Green Tomato Salsa – Canning

September 22, 2014 / Winnie / 2 Comments

Our area had an early frost – and no amount of covering was saving my tomato plants …sad face….. In an attempt to save my tomato crop – I pulled all of them and made green tomato salsa. I had ALOT of tomatoes so this canning recipe is for a large batch.

42 cups of chopped or pureed green tomatoes (I used our food processor as I like a less chunky kind of salsa)
5 tablespoons of minced garlic
6 chopped onions
6 chopped jalapenos – adjust this based on your heat tolerance
2 1/2 cups lemon or lime juice
2 cups chopped cilantro (this is a very polarizing ingredient – do not feel like you need to put it in)
2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons pepper
2 tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons salt
19 quart jars

Here I am getting started on my food processor (I did add in some tomatoes that were slightly ripe)

–

To give you some perspective on how much this is.

and pull it back……

Prep your water bath, jars and lids. Simmer and don’t boil.

Combine and boil the tomatoes, onions, peppers, and garlic….once the mixture is boiling add in the lemon/lime juice and spices.

Reduce heat and simmer from 5 to 20 minutes.

Carefully ladle the salsa into the hot, prepped jars – add the lid and the screw on lid/band….don’t over tighten.

Place filled jars in the water bath and let boil for 20 minutes – depending on location.

Remove and allow to cool. Check the lids before labeling and storing. All lids should be down.

Yum!

Garden Tomato puree base for future meals

September 4, 2014September 4, 2014 / Winnie / 2 Comments

My garden is exploding in tomatoes…which I love…..I am just adjusting my plans with the tomatoes that are ripening as I go. I have only had a handful ripe at one time, so I have been able to easily make meals and/or snacks with them. This past week, I have had too many to work into our meals and not enough friends who like tomatoes (hello!). Hopefully, towards the end of summer – my mom and I will be canning together….but now I am making a frozen tomato puree to use in future meals.

Like my hard water??

20 roma tomatoes
6 heirloom tomatoes
1 tablespoon basil, oregano, thyme
2 tsp salt
1/2 chopped extra large onion or 1 small onion
1 tablespoon garlic
salt/pepper

I used my blender to puree all the tomatoes with a cup of water and added that to a large pot…..um..that pic doesn’t have all of them.

At this time, I started sauteing the onion with a dash of salt and pepper. Just towards the end, I added in the garlic….being careful not to burn it.

Then it all goes into the pot with the tomatoes. Then add the rest of the spices and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

I taste tested mine as I went to ensure that it was not overpowering on the spices and still maintained a strong tomato taste. I want to use this as a base in future meals and since I have different options as to what those meals will be….I want to keep it loose.

After the mixture cooled, I poured it into some freezer bags and placed them in the freezer.

All in all – I am happy with the result and will let you know what meals I end up using this for.

Right off the bat, I am thinking – spaghetti, barley soup, chili and chicken makhani.

Cherry Tomatoes with Angel Hair Pasta and Fried Green Tomatoes

August 13, 2014 / Winnie / Leave a comment

Cherry Tomatoes with Angel Hair pasta and fried green tomatoes…….cause I can. In case you haven’t guessed yet….I love tomatoes. So that means that summer is my food heaven.

Cherry Tomatoes with Angel Hair pasta

Angel Hair pasta – made according to the package instructions and drained
2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup cherry tomatoes

Melt the butter in your skillet, add in your minced garlic – being careful not to burn it.

Add in your tomatoes and the lemon juice.

Then your pasta!

I plated with basil and mozzarella.

Fried Green Tomatoes

green tomato
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp paprika
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Cut your tomato into roughly 1/4 inch slices. 3 bowls – 1 with the flour and paprika, 1 with the egg and milk, 1 with the breadcrumbs. Put your slices in the flour bowl, then the egg bowl and finish in the bread crumb bowl. In a small skillet with some canola oil – fry on each side till nice and brown.

Oh My Goodness- fab. Fab and Fast! I did all this in less than a Drunk History episode on Hulu…..Specifically the Nashville one from Season 1.

Seriously fast dinner

January 13, 2014 / Winnie / Leave a comment

Have you ever had an evening where dinner needed to be super fast….with a limited fridge/pantry selection? I have and this is what I ended up with during the last experiment……

I had the following in my fridge:

fake cheese

tortilla

tomato

olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Let’s do this!

Drizzle some olive over the tortilla and your cheese (or in my case…the fake cheese) and pop it in the oven at 400 for about 5 minutes.