Recipe: Canned Tomatoes

It's the time of year when the garden is really producing and there's just more food to be picked and consumed than is humanly possible. We planed 14 tomato plants this year and had a few extras pop up from gardens gone by, so as you can imagine there are a lot of tomatoes to be eaten.

Whatever we can't eat, I can and save for the winter. Fresh canned tomatoes are just soo much better than the store-bought variety and really it doesn't take a lot of time or special equipment to do it. Below is a recipe for how I do my canned tomatoes.

Ingredients/tools:

-Tomatoes
-1 large sauce pot
-1 small sauce pot
-jars, lids and rings
-2 large bowls
-ice
-Fresh basil
-Salt
-Lemon Juice
-Vinegar
-Water bath canner
-1 bottle tomato juice

Directions:
Fill your water bath canner and put it on to boil. At the same time, put your jars in the dishwasher and hit the sanitize button. You can boil the jars if you want, but I find the dishwasher to be much easier.

While the water is boiling and the jars are santizing, put your tomatoes into the sink and cover them with water. Splash a little white vinegar into the mix and swish them around. The vinegar will remove dirt, leaves and other nasties from the outside of the tomatoes.

Next, put about 3 to 4 inches of water in your large sauce pot. Turn it on to boil. While it's coming up to temperature, fill a large bowl with ice and add a small amount of water until it is no more than 1/2 full.

Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, then choose a tomato from the sink and cut an X on the top with a knife. Drop the tomato in the water and repeat the process with several others. After several seconds you will notice the skin of the tomato begin to loosen and peel back around the X. Remove the tomato from the water with a slotted spoon and transfer it to your bowl of ice water. Continue until all tomatoes have been moved.

Choose a tomato from the ice water and simply pull the skin off with your hands. Dice the tomato on a cutting board and deposit it into the remaining large bowl. Continue the process with the remaining tomatoes.

Once the tomatoes are finished, empty the water from the large sauce pot and replace it with a couple cups of tomato juice. Bring the juice to a boil. Place the jar lids in the smallest sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat. While the juice is boiling, carefully prepare your jars that were sanitized in the dishwasher with 1 basil leaf, a 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Add diced tomatoes to each jar, then pour in tomato juice until 1/4 inch head space remains. wipe the rim and add a lid from the small saucepan. Tighten the ring onto the jar and set it aside. Continue with the remaining jars and tomatoes.

Once all the jars are prepared, check to see if your water in the canner is boiling. If it is, add the jars to the canner and process for 15 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner and allow to cool to room temperature. Press on each lid to ensure they sealed.

That's all there is to it! Once complete, you'll have a nice selection of canned tomatoes to use throughout the winter. Use them in sauces and other recipes that call for canned tomatoes.