all of a similar size, no bigger than about 1.5cm and put into pan.
- Pour over the vinegar and sugar and bring to the boil, stirring frequently until the sugar has dissolved.
- Turn down the heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, making sure the chutney doesn't stick to the pan.
- Chutney is cooked when you make a trench through the pan with the wooden spoon and NO VINEGAR fills this space. If vinegar is still running about, cook for a little longer.
- Leave to cool slightly then transfer into sterile jars.
- Chutney should be left untouched for at least 6 weeks before use.