This is my fourth and FINAL canning of tomatoes for this year. I have a peculiar viewpoint on tomatoes. It is kind of my philosophy for all plants, be it flower or veggie. I plant it, pat it and tell it I love it, and then I gently break the bad news to it. I tell it that I am not going to nurture it, or fertilize and water it. I basically tell the little sucker to pull up it's boot straps and live....or it's gonna die. Yes, harsh, I know. But it seems to work wonders for me. My flowers and shrubs keep on living on what water God gives them, and my vegetable garden.....well, I have enough to can and then get tired of. So, 18 tomato plants, no fertilizer or water, and enough to can for all winter plus those random ones to eat fresh. Not bad.
My hubby has chastised me for years over my lackadaisical approach to the veggie garden. He is certain that more effort means more fruition. So in years past he has challenged me to tomato duels. One year was the year of the Topsy-turvy, those green sack things that you put the plant in hanging upside down (now that would irritate me from the get-go if I were the plant) and it was supposed to be the perfect growing solution.
His poor little plants tried to die even though he spent whole evenings watering, pinching, and (I suspect) secretly playing special music. I threw mine in the ground and still had tomatoes out the wazoo. Another year was the time of the 5-gallon buckets. This was to give them specially blended soil and to perfectly control the amount of fertilizer. He even cheated and got the way bigger size of plants that cost more. But remember, children, cheaters never prosper :). Turns out plants get super hot in plastic buckets, even if they are white colored. And the craziest thing- he would have me come out to help pick off all the tomato horn worms. They swarmed on those buckets like they were a kiddie meal at a fast food place.
Now, you will probably believe that I am lying, but I don't have problems with tomato worms in the garden. If I have any, they don't do enough damage for me to even notice. I say this and know that one big ole worm can eat half a plant and leave enough poo behind to look like a brown hail storm. I am knocking on wood that I don't have a sudden worm-blight of Biblical proportions next year because of bragging......
Anyhoo, enough blabbing about tomato rivalries. Suffice to say, if you can throw some plants in the ground, do it. And if you happen to have more tomatoes than your bacon and bread ratio, then I have a luscious way to put them up and enjoy summer all year long.
Roasted Herb Tomatoes
Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Find you a baking dish, preferable glass because of the acid, and make it deep enough to hold all the juices. Cut up several white or yellow onions. Do enough to cover the bottom of the dish. I cut mine in half, then quarters, then into smaller wedges so that when the layers separate you have long slivers. I like to see the contrast of the onion, and if you have kids that hate them they are big enough to see and flick to the side of the plate.
Pick your 'maters, and then you will need to peel them. If you can them with peels on they will come off later and you will have hideous straggly bits that catch you unawares when you are eating- blahg! The easiest way to peel is to blanch. This is just tossing the fruit into boiling water until the skin splits. Late in the season the skins have toughened and some of them resist splitting so I give a gentle poke with the point of a knife. That tiny piercing makes the skin split. When they have given in, throw them in a waiting bowl of ice water. Let 'em sit for a minute as you toss more in to boil. I peel the tomatoes over the chicken scrap bucket. If you start at the bottom and go up it seems easiest, and then use your knife to core out the stem part. Transfer the peeled tomato to the roasting pan. If you can put all these steps close together it will be easiest not to bathe the kitchen in juice and seeds.
I cut the tomatoes into the baking pan so that I catch all the juices. Do this with all the fruit, till the pan is full but with enough top space not to boil over. Now sprinkle on generous amounts of chopped garlic- just buy you a jar of it packed in olive oil so you can be liberal. Then sprinkle over a heap of Italian seasoning. I buy a separate cheap jar just for putting up tomatoes because I will use the whole jar in one season. Don't get me wrong, I have an herb bed and I love my fresh herbs. I will throw them in anything and everything. But it doesn't make any sense in this recipe. Fresh herbs need a short cooking time to keep their full vibrancy, and this is going to be roasted, then hot water bathed, then later cooked in your meal. You need dried spices to retain potency; add your fresh herbs when you use the jar in your cooking.
So- garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and drizzle liberally with olive oil. Be generous, this is your food. Now mix all in. If your seasonings disappear when you mix- you didn't add enough.
Now toss in the oven and roast for about 40 minutes to an hour. Stir every 20 minutes or so as the onion edges will start to blister. You want this, it tastes great, but if you just leave them without stirring you will have charcoal. Not yum.
Now ladle into your hot canning jars. I use a spoon and let most of the juice run back into the pan. This makes for a meaty can of tomatoes. When I have filled all my cans, I make one last jar of the leftover juices. I will mark this one with a "J" on the lid with permanent marker so I know to throw it into soups and stews.
Okay. Lots of places say you have to pressure cook your tomatoes. My family never has. I go by an 1940's canning guide put out by Kerr and it says to use a Hot Water Bath for 35 minutes , or 45 minutes for low-acid tomatoes. I do 45 minutes because I grow a lot of yellow tomatoes; I love that they are lower in acid.
Here is a jar with mostly red, and one with mostly yellow tomatoes.
These Roasted Herb Tomatoes are really amazing. They are nothing like the funky stewed tomatoes from the store. People have said they taste just like summer. You can stir these straight into pasta dishes, use them in stews, blend them into sauce.....my Dearest Friend has admitted to eating them straight from the jar! If you have extra tomatoes, or a friend who is sick of theirs, give this recipe a try. It's sunshine for a winter's day...
"It is difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts when eating a homegrown tomato." ~ Lewis Grizzard
