Canning: Part 2 - Tomatoes

Tomatoes are some of my favorite things to can. They are relatively simple and fast (although the processing time is quite lengthy). Home canned tomatoes taste wonderful in soups and sauces all year long. When I can tomatoes I usually just can them as crushed tomatoes because it's a lot faster than boiling them down to make a tomato sauce or soup. The other benefit is you can add new spices and flavors and whatever vegetables you have on hand to the tomatoes, making a new tasting sauce each time. A few things to consider are:

• Always can good quality fruit.
• You need to add acidity to tomatoes if you are canning in a water bath canner (*see note below).
• An average of 21 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of
  13 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints.

Here's the recipe that I use; I got it here.
Crushed Tomatoes

Procedure: Wash tomatoes and dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split. Then dip in cold water, slip off skins, and remove cores. Trim off any bruised or discolored portions and quarter. Heat one-sixth of the quarters quickly in a large pot, crushing them with a wooden mallet or spoon as they are added to the pot to create juice. Continue heating remaining quartered tomatoes, stirring constantly. These remaining tomatoes do not need to be crushed. They will soften with heating and stirring. Continue until all tomatoes are added. Then boil gently 5 minutes. Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to jars.*(see note below) Fill jars immediately with hot tomatoes, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process according to times below (based on your current elevation).

Processing Times:
Pints
35 min (0-1,000 ft) 40 min (1,001-3,000 ft)
45 min (3,001-6,000 ft) 50 min (Above 6,000 ft)
Quarts
45 min ((0-1,000 ft) 50 min (1,001-3,000 ft)
55 min (3,001-6,000 ft) 60 min (Above 6,000 ft)

* Acidity (Add acid directly to jars before filling. A small amount of sugar can be added to offset acid taste, if desired):
Pints: add 1/4 teaspoon citric acid or 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice
Quarts: add 1/2 teaspoon citric acid or 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice

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Canning: Part 1 - Introduction

I've had a few people ask me for my canning recipes this year. I haven't ever posted them for a few different reasons, but I decided I will post them this year with a few words of caution first:

1) Home canning requires exactness or it could prove very dangerous to whomever eats the home-canned product.

2) These really aren't my recipes - You should never use a recipe for canning unless it has been tested by people who know what they are doing (a.k.a. ball blue book, your local extension service, etc). All of the basic measurements should come from them. You can usually add spices to the basic recipes, but never change the main ingredients or processing times/pressures.

3) Canning times and pressures/etc. are based on elevation where you live. Make sure you google your town and find out what elevation you're at and follow the recipe accordingly.

4) If you follow the recipes exactly according and adjust times/pressure to your own elevation, home canning is very safe, and a great way to preserve your home grown produce. It also can save money (although it does take time).

Here's a couple of great sites with recipes:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_home.html

http://extension.usu.edu/htm/publications/by=category/category=319

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Fresh Homemade Salsa

We love growing our own tomatoes every summer and one of the best parts of homegrown tomatoes is homemade salsa! I've used this basic recipe for a couple of years now, but this year I added the freshly squeezed lime juice. The recipe immediately went from okay to excellent. Enjoy!

Fresh Salsa

6 tomatoes (go ahead and leave skins on. More or less is okay - for less runny salsa use Roma Tomatoes)
1 med. onion (pick your favorite kind - purple, Spanish, yellow, sweet, etc)
3 cloves fresh garlic (it must be fresh)
1/2 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
2 T. fresh squeezed lime juice (about 1 lime's worth)
2 tsp. sugar
1 jalapeno
bunch of cilantro (how much depends on your liking to it)
salt and pepper to taste

I always hand chop the tomatoes because food processors make them too mushy. Everything else I chop with a food processor (onion, garlic, peppers & cilantro). Mix it all together and dig in! Great with chips or on Mexican food.


Try different varieties of peppers - banana, Anaheim, Chile peppers, whatever you like. For very mild salsa leave out the jalapeno or take out the seeds first. For hotter salsa add more hot peppers. If you don't like chunky salsa, blend it all in a blender until smooth. As you can see from the picture, we like very chunky salsa. :)

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