Tasty Tomato Catsup

[taxlady]

This recipe is based on the one in Joy of Cooking.

18 lbs of tomatoes
5 large onions
3 long hot peppers
2 cups cider or wine vinegar
3/4 cup brown sugar
spices:

1.5 Tblsps each:

• allspice
• cloves
• mace
• celery seed
• black peppercorns

3 inches of cinnamon stick
3/4 tsp mustard powder
1 clove of garlic, cut in half
2 bay leaves

1. Wash the tomatoes. Cut them into pieces, being sure to remove any scars and/or bruises.
2. Skin and cut onions into large chunks.
3. Wash and cut the hot peppers in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and membranes.
4. Simmer until everything is soft and the onions are mushy.
5. Put it through a food mill.
6. Put all the spices in a cheese cloth "bag".
7. Put the tomatoes, etc. back on the heat with the spices in the bag and the brown sugar.
8. Bring it to a boil and boil until reduced by half.
9. Add the vinegar and simmer for 10 minutes.

If you want to use a food processor instead of a food mill, peel the tomatoes before simmering. The food mill removes the tomato peels, the hard bit of onion that holds the layers together, and the skin on the hot pepper.

[taxlady]

According to Joy of Cooking: process 1/2 pint (~250 ml) jars for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.

According to the instructions that came with my pressure canner: process 250 ml jars for 8 minutes at 5 lbs. pressure. Be sure to read the instructions of your pressure cooker/canner.

Joy of Cooking, "Be sure also to exhaust the air from the canner for at least 10 minutes before closing the petcock or steam vent so that no cold spots develop to cause the food to be under-processed."

[taxlady]

I forgot to mention: lots and lots of stirring.

[Josie1945]

TaxLady, Thanks for posting this recipe. If tomatoes do well this year I will definately try it.

Josie

[Claire]

Oh, dearie me, I don't know how to print from a page. Actually, who am I kidding, my printer doesn't work anyway. I will ask again in august, when I'm starting to harvest fresh tomatoes, and you can say, oh, heck, Claire, didn't I give you that recipe six months ago?

My great-grandfather's picallili recipe was very spicy. And by that I do NOT mean hot (for some reason people think spicy and hot are the same thing). It just had a lot of spices in it. Pickling spices.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by Claire

Oh, dearie me, I don't know how to print from a page. Actually, who am I kidding, my printer doesn't work anyway. I will ask again in august, when I'm starting to harvest fresh tomatoes, and you can say, oh, heck, Claire, didn't I give you that recipe six months ago?

I have attached a PDF of the recipe. You can download it now and it will be easy to print when your printer is behaving. Or, you can just read it on screen.

My great-grandfather's picallili recipe was very spicy. And by that I do NOT mean hot (for some reason people think spicy and hot are the same thing). It just had a lot of spices in it. Pickling spices.

That's one of my pet peeves. I love me a spicy salami or sausage with NO HEAT.