It's been a while! Just wanted to say hello 👋and share some great ways to make use of fall's bounty.
Despite the weird weather, we've had a very good tomato year in our garden. There's been some blight but we've managed to minimize it by mulching well with crushed straw, fertilizing a few times, and trimming all the affected leaves and branches off. And the wasps have mostly been keeping up with the dreaded tomato hornworms. We planted two Sungolds, a purple Cherokee, an heirloom beefsteak, and six Amish paste tomato plants that local farmer Jay of Four Winds Farm swears by for making sauce. They have produced a ton of fruits. 🍅
I'm excited to share two big improvements here in the Garden of Eating kitchen.
1. Induction Stove
Last winter, we made the decision to swap our propane gas kitchen stove out for an induction cooktop and oven. I was a bit hesitant at first since I abhor electric stoves but am happy to report that it's been a real gamechanger and is nothing like cooking on an electric stove. One of the perks is that it's cut the time required to boil water and heat things in half - a real boon for canning projects! And there's no more noxious gas smell from the cooktop or oven (we had both.) It's also very easy to clean. And we're producing a lot fewer greenhouse gas emissions since most of our electricity comes from our solar array. Although I was drooling over this gorgeous AGA stove (maybe someday), we ended up getting this far more affordable Samsung model. Regardless of whether you can afford the high or low-end version, I highly recommend making the switch to an induction range—it's a big improvement over cooking with gas.
2. Ditched the Plastic Funnel
Given what I now know about all the toxic chemicals used in plastics from my job at Beyond Plastics and the likelihood of said chemicals leeching into food in the presence of heat, I've also swapped out my plastic canning funnel for a set of stainless steel funnels. I feel much better not pouring boiling food through a plastic funnel.
Now for the recipes!
Garlic Herb Tomato Sauce To Freeze
In July, I made a few quarts of roasted tomato, garlic and herb sauce and froze them for future meals. Core and cut up the tomatoes, toss them with fresh herbs (I used basil and oregano), and whole cloves of garlic and bake on sheet trays at 300°F for a few hours, moving them around a few times to prevent uneven cooking. Once everything is cooked down into a soft, mellow mess, remove any herb stems, transfer to a pot and use an immersion blender to blend until it reaches your desired consistency. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can blend the sauce in batches in your blender or food processor until you acquire one of these magical devices (trust me, you will love this thing!) Add salt, pepper and perhaps a bit of sugar to taste. Let it cool and ladle it into glass jars (or another freezer-safe container of your choice) and freeze.
Variations
- If you prefer jarred sauce to frozen, try my recipe for simple tomato sauce (canned).
- Or, you can skip the sauce making step and just make these delicious roasted tomatoes with garlic and herbs to use now or freeze them without blending at all. They're so good!
Heirloom Tomato Salsa
I've made and canned several batches of Aunt Maggie's salsa because it's so much tastier than jarred store-bought salsa. Made with fresh tomatoes, garlic, onions, jalapenos, cilantro, salt, vinegar and sugar, this recipe is delightfully unfussy because you blend it all prior to cooking. Recipe and canning directions here.
Crushed or Whole Peeled Tomatoes
I've also made quarts of plain old crushed tomatoes to have on hand to add to soups and stews this winter or to use as the base for tomato sauces. Our younger son discovered penne a la vodka during the pandemic so that's now in our semi-regular rotation :) Ball Canning Book's recipe here. You can, of course, also freeze crushed tomatoes if you prefer a quicker, less labor-intensive method of preserving.
If you prefer whole tomatoes to crushed, check out my instructions for canning whole peeled tomatoes. I'd say they require the same amount of labor since you have to remove the peels, something I don't bother doing for crushed.
Today, I plan to make and can a batch of pizza sauce with the latest round of 'maters from the garden. I'll try to share the recipe for that soon.
Applesauce
It will soon be time to switch to making applesauce—a project I always liked but enjoy roughly 1000 times more since we bought this simple apple peeler/corer/slicer combo tool five years ago. It feels like cheating but I don't care. Latkes, here we come!
My recipe and canning instructions for easy cinnamon applesauce are here.
I hope you're all doing well - that the weather in your neck of the woods is not too extreme, that those of you with kids are enjoying a smooth start to the school year and appreciating the return of a solid routine, that you're watching a great show or reading (or listening to) a great book, and that you're finding moments of joy, fun and peace in this rollercoaster we call life.
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