[CH] Hot Tomatoes

T. Matthew Evans (matt.evans@ce.gatech.edu)
Wed, 1 Aug 2001 11:07:37 -0400 

Canned some tomatoes last night -- thought some of you might be interested
in the recipe as it is the peak of tomato-chile season now.  This is adapted
from a Paul Prudhomme cookbook.

Canned Hot Tomatoes

7 pounds ripe tomatoes
3 cups minced yellow onions
5 ounces minced fresh chiles (heaping 3/4 cup)
6 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon S & P mix
1 teaspoon red seasoning
1 teaspoon lemon juice per pint of tomatoes

Wash and trim the tomatoes, then run them through a food mill, discarding
skins and seeds.  Place 1 cup of tomatoes, all onions, 1/2 of the chiles,
the garlic, and the seasonings into a food processor and puree completely
(might take a minute or two).  Pour into a large pot with the rest of the
tomatoes and remaining chiles and boil until the consistency of store-bought
tomato sauce (about 70-75 minutes).  Place into hot, sterilized pint jars,
top each one with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and process in a hot water bath
for 35 minutes (45 minutes for quarts).  Makes 3 to 6 pints, depending on
the liquid content of your fruits.

A couple of notes:

1.  I use whatever fresh chiles I have when making this -- for example, last
night I used a mix of habanero, cayenne, Thai, and jalapeno.  If you use one
type of chile, the flavor will be less complex and rounded (i.e., the
tomatoes will have a little less rhythm) but you can spotlight a singular
chile flavor for a specific use.

2.  S & P mix -- this is a force of habit for me from my restaurant days.  I
keep a bowl of about 2/3 kosher salt and 1/3 cracked black and white pepper
on my counter at all times.  It goes into everything.

3.  Red seasoning -- another habit from my restaurant days in a Cajun
kitchen.  It's a mix of about 8 spices or so, often called blackening
seasoning, Cajun spice, Creole seasoning, or, more recently, essence.  You
can use store-bought or, if you like, I'll send my recipe for homemade.

Hope you all like the tomatoes.

Matt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
T. Matthew Evans
Geosystems Group, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
URL:  http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte964w
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