Folks... I'll get the "vegetarian beans in tomato sauce" recipe I came up with typed up and posted soon. It was an invention of necessity due to youngest son's girl being vegetarian... I sent them home with a couple of cases of the things, and they both say they love the taste! It's nice to be able to make a huge batch, can them, and then have them in the cupboard all winter- and I was able to use up 12 pounds of VERY OLD dry beans (some navy beans which were at least 10 years old). They took a LONG time to get tender... but they did, finally.
Here is some easy tomato soup I've been canning recently- we've got 50 pints in the cupboard, and 25 more gallons of tomatoes to do when they ripen! I've never been a tomato soup fan- too much "Campbells' Tomato Soup" as a kid... that stuff is NASTY. This recipe- I can eat it by the bowlful. Rich, spicy (which is odd, because there aren't any added spices) and flavorful. I'm sure you can doctor it up even more, if you wish,
Country Tomato Soup
Wash 1 peck (8 quarts) of ripe red tomatoes. Remove stems and cores and cut into pieces. In a large kettle, cook and stir the tomatoes until soft- about 15 minutes after they begin to simmer. Push the pulp and juice through a wire strainer or food mill to remove skins and seeds; return the puree to the kettle and keep it on low heat. (if you've got a Squeezo or Victorio strainer, you can skip removing the cores and stem ends... but you'll get better yields if you still cook the fruits before running them through. Easier job when they're cooked, too)
Finely chop (in a food processor if possible- you want this darn near pureed) 3 large onions and 2 green peppers. (if you've got colored sweet bell peppers use them instead- they'll add another measure of sweetness and flavor). Cook together in a frying pan until soft, in just enough water to keep from sticking. The recipe calls for pushing them through a sieve, but I found that finely chopping them in the food processor first was good.
Add to the pureed tomatoes in the kettle.
Mix together 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons of salt and 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) cornstarch. Blend in 3 tablespoons of white vinegar an just enough more cool water or cool tomato juice to make a smooth paste. Pour slowly into the tomato mixture, stirring well all the while. (If you're not sure you've got all the lumps out, pour it through a sieve into the tomatoes) Heat to boiling and stir until the liquid clears. Pack hot into jars.
(on the vinegar.. I used my sweet purple basil vinegar rather than plain white vinegar, and I suspect it made a subtle, but important difference. It added a hint of instant spiciness. If you don't have any, you may want to try using a wine vinegar instead... anything except the harsh, typical distilled "white vinegar".)
To can the soup: Hot pack into clean hot jars, leaving 1/2" headroom for pints, or 1" headroom for quarts. Adjust the lids. Pressure can at 10# pressure for 20 minutes for pints, 30 minutes for quarts.
Here is a cabbage slaw recipe which you can FREEZE- and it keeps a long time in the freezer. Great way to put up some fresh veggies for the long cold winter!
FREEZER SLAW
2 pounds cabbage, shredded
1 large green pepper, shredded
3 large carrots, shredded
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup water
1 cup vinegar (5% acidity- the standard)
1 tsp celery seed
Combine cabbage, green pepper, carrots and onion. Sprinkle with salt; let stand one hour. Drain. In a saucepan, combine remaining inredients. Bring to a boil, boil for 3 minutes. Cool.
Pour slaw dressing over salad mixture; let stand 5 minutes. Stir well. Ladle into wide mouth jars, or anything appropriate (I use empty yogurt, cottage cheese and chip dip containers). Leave 1/2" headspace. Label and freeze. Makes about 5 pints.
OK, enough for now. Back to the tomatoes!
Summerthyme
Here is some easy tomato soup I've been canning recently- we've got 50 pints in the cupboard, and 25 more gallons of tomatoes to do when they ripen! I've never been a tomato soup fan- too much "Campbells' Tomato Soup" as a kid... that stuff is NASTY. This recipe- I can eat it by the bowlful. Rich, spicy (which is odd, because there aren't any added spices) and flavorful. I'm sure you can doctor it up even more, if you wish,
Country Tomato Soup
Wash 1 peck (8 quarts) of ripe red tomatoes. Remove stems and cores and cut into pieces. In a large kettle, cook and stir the tomatoes until soft- about 15 minutes after they begin to simmer. Push the pulp and juice through a wire strainer or food mill to remove skins and seeds; return the puree to the kettle and keep it on low heat. (if you've got a Squeezo or Victorio strainer, you can skip removing the cores and stem ends... but you'll get better yields if you still cook the fruits before running them through. Easier job when they're cooked, too)
Finely chop (in a food processor if possible- you want this darn near pureed) 3 large onions and 2 green peppers. (if you've got colored sweet bell peppers use them instead- they'll add another measure of sweetness and flavor). Cook together in a frying pan until soft, in just enough water to keep from sticking. The recipe calls for pushing them through a sieve, but I found that finely chopping them in the food processor first was good.
Add to the pureed tomatoes in the kettle.
Mix together 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons of salt and 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) cornstarch. Blend in 3 tablespoons of white vinegar an just enough more cool water or cool tomato juice to make a smooth paste. Pour slowly into the tomato mixture, stirring well all the while. (If you're not sure you've got all the lumps out, pour it through a sieve into the tomatoes) Heat to boiling and stir until the liquid clears. Pack hot into jars.
(on the vinegar.. I used my sweet purple basil vinegar rather than plain white vinegar, and I suspect it made a subtle, but important difference. It added a hint of instant spiciness. If you don't have any, you may want to try using a wine vinegar instead... anything except the harsh, typical distilled "white vinegar".)
To can the soup: Hot pack into clean hot jars, leaving 1/2" headroom for pints, or 1" headroom for quarts. Adjust the lids. Pressure can at 10# pressure for 20 minutes for pints, 30 minutes for quarts.
Here is a cabbage slaw recipe which you can FREEZE- and it keeps a long time in the freezer. Great way to put up some fresh veggies for the long cold winter!
FREEZER SLAW
2 pounds cabbage, shredded
1 large green pepper, shredded
3 large carrots, shredded
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup water
1 cup vinegar (5% acidity- the standard)
1 tsp celery seed
Combine cabbage, green pepper, carrots and onion. Sprinkle with salt; let stand one hour. Drain. In a saucepan, combine remaining inredients. Bring to a boil, boil for 3 minutes. Cool.
Pour slaw dressing over salad mixture; let stand 5 minutes. Stir well. Ladle into wide mouth jars, or anything appropriate (I use empty yogurt, cottage cheese and chip dip containers). Leave 1/2" headspace. Label and freeze. Makes about 5 pints.
OK, enough for now. Back to the tomatoes!
Summerthyme
