Canning - Eating what you put away

One of the things I struggle with using is canned tomatoes. At the end of the year I always seem to have more canned tomatoes than I can use. (I can slightly less than one quart per person per week) I was discussing this with a friend of mine last year along with the question, what do I do with all this oregano? She shared a salsa recipe with me that her mother makes. The taste is awesome and its easy to make.

Salsa - White Vinegar, Oregano

• 1- 28oz can whole tomatoes (Peeled) (if using home canned tomatoes in quart jars you may need to add more dried oregano to soak up the extra liquid)
• 5 whole roasted jalapeno chilies (De-Seeded and Cored)
• 1 whole white onion (small, Cut in half)
• 6 cloves garlic (Peeled) you can use less of this if you aren't a garlic fan
• salt (to taste)
• black pepper (to taste)
• 2 caps white vinegar (this adds a little bite and helps preserve the salsa longer)
• ¼ to ½ cup dried oregano
• cumin (optional but if you don't have dried oregano cumin and cilantro are a good second choice)

When I make this I usually double the batch and keep in refrigerator.

Roast Jalapeno’s peel, core and remove seeds (I like mine finely chopped).
Chop tomatoes (I use whole and chop the tomatoes as the flavor seems better to me)
Chop other ingredients and mix in large bowl. Put the oregano in last as this adds flavor and absorbs the juice so you can adjust how runny or firm your salsa is.

I like mine chunky so I don't use a food processor or blender but you can use either of those if you like smoother salsa.


Salsa Fresca
Is basically the same recipe above but you you fresh ingredients right out of the garden. When the tomatoes are fresh you can leave the skin on or off. And you can go lighter on the oregano in fresh salsa so that you don't overwhelm the taste of the other ingredients. And use a red onion for color.

OTHER CANNED TOMATO USES
So this was one way to easily use all those leftover pesky tomato quarts and as we considered others I had to re look at why I can most of the tomatoes whole.

I don't like to can paste as the amount of cooking by the time you get to eat it is cooked 3x and I just feel like those poor tomatoes have been cooked to death. I do make pasta sauce pre-seasoned so that we just use it out of the jar for pizza and pasta.

Anyone else have uses for canned tomatoes they would like to share?

 

Will have to try these out.. Salsa and tomato sauces are a staple in my kitchen..

 

Mac and tomatoes is hard to beat. Like it better than cheese. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. My favorite sandwich is a thinly sliced tomato with a slice of cheese and grilled in butter.

 

I love grilled cheese

 

I can mostly meat (venison, elk, bear & chicken) and soups and stews. The homemade soup is very good and way better for you then any of the canned or processed stuff from the store.

 

I can tomato sauce (seasoned and plain), diced tomatoes and salsa
I don't grow enough tomatoes for canning, so I go to the local farmers markets and ask for their "canning tomatoes". I usually get a box (about 20lbs per box) for $8.00 or less.
Process the tomatoes then boil off about 1/2 of the moisture (use a propane camp stove on the deck so I don't heat up the house).

We don't eat it as much, but we make our own spaghetti sauce from scratch, along with chili and soups. All use our seasoned tomato sauce.
Use the canned sauce with meatballs and meatloaf

 

Every year I plant more tomatoes and every year I wind up having to buy more. Plain sauce, spaghetti sauce, paste, salsa by the gallon, we go through a LOT. I've figured up I need about 40 tomato plants to produce what I need, assuming the hail/floods/60 mph winds/120F/bugs don't wipe out half of them. Had high hopes for the aquaponic maters... they produced a lot but were tasteless. Back to the dirt for them.

Our best salsa so far, we put the tomato, onion, garlic, habanero and jalapeno peppers on the grill and fire roast them over pecan. We put up about a dozen jars of that last fall and the Mr. had them emptied out by Christmas. Around here, salsa is a food group. I've got a green salsa I make that uses roasted tomatillos, garlic, poblano, jalapeno, and onion, cumin, salt and pepper. Makes awesome green chicken enchiladas, or straight as a dip. I canned a dozen of that last year, plus put a couple gallons worth of tomatillos in the freezer. Love those things, you just husk 'em, wash 'em, and toss them in the freezer.

 

Zucchini - the unrelenting in hoard!

I get more zucchini every year than I know what to do with. and we can only eat so much zucchini bread or fried zucchini or baked zucchini fries. So I was looking for creative ways to use my zucchini. I have not tried this but it looks simple and yummy.

Mock Strawberry Jam Recipe - Allrecipes.com


Anyone have any good zucchini recipe's?

 

These look good too. Mostly I love the name.

Slutty No-Carb Pasta - The Londoner

 

I love fried green tomatoes. Is there a way to preserve green tomatoes that will then fry up well? Sorry if that's a dumb question. I'm a newby to canning.

 

Not really. I've dried them and tried to reconstitute but just not the same

But now you have me wondering if could season and dry then fry? Or fry then dry. Hmmm points to ponder for fall crop

 

I can hamburger, and chicken regularly that I buy from Zaycon. I have canned bacon and link sausage as well from them. I do can all types of vegetables and have canned butter. Next I and going to try milk. If you can buy it in a can you can can it.

 

I'd like to know how you do this. Post pics if possible please.

I can't seem to get anything other than liquid meat when attempting to can hamburger meat.

 

@NotSoSneaky, here's one way:
Canning Granny: Canning Ground Beef in Broth

I've not done it yet, though I keep saying I will. My wife and I will check the "managers special" at the grocery store every time we go into the store. If there's ground beef, we get it all. We've been putting it in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer, but I know I need to diversify my meat storage and get some canned.

 

@kckndrgn , thanks but I've tried that method.

So far we've tried;
Cooked & browned / drained hamburger in broth and without broth (or any liquid).
Raw pack (raw meat packed in jar) then processed.

Both resulted in liquid meat. I will not attempt "oven canning" or vacuum sealing cooked meat in mason jars as neither method will kill off harmful bacteria.

When it comes to hamburger meat we put one lb. portions in seal-a-meal bags and vacuum seal them with the foodsaver unit. We use a rolling pin to flatten the meat out so it stacks nicely on the freezer shelf.

Stoopid air bubble. ^
We do can beef but it needs to be in big chunks as it looses texture.

 

First buy 93/7. Then, boil it until ALMOST all the pink is gone. Next, strain out all the liquid. Fill jars and add beef broth to within 1/2 inch of the rim. Then pressure can 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts. That's the way I do it. I do 40 pounds at a time

 

Boiling hamburger meat ?

That's out of the box thinking !

We'll try a small batch. Thanks.

 

Boiling allows you to separate the fat so it won't go rancid. Do not use the boiling water to fill the jars, use fresh bullion or broth. Do not over cook. 10 pounds of pressure.

 

Anyone ever canned green tomatoes or pickled them?

I found this recipe and thought I would try it this fall but wanted to know if anyone else has ever pickled them and if so how do they taste?

Four Ways to Pickled Green Tomatoes | Garden Betty