Tomato
Green Tomato Chutney Aug 2017
24cm thick bottom pan, or Preserving pan Wooden spoon Sieve
4 or 5 1 lb (450g) jars
Cling film - doubled over for under lids (vinegar rusts metal lids). Sticky labels. Dessert spoon for filling jars
2.5lb (1.15Kg) green tomatoes finely sliced and cut to 1/2in pieces
9ozs (250g) onions, finely sliced and chopped small
4 tsp / 30g salt
1 pint+ (500ml) red wine or malt vinegar
9ozs (250g) brown sugar
9ozs (250g) sliced and chopped cooking apple
9ozs (250g) sultanas, roughly chopped
Spices to your choice - suggestion follows
1x Tablespoon Black Mustard seeds, 1x Tablespoon Crushed Chillies, 1x teaspoon Pimenton picante, 1x teaspoon Cumin powder
Finely slice your onions and washed green tomatoes, (cutting out any bad bits). Add to a large bowl and stir. Sprinkle on 4 teaspoons of salt, stir again and then cover with food wrap or a large plate and leave 12-15 hours (stir occasionally). Sieve, pour away resultant juice.
The next day...Pour the vinegar into your large pan. Add the brown sugar and stir over a medium heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Roughly chop the sultanas, then add to the simmering vinegar and sugar (to swell the sultanas). Bring the whole lot to a gentle boil for 5 mins.Add the strained tomatoes, onions and the thin sliced, peeled apples and the spices to the pan. Then stir to mix all ingredients.Bring to a gentle boil and retain at the point of boiling for about the next 60 mins.
It will be necessary to check and to stir every 10 mins, or so, to stop sticking to the pan bottom and reduce the heat if it starts to boil too vigorously. Continue until thick and medium brown, (as the tomatoes and onions soften, they will take on the sugar and turn brown so thickening the chutney - the volume will have reduced by about a half from the starting volume). 60 mins should be enough, however you may need to continue for additional 10 minute sessions, according to how much moisture has evaporated. A good gauge of it being thick enough is when you can drag your wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan and see the bottom for a short while after doing that. Similarly there should be no liquid visible at the edges of the pan.
Heat your jars to 120C for 10 mins
Carefully spoon out the chutney into the jars removing trapped air as you fill.
Cover with jam pot covers or 2 layers of Cling film and add lids.
Improves with cool storage - definitely for up to 2 years.
Tomato Sauce for pasta etc. by Dilys Farrant Oct 2019
1 lb tomatoes
1 red onion
Basil
1 garlic clove (omit if you wish)
Olive oil to sautee the onions
Skin tomatoes by plunging into near boiling water for a few moments
Cut open and de-seed the tomatoes then chop into 1/4in pieces
Peel and finely chop the onions. Heat oil in large pan cook the onions gently to soften onions them (do not caramelise) then add finely chopped garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer for approx 30 mins. Add torn basil and seasoning to taste then simmer for a further 10 minutes
Use as required. You could add chopped bacon and mushrooms, or whichever ingredient you would like.
The sauce freezes well.
When you see Blight signs on your tomato plants
It is time to salvage what you can, Strip off all the good tomatoes, destalk the calyx, Sort out any suspect from those looking good, Wash and dry the fruit and place on a tray lined with a towel and place in a sunny position. Now keep a careful eye on them as they ripen, sorting the fruit and using, for cookin,g any that show any signs of blight damage which may appear.
Create a sauce as above or even simply cut each fruit into 4 and remove any suspect signs. Choose the ripest ones first but you could add about 20% of the greener fruit similarly treated. Add a little sunflower oil to a frying pan ,add the riper fruit first, gently fry and the contents will look a little watery, add a little sugar to the greener fruit and a little salt to taste to all fruit. When all fruit is soft ,use a stick blender to reduce all the contents to a thicker soup/sauce. Pour into an old ice cream container and put into the freezer when cold, for later use as a sauce with extra ingredients of your choice.