Preserving with Tomatoes

Tomato Preserves

Well, it is that time of year again when I am spending a lot of very satisfying time making pickles, relishes, chutneys, etc along with other interesting ways of preserving my glut of vegetables for the winter. Of course, this year the crops are ripening late and some are struggling to ripen. Although, we have had a few sunny days among the torrential rain and fortunately some of those were during our Olympics.

I have been picking tomatoes for two or three weeks, I am only now harvesting in sufficient quantities to think of preserving.

I haven't planted any tomatoes outdoors this year but, planted several each of Alicante, F1 Fantasio and Sultana [all from Dobies] as well as my very precious Heritage tomato Broad Ripple Yellow Currant, which was given to me [see a previous Blog]. Sultana is a heavy cropping, tasty, crisp and reliable salad tomato. I grew it last year and loved it. My three plants this year are providing more fruits than I can eat so my neighbours are also getting lots. Alicante and F1 Fantasio are medium to large tomatoes which are excellent for all dishes demanding tomatoes. They freeze well and are excellent for preserves.

This home-made tomato ketchup is a favourite with my family. My first batch this year is perhaps a little hot for children but is very delicious - perhaps it was just my heavy hand with the chillies, they can be a bit unpredictable and the heat can be influenced by the amount of sunshine when ripening [if you are making the ketchup for children leaving the seeds out of the chillies might be a good idea]. I am still using the last of my 2011 dried chillies as this year's are not yet ripe.

Home made Tomato Ketchup

2Kg ripe tomatoes ( 4½ lbs)                            2 – 3 fresh bay leaves – crushed

568ml white vinegar( 1 pt)                              piece of cinnamon bark

190g white granulated sugar ( 6oz)                2 – 3 cloves garlic - crushed

1 Tblsp. salt                                                     2 – 3 red chillies ( dried or fresh)

¼ - ½ tsp ground allspice                                ¼ - ½ tsp ground cloves

Large pinch coarsely ground black pepper                                                                

Method

1.      Wash and roughly cut the tomatoes and put in a preserving pan or large saucepan with the salt, bay leaves, cinnamon bark, crushed garlic cloves and vinegar (be fairly sparing with the salt at this stage – add more in the final stages as necessary).

2.      Add the chopped chillies. Take care with these, especially if the ketchup is for children ( I have used dried  Joe’s Long, grown indoors - which are of medium heat and usually reliable)

3.      Bring to the boil then simmer gently until the tomatoes are thoroughly softened.

4.      In the meantime, sterilise the bottles or jars – keep hot in low oven.

5.    Remove the cinnamon bark and bay leaves then, sieve the tomato mixture through a coarse sieve – preferable nylon. Return the juice and pulp to a clean saucepan.

6.      Add sugar then ground allspice, ground cloves and black pepper gradually, tasting frequently to ensure the flavour is not too strong. Remember, when the ketchup is cold, the flavour will be somewhat milder. You may also want to add more salt if needed.

7.      Simmer the mixture until it starts to thicken. Don’t make it too thick at this stage as it thickens as it cools.

8.      Put the heated sterilised bottles/jars on a wooden surface and fill them with the ketchup while it is still very hot. Seal the jars immediately. This ketchup should keep safely for several months.

If your preference is for relish or chutney I have found my Hot Spicy Roasted Pepper and Tomato Chutney to be particularly popular:

Hot Spicy Roasted Pepper and Tomato Chutney

2 kg ripe tomatoes - peeled

4 large ripe sweet peppers – any shape will be good but use only red or yellow peppers

3 large onions – peeled and finely chopped

4 good sized garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed

3-4 hot red peppers (remove the seeds if you don’t want your chutney to be too hot)

1 tsp ground cinnamon,        1 tsp ground cloves,       ½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

850 ml vinegar (1½pt) – white vinegar is best but malt vinegar will also do

700g (1½lb) sugar

Method

·         Skin the tomatoes and chop – (skinning tomatoes can be done in several ways:

* – on a fork over a gas flame – great for a couple of tomatoes!

* - in a bowl with boiling water poured over – great for a handful or so.

* - For a large amount – cut out the core and put in the largest bowl which will fit in the micro wave. Microwave on full for 20 minutes, then, just lift off the skins. Chop roughly.

·         Put the peppers into a roasting tin in a hot oven 200°C or No 6 Gas for 30 mins or so. They should just start to brown or char. Leave them to cool.

·         Remove the skins and the seeds as far as possible then chop roughly.

·         Put the chopped tomatoes, chopped peppers, chopped onions, chopped garlic, vinegar and sugar into a preserving pan with the spices and seasonings.

·         Simmer slowly until the sugar has dissolved and the fruit/vegetables have softened.

·         Bring to the boil and cook, stirring frequently to ensure it does not stick and burn until it starts to turn thick.

·         Pot up in hot, sterilised jars. Cover and label.

Of course, don’t forget about that invaluable method of freezing tomatoes. I find that the tubs of frozen tomato pulp are used in casseroles, pasta dishes, Mexican and Indian dishes and I am always disappointed when my supply has finished and I must buy tins of prepared tomato pulp instead

Freezing Tomatoes

Use normal-sized or large tomatoes.

Wash them and cut out the central cores.

Put them into the largest micro-wave proof bowl you have which will fit into your micro-wave oven.

Microwave on full power for 20 minutes.

Remove, allow to cool slightly and lift off the skins. Pour off the excess juice.

( my friend Philip, who gave me this method does not remove the juice. There is merit to both methods. For his – where the juice is included – the resultant pulp is less strong, is suitable for lots of recipes, including soup.

With my dryer method – it is more concentrated, the flavoursome juice has been lost, it is really too sharp and concentrated for soup but, is excellent for Italian dishes, it takes up less space in the freezer.

Put the skinned tomatoes back into the bowl and microwave on full power for a further 20  minutes.

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