Country-style chili sauce

Instructions

• Sterilize enough canning jars to hold 7 cups (1.75 L) chili sauce. Peel peaches or apples, but if using nectarines, it's not necessary to peel. Slice peaches or nectarines in half and discard pits. Or cut apples into quarters and discard cores. Coarsely chop fruit into 1/2-inch (1-cm) pieces. Peel tomatoes, if you wish. Chop into pieces the same size as fruit. Finely chop onion. Core and seed pepper, then dice into 1/2-inch (1-cm) pieces.

• Place peaches, tomatoes, onion, pepper and garlic in a large wide saucepan, preferably heavy-bottomed. Stir in vinegar, sugar, salt, ginger, allspice and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, uncovered and stirring often, over high heat.

• Then reduce heat to medium. Boil gently, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until peaches become soft and mixture thickens a little, about 20 minutes. Then reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering, uncovered, until mixture is very thick--like applesauce--and little liquid remains, from 20 to 25 more minutes. To prevent mixture from sticking to pan, stir frequently near end of cooking.

• Spoon sauce into sterilized jars, leaving a 1/4-inch (0.5-cm) headspace. Seal each jar at once. Process jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath and they will keep well in a cool place for months. If not processing in a water bath, refrigerate jars and they will keep well up to 3 weeks. Great with chicken, roast pork or barbecued burgers.