Chili Sauce ~ Like Mama Used to Make
Chili sauce was something I really didn’t appreciate until recently. In fact, the only reason we made it was because we had a glut of tomatoes and thought it would be a good idea to try something other than sauce and salsa. But, once jarred, preserved, and neatly arranged on our canning shelves we didn’t know what we were going to do with it. Then, Matt started combining it in some of our cooked meat dishes, the simplest being homemade meat loaf. A meal which can be traditionally thought of as humdrum becomes rich with flavour when you add some homemade chili sauce to the equation. And, now we will never be able to go back to plain old meatloaf.
CHILI SAUCE (recipe from Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving):
- 8 cups peeled; seeded, and diced Roma tomatoes
- 5 cups celery; washed and finely diced
- 5 cups apples; peeled, cored, and diced
- 3 cups sweet green pepper; finely diced
- 2 cups sweet onion; finely chopped
- 1 1/4 cups sweet red pepper; finely diced
- 1/4 cup hot banana pepper or 2 small hot red chili peppers, seeded and finely chopped
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp pickling salt
- 5 cinnamon sticks broken into 3″ pieces
- 2 1-inch pieces of fresh ginger; peeled
- 2 tsp whole allspice berries
- Blanch tomatoes in boiling water for about 60 seconds or until skins start to crack. Place tomatoes in ice water to quickly cool. Remove skins, seeds, and dice. Note: scoring the bottom of each tomato prior to blanching will help to remove the skins more easily. Prepare remaining ingredients. Remove seeds from hot peppers and finely chop. It’s a good idea to wear gloves and use a separate cutting board.
- In a large stainless steel saucepan combine tomatoes, celery, apples, green peppers,onions, red peppers, hot peppers, vinegar, sugar and salt.
- Place cinnamon, ginger, and allspice in a spiceball or a small square of cheesecloth and add to vegetables. Note: the floating mulling spice ball from Williams Sonoma works great for this job. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours or until mixture is thick. Stir occassionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.
- While it is cooking prepare for water bath canning. Sterilize jars in oven at 250F for 30 minutes.
- When chili sauce is thick remove from heat. Remove spiceball and discard its’ contents.
- Ladle hot chili sauce into hot sterilized jars leaving 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, place lids and screw bands on adjusting so that they are just finger-tip tight. Process 250mL (half-pint) jars for 15 minutes and 500mL (pint) jars for 20 minutes in a hot water bath. Note: recorded pH 3.73.
- When the time is up turn off the heat and remove lid, wait 5 minutes before removing the jars. Check seals, label, and store.
While, this recipe is different from last year’s, the combination of ingredients are sure to spice up your families meatloaf or add a little zip to a baked potato. How do you use your chili sauce?
Put up Total:
- 11 x 250mL regular mouth mason jars
Fresh Veggie Salsa ~ A Salsa Staple
This is the last of the TOMATO salsa recipes for the year…we promise. But, we can’t guarantee we won’t revisit salsa using peaches, tomatillos, or something else. We think everyone needs a good salsa recipe in their arsenal and there are lots of great salsa recipes floating around out there. Maybe you have one you’d like to share? Our friends make a fresh bean salsa that is out of this world. It truly makes your mouth sing! Thinking about it makes me salivate (like Homer) and I can almost hear the music….laaaaa! We’re not sure it can be preserved because of the beans (maybe pressure canned)…we’ll do some detective work and get back to you. Or, maybe we’ll recreate a cannable version. Or, maybe it will just be a salsa you prepare the night before and serve fresh…a great alternative for those folks who are not yet canning.
FRESH VEGGIE SALSA (from Bernardin):
- 7 cups Roma tomatoes; peeled, seeded, and diced
- 2 cups onions; coarsely chopped
- 1 cup green bell pepper; chopped
- 2-4 jalapeño peppers (or more if you like heat)
- 3 garlic cloves; minced
- 1 can tomato paste
- 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped and lightly packed
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- Blanch tomatoes in boiling water for about 60 seconds or until skins start to crack. Place tomatoes in ice water to quickly cool. Remove skins, seeds, and dice. Note: scoring the bottom of each tomato prior to blanching will help to remove the skins more easily. Prepare remaining ingredients. Remove seeds from jalapeños and finely chop. It’s a good idea to wear gloves and use a separate cutting board.
- In a large stainless steel saucepan combine tomatoes, onion, green pepper, jalapeño peppers, garlic, tomato paste, vinegar, cilantro and cumin. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered for 30 minutes or until mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally to be sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
- While it is cooking prepare for water bath canning. Sterilize jars in oven at 250F for 30 minutes.
- Remove from heat and ladle hot salsa into hot sterilized jars leaving 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, place lids and screw bands on adjusting so that they are just finger-tip tight. Process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.
- When the time is up turn off the heat and remove lid, wait 5 minutes before removing the jars. Check seals, label, and store.
Put up Total (for 2 batches):
- 8 x 250mL regular mouth mason jars
- 3 x 250mL wide mouth mason jars
Simple Sauce a Tomato Lovers Dream
This tomato sauce is a staple in our house and we make it every year. It is the most basic sauce and only requires tomatoes, a couple of large good quality stainless steel pots, heat, and most of all patience. Every year we consume about 70 pints as Matt uses the sauce on/in everything from pizza to lasagna.
We put it up by the bushel and with two large pots, a tomato mill, and four hours of washing, chopping, and stirring you can create about 25 x 500mL jars. Not bad for a days work!?!
RECIPE FOR SIMPLE TOMATO SAUCE:
- Roma tomatoes (this variety of tomatoes is best to use because they contain less water than other varieties)
- bottled lemon juice (only use bottled lemon juice as its acidity level remains constant)
- Wash tomatoes well. Cut off and discard any bruised or damaged tomatoes.
- Working in small batches cut and quarter tomatoes. Try to cut tomatoes in equal sized pieces so they will cook and soften at a similar rate.
- Place cut pieces in a large good quality stainless steel saucepan and cook on medium-high heat. Using a potato masher crush the first layer of tomatoes to release their juices.
- Meanwhile, continue to cut small amounts of tomatoes. Add to the pot and crush. Note: enzymes which break down pectin are activated in cut tomatoes prior to being exposed to heat. Therefore, it is important to cut only the amount you can add and layer to the cooking tomatoes. When pectin is broken down it can cause liquids and solids to seperate and thus, lead to a more watery sauce.
- Repeat the process four or five times and cook until the tomatoes are soft and soupy.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Put through a food mill to remove seeds and skin. Collect the juice and pulp in non-reactive bowls. Note: Over the years, we’ve used several different food mills but found this tomato mill makes this job a snap.
- Place juice and pulp in a second large stainless steel saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.
- While the sauce is cooking down repeat steps 1 to 6. You can continue adding the juice and pulp to the already reducing sauce until you have enough to process one batch.
- Cook sauce until desired consistency is achieved.
- Remove from heat and ladle hot tomato sauce into hot sterilized jars leaving 1/2″ headspace. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice for 500mL jars and 2 tbsp for 1L jars. Note:we add the lemon juice once jars are half full. We started doing it this way because the cool lemon juice was cracking our hot jars. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims with a damp paper towel, place lids and screw bands on adjusting so that they are just finger-tip tight. In a hot water bath process 500mL jars for 35 minutes and 1L jars for 40 minutes.
- When the time is up turn off the heat and remove lid, wait 5 minutes before removing the jars. Check seals, label, and store.
The process is easy and once you’ve done it a couple of times you can work out a rhythm. We keep both of the large stainless steel pots going until our 20 litre pot is full of the reducing sauce. Then we stop cooking and crushing the quartered tomatoes and concentrate on stirring the sauce. It is a time-consuming process but it isn’t difficult. Put your canner on to heat and your jars in the oven to sterilize when you think your sauce is thick enough and then continue to stir. You really can’t go wrong as long as you stir to prevent this precious sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
In the past, we’ve made a variety of differently seasoned sauces but now only make this simple and basic sauce. We don’t add any salt or dried herbs as this can be done when you crack open a jar. Add seasoning, salt, meat, and vegetables to this sauce to create something different every time!
Put up Total:
- 74 x 500mL regular mouth mason jars
- 22 x 500mL wide mouth mason jars
- 3 x 750mL regular mouth mason jars
Southwest Salsa
This recipe also comes from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. We think this book is an excellent resource with a wide assortment of preserving recipes to suit both novice and seasoned canners alike. We’ve shared several of their recipes here and tried many more over the last few years…most are now a part of our yearly canning regimen. These girls have a great gift of combining the correct ingredients to create some of the most delicious and well balanced preserves. So, if you don’t already own a copy of this book we’d highly recommend adding it to your collection.
With 9 bushels of tomatoes now neatly transformed into a variety of preserves we’re going to cut to the chase with the next few recipes because we now have about 60lbs of tomatillos waiting for our undivided attention.
SOUTHWEST SALSA:
- 4 cups Roma tomatoes; peeled and diced
- 1 cup onion; chopped
- 3 cloves garlic; minced
- 1/2 cup sweet red pepper; diced
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (use 1-2 more if you like it hot)
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup fresh coriander; chopped
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp pickling salt
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- Prepare for water bath canning.
- In a large stainless steel saucepan combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, vinegar, coriander, orange and lime juice, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered for 30 minutes or until mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and ladle hot salsa into hot sterilized jars leaving 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, place lids and screw bands on adjusting so that they are just finger-tip tight. Process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.
- When the time is up turn off the heat and remove lid, wait 5 minutes before removing the jars. Check seals, label, and store.
Put up Total (three batches):
- 4 x 500mL regular mouth mason jars
- 5 x 250mL regular mouth mason jars
Bruschetta in a Jar
We are so behind in posting what we’ve been canning…simpy because we’ve been so busy canning. In the last week or so we’ve put up 405 lbs of Roma Tomatoes; making everything from our favorite tomato jam to salsa and sauce. Over the course of the next few days we’ll be posting some of our favorite recipes for tomatoes.
A few years ago, a friend gave me The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. And, well most of you who follow this blog know we like to preserve large quantities of most things, we find the recipes in this book absolutely amazing. Besides, doing small batches allows you to try more recipes and thus may lead to a new favorite!
This year we’ve followed several of the salsa recipes from the Small-Batch Preserving book. Last year we made tons of salsa (and thought we’d never run out) but after finding more than chips to use it with it quickly vanished from our over-stocked shelves.
This bruschetta inspired salsa captures the fresh taste of basil, tomatoes, and garlic in a jar allowing you to pop the lid and spoon out it’s contents to make quick and easy appetizers.
RECIPE FOR BRUSCHETTA SALSA:
- 3 cups Roma tomatoes; peeled and diced
- 2 large cloves garlic; minced
- 2 shallots; minced
- 1 cup fresh basil; chopped
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp pickling salt
- 1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 green onions; minced
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- Prepare for water bath canning.
- Blanch tomatoes to remove skins. Remove seeds and dice. Note: this process is made much easier with an extra set of hands.
- In a large stainless steel saucepan combine tomatoes, garlic, shallots, basil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add green onion and tomato paste stirring until ingredients are well combined. Return to a boil.
- Remove from heat and ladle hot salsa into hot sterilized jars leaving a 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, place lids and screw bands on adjusting so they are just finger-tip tight. Process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.
- When the time is up turn off the heat and remove lid, wait 5 minutes before removing the jars. Check seals, label, and store.
Put up Total (three batches):
- 10 x 250mL regular mouth mason jars
We now preserve the majority of our salsa in 250mL jars. It is the perfect amount to serve to guests and add to our favorite omelettes. We think having bruschetta in a jar will be a tasty and convenient way to whip up some delicious treats for those drop in guests. Give it a try to let us know if it becomes a new favorite in your house!
Elderberry Crab Apple Jelly with Lemon
We’ve discovered a field bursting with elderberry bushes; each bush more ladled down with fruit than the next. It’s amazing to see so many growing in one spot. Elderberries are a shrub native to North America and they seem to grow abundantly in wet, swampy, sunny areas. An environment Muskoka provides with easy.
RECIPE FOR ELDERBERRY CRAB APPLE JELLY with Lemon:
- 4lbs elderberries; washed and stemmed
- 1 1/2lbs crab apples; washed and quartered
- 1 large lemon or 2 small lemons; washed, thinly sliced, and quartered
- 1 small lemon equalling 4 tbsps lemon juice
- 1 cup water to boil with the elderberries and crab apples
- 3/4 cup water to poach lemons
- 2 cups sugar; divided
- 2 cups maple syrup (if you don’t have maple syrup replace with 2 cups sugar)
- Place elderberries, crab apples, and water in a stainless steel preserving and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until apples are soft (approximately 10-15 minutes). Using the back of a wooden spoon mash the berries and apples to extract as much juice as possible.
Picture above does not fairly represent the actual colour of the boiled berry mixture...it really is much more purple ~ poor lighting
- Place cooked mixture in a moistened jelly bag to collect the juice. This mixture should yield between 31/2-4 cups juice.
- Meanwhile wash, slice, and quarter 1 large lemon or 2 small lemons. Place lemon slices in a stainless steel preserving pan with 3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil lemons until the slices become translucent (approximately 15 minutes). Add more water if necessary so they do not stick to the bottom.
- Prepare for water bath canning.
- In a large stainless steel saucepan combine elderberry juice, poached lemons (including the sugary water), lemon juice, sugar, and maple syrup. Bring to a boil and boil until the set point is reached; approximately 15-20 minutes. Note: you can use both the frozen spoon test and/or check the temperature to determine the set. The jelly will set at 220F. We do both.
- Remove from heat and skim foam if necessary.
- Ladle jelly into hot sterilized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, place lids and screw bands on adjusting so that they are just finger-tip tight. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
- When the time is up turn off the heat and remove lid, wait 5 minutes before removing the jars. Check seals, label, and store.
Put up Total:
- 4 x 250mL regular mouth mason jars
- 1 x 125mL regular mouth mason jar…a tasty sample
Putting Up With The Turnbulls 