Tomato and other veggie preserving recipes?

[grumpybear]

I was reading through the tomato hoarding thread with interest. I believe it was cheffie who listed all things one can do with tomatoes.

I'm new to the "putting food by" world. I have all the equipment for canning now, but last year I only really made pickles--cucumber pickles, dilly beans, and pickled beets.

I'd love to have a thread where folks share their recipes. There was a lot of salsa mentioned. Someone mentioned diced tomatoes with chiles. Let's share, so that when the harvest comes tumbling in, we can all find some new ideas for using it.

(I added other veggies here, too, since I think we all grow more than just tomatoes.)

[LibertyGardener]

Diced Tomatoes and Chiles:

I measure everything by availability, eyeballing and taste, so I have no set measurements.

Trim, peel and dice tomatoes on a plate to retain juice, pour into kettle.
Trim and dice chiles, peel and remove seeds if you prefer. Add to tomatoes.
Add lemon juice,vinegar, garlic or salt to taste if desired, bring to a boil and pack into sterile jars. Process in pressure canner at 10lbs for 35 minutes for pints, 45 for quarts.

[grumpybear]

Do you know how that would work in a steam canner? Would they still need to be processed for the 35-45 minutes?

[RozieDozie]

Tomato Preserves: this can be done 2 ways, either used as you would any preserve and eat them on bread or else add the jalapeno and eat them like chutney with meat.

6 cups tomatoes, peeled and chopped
6 cups sugar
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 medium lemon sliced really thin
1 chopped jalapeno (use more if you like it hot)
2 TBS butter

Bring all ingredients, except butter, to a rolling boil over medium heat. When it boils, add the butter. Lower heat to a simmer and continue cooking and stirring until the mixture thickens; it is thick enough when it holds on the back of a spoon, takes about 45 minutes.

Put in half-pint jars and process in hot water bath for 15 minutes. Makes 5 half-pints. Or, if you don't want to can it, it will keep in the fridge for a quite a while.

[Jennifer3141]

I make salsa, sauce, and just plain whole tomatoes in the canner. A friend and I made about 60 pints of tomato sauce last summer. I'm going to need to do more next year at the rate we go through it!

And I don't really use a recipe to make salsa. But we do burn the onions a bit to give it a smoky flavor. Otherwise, it's just a ton of different peppers, a ton of tomatoes, some tomatillos, garlic, and fresh limes juiced. I just cook it down until it's the consistency I want and then can it.

We used Barbara Kingsolver's recipe for tomato sauce this summer and it turned out great.

[Mook]

Here's how I can maders.Quarter them up and put in a big pot.I leave the skins on.Bring to a hard boil for 10 to 15 minutes.Spoon into hot sterilized jars to within 1/2 inch from top of jar.Put on your canning lid (make sure you put the lids in a small pan with water and heat it to just under a boil) and tighten.Set off to the side on a towel and let them seal.If you want to make tomato juice you can do it the same way.Just run your maders through a food processor and process the same way.

[peterskeepers]

Sauce can be frozen too.

[velcromom]

I make brine cured cucumber pickles - it's so easy, takes minutes and doesn't heat up the kitchen in the summer! I started off using the recipe given at www.wildfermentation.com and adapted it to our tastes once I succeeded. Now I'm making sauerkraut and ginger carrots too by this same no-cook easy method.

The basic method is to make a brine of 1/2 gallon filtered water (don't use chlorinated water) and 6 tbs sea salt. Then you add your veggies and seasonings and allow it to cure for a few days or til it suits your taste, then you refrigerate it. Most veggies can keep for months this way, often longer, so you can enjoy veggies from your garden pretty much all winter long when put up with this method.

I also preserve lemons (I know, not a veggie but still...) in salt - keeps a long time and is a fantastic ingredient in recipes.

[Locavore]

Here's how I can maders.Quarter them up and put in a big pot.I leave the skins on.Bring to a hard boil for 10 to 15 minutes.Spoon into hot sterilized jars to within 1/2 inch from top of jar.Put on your canning lid (make sure you put the lids in a small pan with water and heat it to just under a boil) and tighten.Set off to the side on a towel and let them seal.If you want to make tomato juice you can do it the same way.Just run your maders through a food processor and process the same way.

So, you're not boiling the filled jars? Is that a reliable way to do it? How long would they last unopened?

[grumpybear]

I make brine cured cucumber pickles - it's so easy, takes minutes and doesn't heat up the kitchen in the summer! I started off using the recipe given at www.wildfermentation.com and adapted it to our tastes once I succeeded. Now I'm making sauerkraut and ginger carrots too by this same no-cook easy method.

The basic method is to make a brine of 1/2 gallon filtered water (don't use chlorinated water) and 6 tbs sea salt. Then you add your veggies and seasonings and allow it to cure for a few days or til it suits your taste, then you refrigerate it. Most veggies can keep for months this way, often longer, so you can enjoy veggies from your garden pretty much all winter long when put up with this method.

I also preserve lemons (I know, not a veggie but still...) in salt - keeps a long time and is a fantastic ingredient in recipes.

I'm so happy to see Wild Fermentation referenced. Sandor Katz is one of my personal heroes. I read The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, and it's actually the book that tipped me over into food politics.

I'll try his pickling technique this summer.

[lorna-organic]

I'm interested in more info on those salted lemons, Velcromom. I'm going to check out the link you provided, too, as I intend to do some vegetable pickling this summer. Thanks!

[velcromom]

I'm interested in more info on those salted lemons, Velcromom. I'm going to check out the link you provided, too, as I intend to do some vegetable pickling this summer. Thanks!


It's really easy to make preserved lemons. I use lemons from my own tree but if I didn't have my own I'd use organic.

Slice the lemons and pack them into jars, layered with kosher salt. It seems like a lot of salt but that's ok. After filling the jar, cap it and let it sit for three days, if the juices have not covered all the slices by then, add enough fresh lemon juice so that the fruit is submerged. The lemons will be ready to begin using in three weeks. No refrigeration is required. Once I open a jar, I like to put it in the fridge but it's probably erring on the side of caution.

To use them, I take out a slice and rinse the excess salt away, and usually remove the peel from the pulp. I use my chopper jar thingy... sure you know what that is right... or mince the peel and squeeze the bits thru a garlic press if I want them really fine. The pulp will be all mushy and slimy, that's normal. You can use the whole thing in your recipe or just the peel. Use it wherever you would normally want a lemon flavor, just experiment... :)

[LibertyGardener]

Do you know how that would work in a steam canner? Would they still need to be processed for the 35-45 minutes?

Due to the chiles being low acid, I wouldn't trust a boiling water bath. I pressure can everything. You could litmus test acid levels to see if boiling water bathing is safe.

[lorna-organic]

Thank you Velcromom. Have copied and pasted to my recipe file.

[Zephyrbird5a-6]

I make salsa, sauce, and just plain whole tomatoes in the canner. A friend and I made about 60 pints of tomato sauce last summer. I'm going to need to do more next year at the rate we go through it!

And I don't really use a recipe to make salsa. But we do burn the onions a bit to give it a smoky flavor. Otherwise, it's just a ton of different peppers, a ton of tomatoes, some tomatillos, garlic, and fresh limes juiced. I just cook it down until it's the consistency I want and then can it.

We used Barbara Kingsolver's recipe for tomato sauce this summer and it turned out great.

Ooooh, good idea burning the onions. hm. I love salsa. No cilantro?