Canning Tomatoes

I've been canning quite a few tomatoes this year.  Our heirloom tomato plants have been absolutely loaded with fruit.  I've made salsa, pasta sauce, eaten tons fresh, froze some, and have been canning them.  And I haven't had to buy a single tomato!  I posted about canning tomatoes packed in water back in 2008, but I've since given up using water and just can them in their own juices.  I like the flavor better.  And I actually like canning the tomatoes themselves better than making sauces with them first.  Then I can just open a jar of my home-canned tomatoes in the winter and make up a pizza sauce or pasta sauce.  We like a lot of variation and get tired of the same sauce over and over again, so this works best for us.  Plus, aren't my jars just so pretty with the different colored heirlooms??  I love it! Anyway, since it's a slightly different process than canning in water, I figured it warranted it's own post. 

Canning Tomatoes (packed raw and in their own juices)

Tomatoes
Lemon juice - 2 Tablespoons per quart or 1 Tablespoon per pint

Wash tomatoes. 

Core and cut an "x" in the bottom side of the tomato.

Dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split, then dip in cold water.

Slip off skins (some people also prefer to wait till this step to remove the cores... I find it easier to remove them first, but to each her own.).

Leave whole, halve, quarter, or chop (I usually quarter).

Add bottled lemon juice to the jars.

Fill jars with raw tomatoes.  Press tomatoes in the jars until spaces between them fill with juice. Leave 1/2-inch headspace.  Place lids on jars and process pints or quarts for 25 minutes at 10lbs of pressure (or for 85 minutes in a boiling water bath).  Remove jars from canner.  Let cool.  Store after 24 hours. 


This post is linked to: 
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS

Sausage Zucchini Bake

I am still getting quite a few zucchini from our garden, so I've been trying to use it up in tasty ways.  I saw a recipe for sausage zucchini bake on Kitchen Stewardship and thought I'd try it.  I made a few modifications based on things I had on hand, so click on the link above for the original recipe. 

This was really good!  We all really enjoyed it a lot.  I think this is a new favorite way to use up zucchini.  The leftovers were great, too... and for those of you that know me, you know I don't usually care for leftovers... so for me to say they were good is a pretty big thing.  :) 

This is a really affordable recipe.  Even moreso if you have a garden.  The zucchini, tomato, and onion all came from my garden.  The pasta sauce was homemade.  The pork sausage was local, organic, pastured.  I did use up some conventional shredded cheese that I had in the freezer for this, but I'll use local, raw cheese in the future. 

Another great thing about this dish is that it can be prepped ahead.  I prepped everything ahead 24 hours in advance - cooked the sausage/onions, sliced the zucchini and tomato.  So it was super fast to assemble and pop in the oven for dinner.  We've been more pressed for time than normal lately, with my working longer hours at work, so having something easy to prep and get cooking is essential for us these days. 

Something else to note, I only made a 9x9 pan of this, yet I still used the quantities listed below.  It filled my casserole dish to the top, but it was delicious! 

Sausage Zucchini Bake

1 pound sausage
1 chopped onion
1-2 large zucchini
1 jar pasta sauce, preferably homemade
1-2 tomatoes, sliced
2 cups shredded cheese

Slice you zucchini into 1/2" thick slices.  Don't worry about peeling it.  Sprinkle the zucchini with salt and let drain. 

Meanwhile, brown sausage. Saute onion in with the meat. 

Pour a little pasta sauce in a 9×13 glass baking dish. Layer zucchini on top.

Mix the remaining spaghetti sauce in a large bowl with the sauteed meat.  Pour over top of the zucchini.

Layer sliced tomatoes on top, then sprinkle with cheese.  (Look at that yummy tomato... fresh from the garden... I love this time of year!)

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 15-30 minutes longer, until the cheese is browned and the sides are bubbling.


This post is linked to:
Grain Free Real Food Carnival @ Real Food Forager

Canned Pasta Sauce

Back in mid-August, I canned a couple batches of pasta sauce. I used my SIL's recipe for sauce, with a couple modifications. I didn't make it quite as sweet as she does, with a little less brown sugar and no cloves. I also was sure to add 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice to each jar, as you should with any tomato based canned item, to ensure the proper acidity. I am very excited to have this on hand for pasta dishes - it was so delicious pre-processing!

Tomato Cucumber Salad

The Gluten Free Girlie, Kati, and her husband came over for dinner a few weeks ago. Kati brought along this tomato and cucumber salad. It was so delicious and I was so glad to see her post the recipe recently. Of course, I had to try it out, so we had it for lunch today. Its healthy and has all raw veggies in it, though its not considered a raw dish. But it still fits in with our goals to eat more raw and healthy. This is super fast and easy to throw together. And it tastes awesome! Carson and I love it! Kevin also really likes it, though he could do without the feta... he just picks it out, though.

Tomato Cucumber Salad

1 cucumber, peeled and cubed
1 large tomato, seeded and cubed
1 avocado, cubed
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pepper, to taste
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil

Mix all ingredients together except juice, vinegar and olive oil. Chill. 20 minutes before serving add in other ingredients and stir. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Crockpot Cream of Tomato Soup

On Monday, I made up a batch of cream of tomato soup in the crockpot. This recipe comes from my SIL Mary. This is a very good soup. It tastes as good as the last tomato soup I had tried (a Giada recipe), but its much simpler since everything is just thrown into the crockpot. We had a little for dinner with grilled cheese sandwiches and I canned the remaining soup into 8 pints. I'm very excited to have this on hand for quick lunches and dinners!

I'll update with a picture later on.

Crockpot Cream of Tomato Soup

(This cream of tomato soup is rich and hearty and very delicious. It can be used as a substitute for canned tomato soup with excellent results and cannot be beat when served with grilled cheese sandwiches. Mix and match any of the suggested herbs and spices for a marvelous soup. For a traditional blend we use 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, 1 tablespoon oregano, and 1 tablespoon basil.)

2 Tbsp. olive oil (I didn't add this)
1 large chopped onion
3 crushed garlic cloves
2 minced carrots (I just did a rough chop into slices)
2 pounds peeled and diced tomatoes (reserve and add all juices) (I used 1 large can of diced tomatoes and 1 large can of crushed tomatoes)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock or broth
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
2-4 Tbsp. freshly chopped herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, savory, chervil, Italian parsley, mint, lavender) or 1-2 tsp. dried herbs or spices (Italian spices, basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, cumin, curry powder, nutmeg)
1 cup heavy cream (or milk - I used 1% milk)

Combine the oil, onion, garlic, and carrot in the crockpot. Cook on high, stirring frequently, until the onion softens. This can also be done in a skillet. (I skipped this step.) Add the remaining ingredients except for the herbs and spices and cream. Cover and cook on low for 8-12 hours. Add the herbs and adjust seasoning. Cool slightly and puree in small batches (I used an immersion blender). Return to the crockpot and add the cream. (I just added the cream to the individual bowls and canned the soup plain). Reheat until piping hot, or else cool and chill before serving.

* Process at 10 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes if you want to can it.

Zucchini Tacos

I tried a recipe from my Recipes from America's Small Farms: Fresh Ideas for the Season's Bounty cookbook for zucchini tacos on Monday night. I continue to harvest more zucchini than I know what to do with (almost... I have frozen a lot of it that I can't use fresh), so I'm looking for all sorts of ways to use it up. These sounded very interesting when I read through the recipe in the cookbook, so I figured we should try them. I'm so glad we did! We all loved them! Even Kevin said he thought they were really, really good... he did say it'd be nice to have some chicken in them for some meat, but thought they were great just as they were, too. He didn't even complain once about taking the leftovers for lunch the next day. They were so good! They were nice and sweet and creamy and so fresh-tasting! This is a definite keeper for us! I'll update with a picture once I get it off my camera.

Mexican-Style Zucchini Tacos

1 1/2 Tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped OR 2/3 of a 28oz can of whole tomatoes, drained (I just used a can of organic fire-roasted crushed tomatoes)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large fresh poblano peppers (I just used a bell pepper since that's what I had)
Kernels from 1 large ear of fresh corn
4 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 Tablespoons cilantro
2/3 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream (I used heavy cream)
Salt
1/2 cup mexican queso fresco (I just used shredded cheddar since that's what I had)
fresh, warm tortillas

Preparing the flavoring base: Measure the oil into a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until richly browned, about 8 minutes. While the onion is cooking, coarsely puree the tomatoes in a food processor or blender. Add the garlic to the browned onion, cook for 1 minute, stirring. Then add the tomatoes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Roasting the peppers: Roast the poblanos directly over a gas flame or on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, turning regularly until the skin is blistered and blackened on all sides. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand for 5 minutes. Rub off the blackened skins, then pull out the stems and seed pods. Rinse briefly to remove the stray seeds and bits of skin. Slice into 1/4 inch strips. (I skipped the roasting step and just added my peppers to the skillet when I added the garlic. I'll try the roasting next time, but I just needed to cut some corners to save a little time.)

Finishing the dish: Uncover the skillet and raise the heat to medium-high. Stir in the peppers, corn, zucchini, cilantro, and cream. Cook, stirring frequently, until the zucchini is crisp-tender and the liquid has thickened enough to coat the veggies nicely, about 8 minutes. Taste and season with salt. Serve in a decorative bowl, sprinkle with cheese, and pass the tortillas separately for do-it-yourself tacos.

Canned Tomatoes

This afternoon I canned a batch of chopped tomatoes. Just simple tomatoes packed in water. I wanted to use up the tomatoes I'd harvested from our garden before leaving for Texas this week and my freezer is filled to the brim, so I couldn't freeze anymore of them. So rather than make another batch of pasta sauce, I decided to just chop them up and can them since it seemed a little less time-consuming. I ended up having enough tomatoes to do six and a half pints.

Tomatoes Packed in water
(page 354 of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)

Tomatoes
Bottled lemon juice or citric acid
salt (optional)


Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

Immerse the tomatoes in boiling water for 30-60 seconds or until the skin starts to loosen or crack. Immediately plunge into cold water and slip off the skins. Remove cores and any bruised or discolored areas. Leave whole, halve or quarter. (I chopped mine into large chunks)

Place tomatoes in a large stainless steel saucepan. Add water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring gently. Reduce heat and boil gently for five minutes.

Before packing tomatoes into hot jars, add lemon juice or citric acid to the hot jar (1 Tablespoon for pints, 2 Tablespoons for quarts).

Pack tomatoes into parepared jars, leaving a generous 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rim, place lid, and screw band on to fingertip tight.

Place jars in canner and process pints for 40 minutes or quarts for 45 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store.

Pizza Sauce

This afternoon I canned a batch of pizza sauce using another recipe from my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It was a pretty easy recipe, probably about an hour of prep time and an hour of cooking/canning time and not too labor intensive... the best kind of recipe in my opinion! :) It tastes pretty good from my taste test as I was filling the jars, too. I ended up with six and a half pints out of this, so quite a bit of sauce. We're looking forward to having homemade pizza this winter.

Pizza Sauce
(page 366 of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)

13 cups fresh tomato puree (see note below)
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Prepare the canner, jars and lids.

Place half of the tomato puree into a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Maintaining a constant boil, add remaining tomato puree, 1 cup at a time. Stir in lemon juice, oregano, pepper, salt, and garlic powder. Boil hard, stirring frequently, until mixture is the consistency of a thin commercial sauce, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary. Wipe rim, center lid, screw band on to fingertip tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 35 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes and remove jars, cool, and store.

Notes:
You'll need about 9 lbs of plum tomatoes to make the tomato puree for this recipe.

To make a fresh tomato puree, pass quartered tomatoes through a food mill or Victorio strainer.

If you do not have a food mill, blanch, peel, core, seed and chop tomatoes. Place in a colander and let stand for 15 minutes. Discard liquid and puree tomatoes in a blender or food processor fitted with a metal blade.

Feel free to add more oregano, pepper and garlic powder, but do not change the proportion of tomato puree to lemon juice.

According to the NCHFP/USDA, you can add up to 3 cups of low acid veggies to 22 lbs. of tomatoes and still BWB safely. So - according to the Ball CBoHP, on the chart on page 427, one pound of Roma tomatoes equals 1 1/2 cups of crushed or pureed Romas. This recipe calls for 13 cups of puree - or 8.66 pounds. Based on the NCHFP/USDA guideline, which basically allows 1 cup low acid veggies per 7.3 pounds of tomatoes, you could safely add 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. of diced onion and garlic and still BWB this recipe. Just use a tiny amount of oil to saute' the veggies to keep it safe.

(I ended up with about 14 cups of puree, so I increased the lemon juice by the same percentage. I added 1 cup of finely chopped onion and 2 Tablespoons of finely chopped garlic.)

Recipe says it makes about 4 pints, but I ended up with 6 and a half pints.

Seasoned Tomato Sauce

Tonight I used up some of the organic tomatoes I picked up on Monday to make some tomato sauce. I used a combination of Jubilee tomatoes (they're orange tomatoes) and a firmer red tomato that I can't remember the name of. The Jubilees are very sweet tomatoes, great flavor. I used about half and half - I just didn't know how Kevin would feel about eating an orange sauce on his pasta if I'd used all the Jubilees. So I mixed them. This is a very easy recipe, not very labor-intensive at all, which was nice. Since I'm very limited on time on work nights, I did the prep work last night, then just heated the sauce back to a boil and canned it tonight. The sauce tastes awesome from my sneaking a taste from the bottom of the pan before I washed it out. I'm excited to have this on hand and can't wait to try out a few other sauce recipes I've found.

Seasoned Tomato Sauce
(page 364 of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)

10 pounds tomatoes, cored
2 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon granulated sugar (I left this out since I was using the extra sweet Jubilees and neither Kevin or I are crazy about sweet sauce)
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (I left these out since I didn't have any on hand)
Bottled lemon juice or citric acid

Wash and sort the tomatoes, removing any bruised or discolored product. Quarter 6 tomatoes and place in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Use a potato masher to crush the tomatoes and release the juices, stirring constantly. While maintaining a boil, quarter additional tomatoes and add them as you work. Make sure the mixture continues to boil vigorously while you add, stir and crush the tomatoes. When all tomatoes have been added, stir in onions, garlic, oregano, bay leaves, salt, black pepper, sugar and hot pepper flakes. Return to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and boil, stirring frequently, until sauce is reduced by half and thickens slightly (about 2 hours).

Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

Working in batches, press tomato mixture through a fine sieve or food mill to remove the skins and seeds. Discard peel and seeds.

Return mixture to saucepan and bring to full rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Before filling each jar with sauce, add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid) to the hot jar. Ladle hot sauce into jar, remove air bubbles, leave 1/2 inch headspace, wipe rim, place lid, and screw band to fingertip tight.

Place jars in canner. Bring to a boil and process for 35 minutes. Remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes and remove jars. Cool and store.

Tips: It is very important you reheat the tomato sauce before filling the jars. Processing times are based on hot sauce in a hot jar. If the sauce is tepid, the processing time won't be sufficient to vent the excess headspace gases and destroy spoilage microorganisms.

It is crucial that you do not alter the ingredients or quantities or you may produce a product that isn't safe to eat. You must maintain a safe acidity.

Makes about 4-6 pints.