Have lots of tomatoes at the moment and plenty of time on my hands so thought i'd try making some tomato sauce or relish or chutney. I dont have any jars, and only few glass bottles, thought i'd ask rellies/friends for some. But anyway is it easy enough to do! And if anyone has a tried and true recipe thats nice i'd appreciate it, i've got plenty of zucchini at the moment as well so can this be used in chutney or anything else! TIA
elliehen,
Feb 17, 6:45pm
I have just made some from an old tried and true Edmonds recipe that never fails.I sometimes tweak the quantities, with no failures.
TOMATO RELISH
12 large peeled tomatoes (put into boiling water, leave a few minutes and skins pop off) cut into quarters 4 large onions, peeled and quartered
Sprinkle 25 gm plain (not iodised) table salt over the top and leave for 12 hours or overnightto draw off excess water
Drain and discard water Put into large pot and add: 500gm brown sugar and enough malt vinegar to just cover tops
Bring to boil and simmer uncovered for one and a half hours
Mix to a paste with a little cold vinegar: 1 tablespoon dry mustard powder 1 tablespoon curry powder (I use the red Vencat pottle) 2 tablespoons plain flour 3 to 5 dried chillis
Add this to pot and boil five minutes (while adding, stir quickly so you don't get lumps of flour)
Pour into sterilised jars (100*C in the oven for about 20 minutes) and cover when cold.(I sometimes cover while hot with cellophane jam covers, if I have no lids.)
elliehen,
Feb 17, 6:51pm
On the zucchini question, there are lots of tasty pickle recipes you can make (check the search top left) but one easy way to use them up is to make a savoury mix of onions cooked until soft in olive oil, peeled tomatoes, chopped zucchini, celery, salt and pepper - simmered slowly until well-cooked.
You can freeze this in ice-cream containers and it's a good winter standby by itself, or as a base for soups and stews.
baalamb,
Feb 17, 6:52pm
Slightly O/T - why does the salt have to be non-iodised! - have often wondered.
elliehen,
Feb 17, 6:56pm
Reason I have seen is that it can sometimes discolour the finished product after it's been kept for a while.It's so easy to use the plain table salt, I'm not about to experiment to test the theory ;)
baalamb,
Feb 17, 7:05pm
Ah ok thanks for that - yeah I follow it too, figure since its always mentioned I should do it - just wondered why!
turkey_foot,
Feb 17, 8:10pm
i have a great tomato sauce recipie - made 3 lots this week already. im just heading out but can type it out for you when i get home if you like!
elliehen,
Feb 17, 9:45pm
Thanks juliewn.I have another batch to make tomorrow so I might try out your tweaks as a variation.
juliewn,
Feb 17, 9:54pm
My favourite tomato sauce. everything in the pan, cook for 3 hours. whizz or put through a mouli. cook a few minutes more, bottle and it's done.
You can halve the recipe if you want. I use malt vinegar for this as I like the stronger flavour.
6 kg's tomatoes - chopped 6 large (or equivalent, ie 10 medium) onions - chopped 1.5 kg brown sugar 1.5 tablespoons common (non iodised) salt 1.5 litres malt vinegar 2 tsps each of: Ground ginger Cinnamon Mixed Spice
Place everything in a large pan/preserving pan, bring slowly to a boil, stirring often to stop it sticking to the pan base. Keep the mix at a simmer, stirring occasionally, for three hours. Cool a little, then either whizz in smaller amounts in a food processor, or put through a mouli. Return to the pan and bring back to boiling, stirring often. Boil 5 minutes, then bottle into hot sterilised jars/bottles, place lids on to seal.
Sterilise jars/bottles by placing them into your oven while it's cold, turn it on and heat to 100°C - leave 30 minutes before filling them while the sauce is still simmering. Lids on and leave to cool.
Notes. I use the whole tomato, skins, seeds included. You can add more of the spices if you want, or add other spices as you prefer. A packet (Greggs) of whole pickling spice can be tied inside muslin and left in the mix while it's cooking. remove before putting through a mouli. If you like garlic, add several cloves, chopped finely, with the other ingredients at the beginning Same with fresh ginger. chop finely - or grate - and add.
juliewn,
Feb 17, 9:55pm
Hi Ellie. hope you like it. and that all is well for you there. cheers. Julie
jag5,
Feb 17, 10:06pm
When it comes to iodised or non iodised.apparently there have been cases of bottles and jars exploding if iodised is used.
I tend to use whatever I have in the cupboard.never had an explosion yet.
juliewn,
Feb 17, 10:12pm
Iodised salt can cause discolouration of pickles/preserves. and can cause some cloudiness too.
juliewn,
Feb 17, 10:14pm
For jars, ask people you know to collect jars and bottles for you. Opp shops often have them for around 10c to 50c each, recycling shops too. Check inside the lids when buying them, as if the lid has been placed on a jar before it's dry, the inside of the lid can rust.
The pop-top type jars or bottles are good too, as they'll seal very well.
I use 2 large glass bottle's for my sauce, pouring some into a smaller bottle or small jug when needed. The 2 bottles take less room to store too - they're the large'flagon's' that vinegar and beer were sold in - up to around the 80's I'd guess. sometimes see them in recycling shops.
juliewn,
Feb 17, 10:21pm
Last one! - in case this is of help. re the preserving thread above - or any other thread (or page throughout the internet), the way to find something quickly, is have the page you want to look through showing on your screen.
Then either press F3 of your keyboard, or hold your 'Ctrl' key down at the same time as you press the letter F.
A box will pop up on your screen - mine shows at the bottom, other computers I've used can show near the top.
Type in a word of something you're looking for - ie. zucchini - then click next, beside the word you've type. and again until you've found any/all of that word on that page. Not there! go to next page and repeat.
Enjoy making your own goodies. :-)
seniorbones,
Feb 17, 10:25pm
Dibble.try your local op shops there are usually heaps of jars available, and zuchinni pickle is devine, I was late getting my plants in the garden so not expecting an abundance as normal. Zuchinni slice is nice.
fifie,
Feb 17, 10:51pm
If you haven't got enough jars, make a sauce and freeze in snaplock bags for using in pasta, spaghetti bol, lasagne etc takes up little room in freezer, Annabel langbein's Roasted tomato harvest sauce is great for using up surplus tomatoes to keep for the winter months.
jag5,
Feb 17, 11:21pm
or even just chop and freeze the tomatoes, wait until it cools down, then make your sauce.
I do this every year.have heaps of ice cream containers of tomatoes ready to go when cooler.
dibble35,
Feb 18, 4:58pm
Thanks for all that great info, i've got Annabel Langbeins cook book and i'm sure i've seen that harvest sauce recipe in it, will have to go have a look. And the freezing of tomatoes and cook it later in the year sounds even better, will have heaps jars by then, thanks again
uli,
Feb 20, 2:19am
bump for another tomato season
gerry64,
Feb 21, 10:02pm
juliewn - could I do your recipe in my slow cooker!
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