how do you chop dates?????

emseacows, Mar 9, 6:44pm
honestly - I start chopping and the flippen things stick to my knife, its soooo hard to finely chop them! !
I am making Peach Chutney and for every 1kg of peaches thgres 500g dates! ! - eek!
Any advice welcomed.
I am thinking of maybe freezing them first and letting them thaw a little? ? ? ?

emseacows, Mar 9, 6:50pm
I'll share my yummy recipe with ya's... ... .

indy95, Mar 9, 6:54pm
If you have a pair of strong kitchen scissors you could use those instead or you could just put the dates in a sieve and run some cold water through them which should make them less sticky.

Actually, thinking about the way some of the threads in here have developed recently I think I can see the opportunity for a " wind-up " emerging. I'm sure some of the more innovative posters could think of creative and daring ways to make a very tedious job more enjoyable.

Let's wait and see what happens.

indy95, Mar 9, 7:01pm
If you would like to post your recipe, emseacows, that would be great, thank you.

emseacows, Mar 9, 7:01pm
cheers
have you tried it with running cold water yourself? ? ?
the dates arent sticky on the outside - its when you cut thru them, they stick to whatever cutting utensil you are using.

emseacows, Mar 9, 7:02pm
I'll chuck it up later when I see some suggestions... . I need some serious date cutting people in here to give me some tips! ! !
lol.

emseacows, Mar 9, 7:04pm
indy- its sooo yum I once made a years supply of it.
cutting them dates for that was a nightmare! ! ! ! !

rainrain1, Mar 9, 7:50pm
loluse snips and run then under water every 4th date :-)

maynard9, Mar 9, 7:51pm
I use kitchen scissors dipped in some light oil. No probs.

lil_miss_haley, Mar 9, 7:53pm
I use sissors too, much easier!

korbo, Mar 9, 7:55pm
why not use rasins or sultanas. i have just made 2 lots of peach chutney and put rasins in one lot, sultanas in the other. much eaiser and i would think taste the same... . .

margyr, Mar 9, 7:59pm
yep scissors here, also use scissors for cutting up meat for stews, so easy.

2halls, Mar 9, 8:06pm
Bin Inn sells chopped dates, this might solve your problem entirely :-)

charliebrown123, Mar 9, 11:57pm
Why not dip your knife in hot water ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

emseacows, Mar 10, 12:08am
cheers
with regard to using raisins?
This recipe has raisins as well...
Thks for your input... I live rurally, so cant just 'pop' in to the Binn Inn store.
Recipe coming in a moment... .

emseacows, Mar 10, 12:17am
thks everyone for helping - I will try the knife dipped in hot water. .

Heres the recipe
Digby Law's PEACH CHUTNEY
This is probly the best chutney ever. The longer it is kept the better as the cayenne pepper mellows and makes the chutney superb.

1kg stoned and peeled ripe peaches
3. 5 cups malt vinegar
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
100g preserved ginger, finely chopped
500g dates finely chopped
500g raisins
1kg brown sugar
2 tsps cayenne pepper
2 TBSP salt
Chop peaches fairly finely and boil them in the vinegar with the garlic until the peaches are soft. add the remaining ingreidients and boil for 30mins, stirring ocassionally.
Spoon into hot, clean jars and seal
Makes about 3 litres.

I can attest to Digby Law's claim that this is the best chutney ever... . coz it flippen well is. try it once and you will be converted.

elliehen, Mar 10, 12:33am
If you haven't already done the chopping, I use one of those curved things with two rocker-type blades and knobs on top... . sounds like one of the new fairy-tale answers, but it's not. I think the gadget is for herbs - chops those easily too.

rainrain1, Mar 10, 12:35am
I meant for you to run under water every 4th date... . nah I didn't, cheers for the recipe

snapit, Oct 19, 3:52pm
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