The Tomatoes Will Not Win!

You'd think, as a lover of tomatoes, the sight of them wouldn't really reduce me to near tears.  After gazing forlornly at the mountains of tomatoes in the kitchen yesterday, I decided to take action.

After making a lovely dinner (of course) I made another batch of oven roasted pasta sauce (not as good as last time - too much Worcester Sauce this time) and I decided to tackle some Tomato Chilli Jam.

A friend mentioned that it's quite lovely, so I thought I'd give it a go.  I'm pleased to report that my jam set beautifully this time!  I'll be bringing a jar of jam for my friend who suggested it... hopefully she'll like it!

Ingredients:

• 500 g tomatoes - peeled (blanched for a minute and then remove skins) and roughly chopped
• 250 g jam sugar (regular white sugar is fine too, but the jam sugar has setting agents in it)
• juice of 1 lemon (I used 4 tbsp lemon juice)
• 1 tsp mixed dried herbs
• 1 tsp chilli flakes.

Put all ingredients except sugar in a heavy based saucepan and boil on medium-low heat until the tomatoes are mushy (about 8 minutes.)

Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. 

 Increase heat to medium high and bring to a rolling boil until thickened and glossy.

 Do the 'jam set test.'  While you test, remove the pot from the heat.  If you run your finger through and it makes a channel without running back together (as in the lower right hand corner of the picture) it's ready.  Phill's mum suggested that I put the plate in the freezer to help with the testing.  Happy to say it was indeed helpful.

Funnel/ladle into sterilized jars and seal.  I don't have any lids for these, but the jam jar covers from Pak'n'Save work a treat!

Good on poached eggs, chicken and assorted meats.  Keeps for 6 months if stored in a cool dark place.  Refrigerate after opening.  Easy peasy!  It took about 45 minutes all up... I'll be making this one again.

Lazy Summer Sunday Arvo - Ha! (Part 2)

So after I was finished with my plums around mid-day, I then sat and peered intently at the tomatoes on the windowsill, counter and table. 

I carefully measured out 1 kg of tomatoes and gleefully chuckled to myself.  "I've made a significant dent!  Ha, take THAT!"  Just out of curiosity, I wandered outside with my handy basket to relieve the plants of the one or two ripe ones that I knew would be waiting for me.  I stood there, staring with utter disbelief and more than a little despair.  I went back inside with over a kilo of freshly picked tomatoes.  So much for my dent!

I decided to make pasta sauce, as I had cleared a little space in the freezer.  Since I preserved tomatoes yesterday (no post on that.  not quite sure how they turned out yet), I simply couldn't bear the idea of blanching and peeling more tomatoes today, so I cut them in half and tossed them on a tray.  Then inspiration struck...

I quartered 2 onions and nestled some sprigs of thyme and some bay leaves among the veggies.  I drizzled the whole thing with olive oil and sprinkled it with mixed herbs and coarsely ground salt.

I love beautiful looking food - it looked so pretty.  I popped it in the oven at 150 Celsius for about an hour.

After I did a few rounds of my knitting, I went outside and picked a bunch of basil and oregano.  I chopped it up and left it in a bowl, ready to use.

After an hour in the oven - it smelled incredible!

Using a slotted spoon, remove the tomatoes and onions (throw out the herbs) and put them in a food processor and whizz up until it's a consistency you like for pasta sauce.

In another pan, with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, saute some crushed garlic until it's fragrant.

Mix in whizzed sauce and chopped herbs.  Add 2 tbsp of tomato paste and the secret ingredients - a couple of glugs of red wine and of Worcester sauce (the sauce gives it that little something that it needed to take away the tartness of the tomatoes.)  Season to taste with salt + pepper.

Simmer for about 20 minutes to thicken it.  I could have let it simmer longer, but I wanted it to be a little bit liquidy, as I planned to freeze it.  It is also imperative that you test it with fresh bread.  Do not burn your tongue (as I may have.)

Put in container and let cool.  All ready to freeze for up to 4 months.

It.  Tastes.  Amazing.  I figure that's about 2 really generous servings, so it works out to about 4 Weight Watchers ProPoints.

When I use it for pasta, I'll probably throw in some spinach, mushrooms and mince meat to bulk it up a bit (the meat will add to the points value though.)

As I have said many times, I've got an abundance of tomatoes, so I've already planned for the next time I make it - I will roast it with a head of garlic (wrapping the cloves in tin foil so they don't stew in the juices that come out of the veges) and a red capsicum (I was a bit disappointed to find that I did have one in the fridge that I could have used today.)  Yum!

I've already had dinner tonight, but the thought of my pasta sauce is making my tummy rumble again!

Tomatoes Galore

Holy hell.  I'm overwhelmed with tomatoes.  I've got to do some preserving this weekend, but in the meantime, I thought I'd try my hand at tomato sauce.  Phill's parents were here on Sunday, and apparently Dad really likes it freshly made.  He said it had burned a tiny bit, so it had caramelized (which is true, I remember the burning and mild panic) but otherwise it was a success.

From beginning to end...

It was dead easy, and tastes pretty good.  Sorry for the old school measurements - it's an old family recipe... thank goodness for Google!  I know a lot of these chutney/sauce recipes do have a lot of sugar in them, but if you're not having heaps at once and very often, I think it's okay.

Phill's Nana's Tomato Sauce (via Phill's Mum)
Makes: approx 1 litre
Weight Watchers Points: 1 point per tbsp (based on approx 66 tbsp in 1 litre)

4.5 lbs tomatoes
1 lb onions
1/8 cup table salt
1 lb brown sugar
1/4 oz all spice
1/4 oz peppercorns
1/4 oz cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 level dessert spoon cinnamon (I guessed about 2 tsp)
375 ml malt vinegar

Cut it all up and boil for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
Strain and bottle (I don't have a proper strainer, so I blanched and peeled the tomatoes first and then mashed it up while cooking.  Next time, I may give it a whiz in the food processor before bottling.)

A Change Of Plan(t)s

Yesterday's plan was to pick some of the beautiful basil I've got growing in the vege patch and make some pesto - I'm running out of the store bought stuff in the fridge and it's one of my cooking staples.  I decided to use my own, fresh ingredients to make a batch instead of paying a small fortune to buy the premade stuff. 

But... after a bit of reading about the funny markings on my tomato plants, I found out that they are sick.  With a heavy heart and a pair of secateurs, I mercilessly snipped away at the vines, leaves and stalks.  Where there were six big, bushy, delightful plants, there are now only four tragically thinned out plants.  I'm supposed to remove ALL vines with the awful white fungus stuff on them, but that would have decimated my biggest, most productive plant.  So I took off most of it and I've got my fingers crossed that I can control the rest with one of these home remedies.  I'm a bit worried my tomatoes are going to get a sunburn now.  Sheesh.  Does it never end?

Anywho, enter the next recipe.  Green tomato chutney.  I'm NOT letting all my tomatoes go to waste and I don't think they'll ripen if they're this green, so here goes.  I got this recipe off the internet, like many others.  Sounds pretty standard (check me out, Mrs Tomato Chutney Expert.)  I've halved the original recipe, as I'm short on jars and Mum thinks some of these green babies will ripen up.

Green Tomato Chutney - slightly modified from recipe
Weight Watchers ProPoints = 1 point per serve (based on 50 servings.)

1.3(ish - whatever 2.5 lbs comes out to) kg green tomatoes
500g onions or 1 lg. onion
1/2 tsp. peppercorns
1/2 tsp. salt
just under 500g brown sugar (whatever comes out to 1lb or thereabouts)
3/4 c. malt vinegar
1/4 c. sultanas
2 cloves

1/8ish tsp of cayenne chilli powder

I had to take a photo of the cut tomato - I thought it was so pretty!  (I may have popped a bit in my mouth accidentally... it tasted nice, like tomato obviously, but with a gentler flavour.)

Roughly chop the tomatoes and onions.  Mix them together in a basin/bowl/container (whatever) with the peppercorns and salt. Allow this to stand overnight. 

All mixed up so then I covered it with Glad wrap for the night.

It's a bit late.  I shouldn't have faffed around so much... regardless, it's standing overnight now.

The following day (today), boil the sugar, cloves and cayenne with the vinegar then add the sultanas.

Sometimes Blogger uploads my pictures sideways.  I don't understand why, but I can't fix it - even if I reupload the photo.  Anyhow, keep an eye on it at this stage because it will boil really suddenly and if you don't pay attention will burn and boil over.

Simmer for 5ish minutes, then add the tomatoes and onions and simmer until thick.

Again, sideways.  Irritating!

I simmered mine for about an hour and a half.  I think it's because I added the tomatoes and onions AND the water that was in the bowl after it sat all night.  I think if you drained the water and THEN added it, it may take only 40 minutes, as the original recipe says.

I forgot to take a photo when it was done just right.  I used the potato masher to mash it up and make it smaller and more chutnified. 

Pour into hot jars and seal.

I made cute labels yesterday.  I love them!

This chutney is a lot sweeter than the other one, and doesn't have as much of a kick.  I do like it though.  I'm not sure how it tastes with stuff yet, but I imagine it'll be nice with cheese and crackers, sausages and steaks.  If properly sealed and stored, it's meant to keep for up to a year (refrigerate after opening.)

**update - it tastes AWESOME with all of the above suggestions, and I think I like it better than my other tomato chutney... it's also a better consistency than the first batch of chutney (Phill prefers the taste of the first chutney though, so they must both be pretty good.)

original recipe source

Tomato Chutney

I kindly liberated a page from my hairdresser's latest Women's Day magazine (with her permission of course!) because I thought this recipe looked the easiest of all chutney recipes I had found.  I halved the recipe given, because I didn't want to use 1 1/2 kg of my tomatoes up.  I'm hoping that I can get really good at this one, because it'd be a cute little gift to give!


Classic Tomato Chutney - from Women's Day
Makes: 2 1/2 cups
Preparation: 35 minutes
Cooking: 2 hours
Weight Watchers ProPoints: 1 point per serving (my logic is as follows: 1 cup = 16 tablespoons, so you'd get about 40 tbsp from this recipe.  1 tbsp = 0 points, but about 1/10th of a bottle is 1 point.  Clear as mud?)

750g ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 1/4 cups white wine vinegar
1/4 cup sultanas
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (makes it quite spicy!)
2/3 cups caster sugar

(Preparation - Peel the tomatoes by first scoring the base of them with a cross and then blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, then transfer to a bowl of chilled water.  The skin will peel off easy as pie.)

1. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except sugar.  Stir on med-high heat until the mixture comes to the boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes soften (long enough to do quite a bit of knitting!) 
2. Stir in sugar until dissolved.  Bring to the boil.  Cook for a further 20-30 minutes, stirring often (but not constantly) until mixture thickens.
3. Pour into sterilized jars and seal (I sterilized mine in the microwave as a helpful website suggested.  Bad idea, they all cracked.  Waste of very cute jars.)  Store in a cool, dry cupboard for up to three months.  Keep in the fridge after opening. 

It's ridiculously tasty on homemade hamburgers (all gourmet-like!) and really good on a hunk of a milder tasting cheese (we've already finished 1 little bottle.)

**update - after making a batch of green tomato chutney, I've realised that this one is still too liquidy.  Next time I make it, I'll let it thicken more - Phill reckons it's more of a sauce.  Nonetheless, I'm still pretty pleased with my first efforts at chutney making.