The first thing I noticed when i opened the jar was the lovely big lumps of fruit, which were nice and soft so didn’t catch when spreading it on bread.

It smelled delicious, slightly spicy, a little bit boozy and very fruity.  It tastes fantastic, quite sticky and sweet but it’s packed full of different flavours, there’s a nice bit of apple in there that works really well with the bits of red chilli…who’d have thought of apple and chilli. There’s some sweet, mellow onion and a nice under current of ale, which I gather is from a brewery close to the farm. The chilli is quite mild but you know it’s there.

So far i’ve had it on cheese on toast, in both ham and beef sandwiches and with some chicken liver pate…it worked equally well with all of them and has certainly livened up my lunch lately.

It’s £2.95 per 210g jar which I think is a pretty good price so if you fancy trying some for your self you can buy it here.

The first of which is Mr Vikki’s Green Chilli Jam which was a new one to me, I’ve had loads of chilli jam and even made a couple of batches of my own but never with green chillis.

As soon as I opened the jar I knew I as in for a treat the jam smelled so fresh it was unbelievable, there was a slight sweeness but the really pungent fresh green chillis filled the air. For it’s first test the jam ended up in a wrap with some smoked ham, mature cheddar and a bucket load of salad. It was a sensation, the jam was sweet and well seasoned with loads of flavour and some really nice spices in there, the heat then started to come through, not burning just a warm tingle. It went perfectly with the contents of the wrap, it didn’t overpower anything bit held its own against the strong cheese.

The jams second test was on some sausages…yes that’s right sausages, I coated some good quality thick pork sausages in the jam and grilled until crispy, basting the sausages when I turned them. The jam created a really sticky, spicy and sweet glaze which was brilliant hot, but even better when they were cold…I can’t wait to give this a go on the BBQ.

All in all i’ve been hugely impressed with Mr Vikki’s Green Chilli Jam and I can’t stop eating it, next up will be on some cheese on toast and it may just oust my current favourite cheese on toast topping…Hendersons Relish.

I really do urge you either get your self down to Friars in Keswick, track them down at market or buy some from their website here.

Tomato and chilli chutney

I used a mixture of yellow, red, chocolate and black tomatoes to give the chutney a nice deep colour.

Also if you would like to make it more thicker or a little bit sweeter, the 500g of tomatoes should be able to take up to 300g of sugar.

Ingredients

• 6 red chillies
• 500g  Tomatoes
• 1 green pepper
• 2 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (grated)
• 150g caster sugar
• 90ml red wine vinegar

Method

1. Finely chop the chillis, tomatoes and the pepper, place in a heavy bottomed pan along with the rest of the ingredients.
2. Bring to the boil
3. Simmer for 30-40mins
4. Place into sterilised jars and allow to cool.

Serve with cheese, meats, pate’s or what ever takes your fancy.

The packaging on all of the jars is great, it is very simple and clean with one stand out image of a chilli (habenero i think) The jars retail at £3.99 for a 340g jar – which when you consider all of their contents is hand made, is pretty good value for money.

When they arrived I didn’t really know which one to start with but as it turned out i was making curried cod for tea so the Very Hot Mango Chutney seemed to fit right in.

My first taste was with a bit of naan bread, the flavour hits you straight away, sweet but not sickly mango then a lovely chilli heat hits you, it’s not mega hot but you certainly know the chilli is there and the more you eat the more you feel your lips tingle. The main problem with the chutney for dunking is that the chunks of mango are quite big (which isn’t a bad thing) so it’s more of a spreadable chutney than a dunkable one.

The jar also suggests having it with ham or strong cheese, so i thought i would give both a go, two days running I had the mango chutney with some ham, cheese and salad in a nice big brown bun, it worked really well, there was enough flavour in the chutney so that you could still taste it but at the same time it didn’t overpower the cheese or ham.

I also tried it with some blue cheese which worked surprisingly well, the sweetness and heat cut through the saltiness of the cheese and it turned out to be a real flavour treat, having said that my favourite way to eat it is on a cracker with a slice of nice stinky brie, the sweetness of the mango and the texture of the brie with the little bit of crunch from the cracker followed by the heat from the chilli is just awesome.

Finally I tried to compare the chutney to our regular hot mango chutney from a well known brand and to be honest the Jules and Sharpie one ate up the big brand and spat it out, there is simply no comparison.

Chilli Up North Verdict: Super tasty mango chutney with a great blend of spices, could possibly do with a bit more chilli to justify the very hot label but non the less its bloody good! 9.5/10 (Heat rating 7/10)

Jules and Sharpie Very Hot Mango Chutney

Chilli, Garlic and Ginger Jam

Our prayers were answered when The Chilli Jam Man got in touch asking if I would like to try some of his Jams, without hesitation I said yes, we then got chatting via Email and I learned a bit about the history of the Chilli Jam Man and how his career had turned from Mortgage broker to Chilli Jam Man, it was fascinating and inspiring stuff, I also found out he too was based in Yorkshire, so I was really looking forward to his Jams.

From looking at his new website it looks like he has started to do a whole range of jams and sauces, ranging from the hot Yorkshire 3 peaks to the sweet chilli and chocolate sauce.

The first one I have tried is his Hot chilli, garlic and ginger jam, which was the jam that started it all off for him. It retails at around £3.00 for a 200g jar, this seems to be a pretty competitive price for something that some much care and attention has gone into.

The jam is a lovely dark rich colour with a lovely reddy brown hue, it smells fantastic, you can certainly pick out the ginger, garlic and chilli as soon as you open the jar.

The consistency is a little bit different to most chutney I have tried, it has lovely little fine chunks, the closest texture i can think of is Branston Sandwich pickle, this however packs far more of a punch than its mass produced rival.

The first thing that hits you is the garlic, sweet and pungent yet not too over powering, you then get a little bit ginger heat and sweetness followed by a big bang of chilli that lasts in your mouth and builds up the more you eat.

I have managed to team the chutney up with ham sarnies, cheese and crackers but by far my favourite way was with cheese on toast, just dab a bit on your toast either before or after grilling and it adds a whole new dimension to the dish, far better than Worcestershire Sauce.

Chilli Up North Verdict: Great local chilli jam, pretty hefty chilli kick, certainly one for the garlic lovers 8/10 (Heat Rating: 7/10)

Anwyay enough of me – over to Helen (and Doug)

Lovely, tasty, sweet chutney that’ll rip your throat out given half a chance. Great with strong cheese. Treat with respect, use sparingly and keep
away from children!

Ingredients

• 6 ripe habanero or scotch bonnet chili, finely sliced
• 1 large onion, coarsely sliced
• 1 large Bramley cooking apple, diced into 1cm cubes
• 250g Raisins
• 250g Sugar
• 250ml malt vinegar
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon curry powder of your choice (homemade or bought)
• ½ teaspoon salt

Method

1. Put a little olive oil in a hot saucepan. Fry onion until translucent.
2. Add dry spices. Fry for a few seconds. Add vinegar.
3. Add apple, chilli, raisins, sugar and salt. Stir well whilst bringing to a boil.
4. Simmer gently for an hour or so until mixture is practically homogeneous – raisins are swollen and apple is almost indistinguishable. Check regularly, stirring and adding a dash of water or more vinegar if necessary to keep the mixture moving.
5. Heat clean jars in an oven at 120oC for 15 minutes. Sterilise the lids by boiling in water for the same amount of time. Do not use lids with exposed metal interiors as they are likely to corrode in the acidic conditions.
6. Spoon chutney straight off the heat directly into jars straight out of the oven.
7. I like to plop a dash of booze over the top before sealing! Perhaps try a little port?
8. Lid up the jars and store for at least 2 months before opening.

And there we have it the a delicious but lethal sounding Chutney, thanks for Helen and Doug for sending me the recipe and allowing me to share it with you.

If anyone else would like a guest spot on the blog then please get in touch.