Gary’s Famous Red Sauce (vegetarian) September 3, 2007

Jesse and Emily hard at work!

 

Ingredients:

30 lbs beefsteak tomatoes (peel, cored, quartered)
1 large vidalia onion
2 large shallots
6 large cloves garlic
1 8 oz. can tomato paste

12 fresh basil leaves
1/3 cp chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp. black pepper
1/3 cp brown sugar packed
1 Tbsp salt

dried herbs:
1 Tbsp fennel seed
2 Tsp thyme
2 Tsp oregano
2 Tsp crushed red pepper

Instructions:
1) Stew tomatoes until boiling, then puree.

2) Saute onions and shallots in 1 Tbsp olive oil until soft and golden. Add dried herbs. Saute until fragrant.

3) Add onion mixture to pureed tomatoes. Add fresh herbs, sugar, sat & pepper. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer.

4) Remove 3 cups sauce to small sauce pan. Put peeled garlic cloves into small sauce pan and simmer until garlic cloves are soft.

5) Remove garlic cloves with slotted spoon to cutting board. Crush garlic with fork into mash and stir back into small sauce pan. Stir sauce from small sauce pan into larger pot. Add tomato paste.

6) Continue to simmer 5-6 hours. Skim off bright red foam periodically as it contains the acid from the tomatoes.

7) Process tomato sauce in a a hot water bath with in sterile jars and lids. Makes 6 quart jars and 6 pint jars.

Chicken and Rib BBQ Sauce

2007 is the second annual canning of the Chicken and Rib Sauce. Last year’s batch was called Uncle Jesse’s Yankee BBQ Sauce:

This year we’ll have to find another name. The recipe is adapted from Cooks Illustrated basic BBQ sauce. The following is for one batch, we quadrupled it, yielding enough sauce for eleven full 12 oz. jars, plus enough for dinner of brisket that night.

1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cp. packed dark brown sugar
2 tblsp dark molasses
2 tblsp sweet paprika
2 tblsp ground cumin
2 tblsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp liquid smoke

1) Saute onion with 1 tblsp vegetable oil, until onions are soft and golden.

2) Add remaining ingredients, stir and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer with cover off to reduce.

3) Puree

4) enjoy on your favorite slow smoked chicken, ribs, and even brisket!

 

 

Pear and peach spread

We chose to can peaches and pears this year because they were ripe and in abundance. We made peach and pear spread and made it entirely without sugar.

Here is the recipe we used:
6 pounds peaches
6 pounds pears
1/2 cup apple juice
2 lemons juiced, and the rind of one lemon, pith removed
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup agave syrup
1/2 cup honey
2 cups liquid pectin
4 packets gelatin
1/2 tsp saltPeal, pit, and finely chop the fruit. Save the juice and add juice and fruit to a non-aluminum stock pot. Ad apple juice, cinnamon, lemon juice, agave, honey and salt and cook until the fruit is soft, 15 – 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Ad pectin and gelatin and stir well. Pack into hot, sterile 1/2 pint or pint jars, leaving 1’2 inch at top. Top with hot sterile lids and process in a boiling water bath for 7 minutes after the water has returned to boiling.

Pickles in one day

This weekend we did a lot of cooking. One of the easier recipes that everyone agreed turned out delicious were these 24 hour half sour pickles:

1 cp. cider vinegar
5 cp. water
1/2 cp. sugar
1/3 cp. Kosher salt

Put all of the above in a pot and bring to a rolling boil. Then set aside and cool completely.

3 lbs kirby pickles, cut into spears
1 bulb garlic, peeled & sliced thin
1 small bunch baby dill

The cucumbers were put into a 2 large jars, along with the garlic and dill (we put crushed red pepper in one, and that was great). Then pour the cooled brine into the jar, put on lid and store in refrigerator, (must be put in a refrigerator). After 24 hours they are done, but if you leave for 48 hours they taste even better.

Fresh pickles out of the fridge 36 hours later, though we ate them with dinner the night before.

Mmmm…. spicy half sour pickles, in one day. Really crunchy too.