Technique for adding homegrown tomatoes to chili?

[salubriousbunny]

Hi there!

I'm well-versed enough in making chili, but I actually grew my own tomatoes this year, and I'm debating the best technique for adding them. I'm still using one 28 oz. can of Eden Organic Crushed Tomatoes for the bulk of it, but I have a little more than a pint of black plum romas and a couple of heirloom green sausage tomatoes to throw in.

So far, I've got kidney, pinto and white navy beans cooked from scratch, 1 lb of ground beef browned with spices, and a cast iron full of sauteed carrots, onions, garlic, and homegrown green peppers.

Normally, I would just mix these all together, pour in the tomato sauce, and usually also a can of diced tomatoes, add more spices & a splash of lime juice and let simmer for a little bit longer.

What do you guys think? Should I just dice these up and simmer with extra salt and sugar and everything? Or should I cook these first in an empty pot with salt and sugar, and then add everything. I'm sure it's not a huge deal, but I'd love some good advice. Thanks!!!

 

[Dawgluver]

I would squeeze out the seeds, maybe drain the toms, then anything you mentioned should work.

 

[larry_stewart]

One thing to consider about adding the uncooked tomatoes, is that they will have to cook longer ( than the pre cooked tomatoes) to get to the desired consistency. This being said, depending on when you add the beans, they might get over cooked and start to break up on you. Also, you may have to play around with the seasoning a little as you cook, because as the tomatoes break down, the chili may become a little diluted to your taste. I know when I make chili ( or anything else) Im constantly tasting it from start to finish and making adjustments as I go. But if its a set recipe, just need to take the above info in mind.

 

[Claire]

The main problem with home grown is that they will make your chili watery. I roast mine for freezing, and this would work for chili (yes, I do it!). Seed the tomatoes. Do not throw out the seeds, put them in a sieve over a bowl and let them drain. The result will be tomato juice to freeze, drink, or make soup.

The main reason for this step is that fresh tomatoes have a huge amount of water.

Place the tomatoes on an oiled baking pan (skin side up) with chopped onions, a pepper or two (your choice of heat, anything from a bell to a habenero, my favorite is super cayennes I grow) and garlic. Roast slowly (375-425) for about an hour until skin browns, even blackens, and puckers. Take out and cool, then you can just pinch the skin off and toss it. Drain any "water" from the bottom of the pan. I don't have freezer room, so I toss it, but it is good for soup, quite sweet. The remaining tomatoes, onions, garlic, chop, food process, blend, or put into your chili whole.

 

[Dawgluver]

I must say, roasting my mediocre tomatoes made them outstanding this year! Claire's method is TNT.

 

[TATTRAT]

I would blanch them, remove skins, dice and add them as the first batch of tomatoes to go into the chili. Knowing that they will add more water means you can just reduce the liquid down and make them a little more intense, then build upon that.

 

[buckytom]

what tatt said. (hey bro!)

if you don't remove the skins and just rough chop the tomatoes, you'll get little spikes of rolled skin in your chili.

also, after blanching and skinning, you can deseed them which removes some of the excess moisture.

and only add salt and sugar if the chili needs it. there's no need to seperately season the tomatoes.

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

I grow a lot of toms bunny but I would not use them in a Chilli, the flavor is just to "sweet" IMO to be submerged by the spices.
I bet you make a belting chilli using your normal recipe.

 

[blissful]

The roasting tomatoes method sounds really good.

Since I dehydrate tomatoes and I was making chili today and had some fresh ones on hand........
I made the meat part, spices, onions, garlic.....
Then I put a batch of dehydrated tomatoes with a cup of water in the blender, then added 6 handfuls of cherry tomatoes (very watery). After I was done blending it was so thick, like paste almost.
I added that to the meat sauce and it was still too thick, I added more water.
I'm really happy with the chili right now.

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

Bliss how do you store your dehydrated toms ?
We oven dry some of our roma's and store them in evoo.

 

[Robo410]

roasting the toms has been my preferred method for years now.

 

[blissful]

Bliss how do you store your dehydrated toms ?
We oven dry some of our roma's and store them in evoo.

Bolas--I have stored them a number of ways.

If they are dried crisp I either grind them in a food processor and keep the tomato powder in a jar in the fridge, or keep them whole in sealed jars in the cellar pantry.

If they are dried but not crisp (still pliable, some moisture content), I put them in zip lock bags in the freezer--this is what I'm doing this year. They are easier to chop or cut with a scissors if they are still pliable--say for pizza.

When you put them in evoo--are they roasted until they are crisp or pliable, and do you store it at room temperature or in the refrigerator? What do you use them in mostly?

 

[Braised Brachiosaurus]

I don't think I would ever bother using fresh tomatoes in a chili. Chili is typically cooked for a long time, and it was developed by cattlemen using what little they could carry with them - and they generally wouldn't have access to gardens and such. The freshest ingredient in my chili is the meat itself. Most other ingredients are acceptable or even preferable to use canned, such as chipotle.

Good fresh tomatoes would, I think, be better used in a simpler dish that isn't going to be cooked as much, or features tomatoes more prominently. Marinara and oven-roasted would be my top picks.

 

[CWS4322]

Since we plant 250-300 tomato plants each year, I only use homegrown tomatoes. My favorite for chili is to use dehydrated tomatoes (we can, freeze, juice, and dehydrate the tomatoes). I currently have over 300# of green tomatoes in the house that I am watching every day for turning "red." Juice, freeze and dehydrate are the plan as they ripen. We also have about 12 plants in the basement hanging from the beams--first time doing that. I would use homegrown romas--seeded and skinned or dehydrated romas. I don't re-hydrate them before I put them in the chili pot. I trust the other juices in the pan to re-hydrate them.

 

[TATTRAT]

Good fresh tomatoes would, I think, be better used in a simpler dish that isn't going to be cooked as much, or features tomatoes more prominently. Marinara and oven-roasted would be my top picks.

Marinara isn't based on fresh tomatoes. It was a tomato sauce that could hold up well on sea voyages, without worry for refrigeration.

 

[Braised Brachiosaurus]

Marinara isn't based on fresh tomatoes. It was a tomato sauce that could hold up well on sea voyages, without worry for refrigeration.

Not normally, no. But if you haven't tried roasted tomatoes pureed into a sauce, you are missing something spectacular.

 

[larry_stewart]

When you put them in evoo--are they roasted until they are crisp or pliable, and do you store it at room temperature or in the refrigerator? What do you use them in mostly?

I usually dry them until pliable, store them in evoo + chopped garlic in the fridge. And I just snack on them or sometimes put them in a pasta dish using the tomatoes, and evoo/ garlic they are stored in.

 

[CWS4322]

I roasted some Romas last week--the intensity of the tomato taste is similar to that of dehydrated Romas.

 

[Claire]

I only grow a few tomato plants. Like some here, the season is short, so I grow mostly Early Girls, then one later producing Big Boy or Better Boy (so I have both boys and girls, ha-ha). As some have mentioned, early in the season I wouldn't dream of cooking one of those precious babies. The first taste of a tomato after a winter of grocery store ones is simply to die for. But even though I give a lot to friends, I do roast and freeze as I mentioned in a previous post. THOSE I will use to make chili. Right now I'm harvesting the last of them. Boo-hoo! But I do have a freezer full of the roasted tomato sauce (some of it geared to Italian, some left without basil so they'll make great chili) and tomato juice (which I later reduce and add cream for a wonderful cream of tomato sauce for pasta).