Making runner bean chutney

The last of the runner bean crop is now harvested and so we are faced with choices of how to preserve them. We have, in past years, frozen and salted them. This year we have frozen most but put some aside to make runner bean chutney.

Here is the recipe I used over the weekend:

• 1kg sliced runner beans
• 750g chopped onions
• 900ml cider vinegar
• 45g cornflour
• 1 heaped tbsp mustard powder
• 1 level tbsp turmeric
• 700g soft brown sugar

Put the chopped onion into a pan with 300 ml of vinegar. Simmer for 20 minutes. Boil the chopped beans for five minutes, strain and then add to the simmered onions.

Whilst the simmering is taking place, mix the cornflour, turmeric and mustard with a bit of vinegar to make a paste. Add this to the pan with the onions and runner beans. Pour in the rest of the vinegar and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the sugar and simmer for a further 15 minutes.

Add to warm sterilised jars.

There are two waste products from this recipe that can be used elsewhere. The water in which the beans were boiled can be saved to make a stock. I've just made bacon and vegetable soup using this stock. And the top and tail of the runner beans, and the stringy edges, all of which are removed before the beans are chopped, can also be used to make stock as well.

In other words, waste nothing.