Tuesday
Oct112011
Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes...
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Last week my partner went out to our friend's organic farm and picked tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes. Big ones, small ones. Red ones, green ones, and orange ones. This weekend, I turned most of them from tomatoes into pasta sauce, with smaller amounts going toward ratatouille, salsa and fried green tomatoes. Some are cooked and some are roasted.
My final inventory (minus things already consumed):
Because I know nothing about canning (perhaps a challenge for another year), I simply froze the sauces in mason jars with the tops still loose and then closed them once the sauce had frozen.
I'm looking forward to a winter of organic, local, sauces that have not only saved me money, but also saved us from way too much sodium and other things that get tossed into commercial sauces.
What have you preserved for the winter? What method did you use?
My final inventory (minus things already consumed):
- 6 jars bolognese
- 8 jars butternut squash (with orange tomatoes, orange peppers, onion and garlic)
- 2 jars roasted red pepper and tomato
- 3 jars primavera
- 3 jars tomato and garlic
- 2 jars salsa verde
Because I know nothing about canning (perhaps a challenge for another year), I simply froze the sauces in mason jars with the tops still loose and then closed them once the sauce had frozen.
I'm looking forward to a winter of organic, local, sauces that have not only saved me money, but also saved us from way too much sodium and other things that get tossed into commercial sauces.
What have you preserved for the winter? What method did you use?
Reader Comments (21)
This year so far I've done pickles, marinated mushrooms, strawberry jam, and enchilada sauce. I need to make honey mustard, grape jelly, at the very least still. I did all mine with waterbath canning!
YUM! We did the same a few weeks ago. I guess tomato season was earlier here.
Wow, nothing tastes better than those multi coloured tomatoes! I cooked for days and wish I'd done more! Next year!
We froze strawberries, blueberries, kale, beans, and tomatoes, and we canned strawberry rhubarb ice cream sauce (a.k.a. runny jam), pickles, peaches, and applesauce. I never get as much done as I intend! We've already cleaned out the strawberries and blueberries, so I've learned that we have to pick MORE. Next year: pasta sauce. I am absolutely determined after learning that the one thing in the U.S. it's completely impossible to get without a BPA lining is canned tomatoes.
Love the pictures!
I love this idea...also do not know how to can. Fresh tomatoes ...there is nothing like them. Enjoy.Thanks for the inspiration.
I have never canned anything before until this year. I did peach sauce with some peaches that were about to turn. I have been looking up recipes for homemade sauce because I can't stand jarred sauce ever since I was pregnant! I might have to start doing this. How long would you think it would take to do 5-10 jars?
Jenna
callherhappy.com
I love the idea of freezing instead of canning. I am so lazy that I couldn't be bothered to learn how to can. So, when you want to use them you'll just defrost a entire container & then keep it in the fridge? I wonder what the fridge "shelf life" would be after defrosting?
Did you use regular canning jars or wide mouth canning jars?
yum.
This year I've frozen fresh in-season goodies (chopped rhubarb, strawberries and blueberries) and also made jam (peach), salsa (regular and jalapeno), roasted tomato sauce, chili base (similar to tomato sauce but with a smokier flavour from longer roasting and simmering of the tomatoes), tomato soup base, pizza sauce, and garlic tomato sauce. All the tomato products were done in a marathon weekend when I purchased 75lbs of tomatoes. I've been home canning for about 6 years now; I would highly recommend taking the plunge and getting into it. It's actually quite easy once you get used to the timings, and the supplies aren't expensive (most, including large jar funnels, snap lids and tongs can be picked up for next to nothing at dollar and department stores); it'll also save you a lot of freezer space for more frozen fruits!
For recipes and techniques to get started, I'd recommend the Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving (Robert Rose, 2006); it's got more recipes than you'll know what to do with and is available from most bookstores and public libraries in Canada (probably in the USA too). I start with a basic recipe, take note of the acid requirements (to prevent spoilage) and make the flavours suit me and my family's tastes.
So awesome! We've canned tomato sauce, jam, and applesauce and froze corn, carrots, blueberries, roasted cherry tomatoes, and broccoli.
I used regular canning jars.
I thought so. Only straight-sided canning jars are safe for freezing. The box either says "canning" or "canning/freezing" jars. If you don't have the box, just look at the jar. If the jar has straight sides, you can safely freeze in it. If it has a "shoulder," then don't freeze in it. You may have mitigated some of the problem by leaving the jar a bit loose, but you may have weakened the jar for using again. Even the tiniest bump into another jar or when setting it on the counter might still break the jar.
That said, I did freeze pecans in a regular mouth jar. However, the pecans had plenty of space around them and did not stress the jar.
Good luck with this bunch of frozen foods. Get some wide-mouth next time.
I freeze as much as possible versus canning which I have no clue what to do. Seems to work on most things.w
You can freeze kale?! Cooked?
I want to know. I have a garden full of them and I didn't know you could freeze them. We eat them all the way 'til they freeze in November but whatever has not been eaten by then (and there's always some left) is forever lost. I'd be happy to change that.
I love your photos! Something so satisfying in the rows of jars, isn't there? We have super limited freezer space so I always can my tomatoes. It's actually pretty easy, just takes a long time waiting for water to boil. Most of the work is in the chopping! So jealous that you were able to get so many - I missed the window this year (too many house guests to even think about canning!). I did get to my peaches but that's small consolation. There are pretty good instructions online for canning: I like http://www.canning-food-recipes.com/canning_tomatoes.htm and http://pickyourown.org
I can jams and jellies (including cranberry sauce), but freeze everything else as I haven't yet braved any canning the requires the boiling in the water bath step. I froze rhubarb and red currants from my own garden, and tomatoes from my mom's garden. I've only made strawberry-rhubarb jam this year, as we still have a huge backlog of red currant and crabapple jelly from the past two years. I had planned to try canning salsa for the first time this year, but with 2 small kids we were just way too busy to find the time, so I'll go with my usual routine of begging some from my mom every now and then, along with her green-tomato mincemeat.
I've never canned anything because of a semi-irrational fear of "doing it wrong" and then spreading around a case of botulism. (I know. Did I mention it was a semi-irrational fear? :-) )
But I love the idea of freezing sauces and such. I've often frozen leftover sauces, but never made giant batches of sauces with the purpose of preserving them for the winter. Thank you for sharing this idea! And thanks to Practical Parsimony for the tip about getting wide-mouth jars!
It seems really good!!
Thanks for this tip! I didn't know that, and froze a bunch of jars with shoulders this year because I don't have a pressure canner for sauces. I guess I will need to buy more next year...
Looks awesome! I can tomatoes every year, packed in water, and raw. To avoid BPA and because I like canning. Last year I did too many and had a bunch left over~it's always tricky to get the right amount! I also froze pasta sauce, and we picked and froze strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. I make lots of jam, and also can applesauce. Applesauce is more work than tomatoes but my kids go through it like crazy so it is worth it!
I like your fancier looking recipes though; can you post actual recipes? Next year I'll make some PhDinParenting tomatoes.... =)
Melissa:
I don't have recipes. I cook by feel. But if you tell me which ones you are interested in, I can describe the ingredients, approximate quantities and process.