Canning at Tierra Vegetables
Tomatoes capture the essence of summer, and I have been enjoying foods loaded with fresh tomatoes for the last couple of months. Not wanting to let that go, this year I devoted three days to putting up tomatoes!
My first tomato day was spent roasting and drying tomatoes and an earlier blog gives the incredible roasted tomato spaghetti sauce I made.
The next day was spent in a canning class at Tierra Vegetables. We stewed and canned tomatoes. It was a great way to review the canning process, especially since it has been many years since I’ve canned anything. Photos from that day were taken by Andrea Swenson Dunlap.
The day was a lot of fun and I brought home quart jars of tomatoes. I’m looking forward to trying them, I use stewed tomatoes in soups and stews all winter. 
I had the most fun on my third day, when I made tomato chutney, ketchup and chili sauce. It was a long and intense day, but I was thrilled with the results. The canning class was helpful – I felt comfortable with the canning process.
Scroll down to find the tomato chutney recipe. I used the ketchup and chili sauce recipes out of Joy of Cooking.
In the past I canned foods that sat on the shelves, so this time I decided in advance how to use the foods I made. I plan on putting both the chutney and chili sauce on beans and rice – I’m always looking for something to add more flavor. I think they will also be good on sweet potatoes or winter squash.
The ketchup will be good on veggie burgers (and grass-fed beef burgers), oven fries, and turkey loaf. I’ll bet it would even be good on a sardine sandwich.
If this works out well, I am imagining making more chutneys once I run out of the tomato version. You can make chutneys out of most fruits or even out of onions. Cranberry chutney may be next.
The food I didn’t get to this year is hot sauce and roasted chilis. Next year! The other thing I’d do differently next year is to plan ahead and do it with friends. I really enjoyed the day, but it would be even more fun doing it in a small group.
Here is the Tomato Chutney recipe that I used, but I adjusted the recipe and did not test the pH, so I can’t vouch for the safety: it may be better to just freeze or refrigerate it. There is another recipe posted on Epicurious that also looks good (a fun website if you’ve never been there) and could be canned. 
Tomato Apple Chutney
12 cups (6#) chopped tomatoes (it calls for cored and peeled – I didn’t peel them)
4 cups tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped
2 cups onion, chopped
2 cups peppers, chopped (I used a variety, mostly red)
2 small hot peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups raisins
1 cup yellow raisins
2 – 3 cups brown sugar
3 cups cider vinegar
1 TBSP ground ginger (I used fresh)
2 TBSP mustard seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients and cook until thick, 2-3 hours. As the mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Refrigerate or freeze.
I canned this, but have not tested pH level so am not truly sure that it meets the safety guidelines.
Joy of cooking has a similar recipe, which it says can be refrigerated for up to one month. In their section on chutneys they state chutneys last several months in the refrigerator, which seems reasonable to me.
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