Pickled Red Tomatoes

I harvested more then 60 pounds of San Marzano tomatoes on Saturday and then Phil ripped the plants out because we think the plants had early blight and we didn't want it to spread.  I used about 23 pounds tonight canning 7 quarts of tomatoes and 3 pints of pickled tomatoes.  The San Marzanos were so large the jars wouldn't hold more than 1 whole tomato, so I had to cut the others to slide them in.  They did not need to be canned as they would have lasted a few months in the refrigerator, but I don't know how much call there will be for pickled tomatoes.  I never even heard of them before. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/08/pickled-red-tomatoes-recipes.html

Spiced Tomato Ginger Chutney

This is how I made it the first time (8-18-2012).  Everyone that ate it the next day loved it, so I want to make it again in little jars to give away.  A little goes a long way. It was good with sirloin steak (why I made it in the first place), but was also good with raw veggies, crackers or chips, and it would be really good with cheese too.   I used a variety of really ripe tomatoes from the garden that needed to be cut up and used immediately.

2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced

2 pounds or 4 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, (raw turbinado)
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t allspice
1/4 cayenne
1/4 cup dried cranberries

In heated oil, cook onion, garlic, ginger about 5-7 minutes until softened.
Add tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, spices, and cranberries, cook until starts to boil.
Simmer and stir occasionally until thickened, about 45 minutes.  It reduced to about 2.5 cups.
Chutney keeps 3 months in refrigerator.

Recipes I consulted to come up with my version both used twice as much vinegar as I do (red or cider) and twice as much sugar (brown or white).  They also used raisins and/or currents instead of the dried cranberries I had.  One had lemon zest, mustard seed in addition to these spices with no ginger and the other recipe had the ginger, but none of the other spices.  One recipe sauteed using olive oil, the other skipped the oil and saute step.

CANNING CONSIDERATIONS
Having reviewed a number of other chutney recipes to see if I it was safe to can my tomato chutney recipe, the only other recipe I saw that used olive oil (roasted the tomatoes and onions with 2 tsps oil) noted that this chutney could not be canned, only frozen.  However, this was also the only chutney recipe I saw that did not have vinegar, so it seemed more like roasted vegetables than chutney to me.

To be safe to can my recipe, I am going to leave out the oil and saute step and boil everything together until thick and then ladle into 1/2 pint jars and process in boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

I found 1 canning recipe that used as little vinegar as mine (3 cups tomatoes to 1/4 cup vinegar), so I have convinced myself that my recipe is safe to can.  It was Sun-Dried Tomato Chutney in the Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving that my niece gave me for Christmas a few years ago.

Later I made a tomato chutney using Thai spices that was fantastic but I did not write down what I used.  I did find one recipe years later, but it is not the same. http://zaikazabardast.com/2012/05/21/bruschettawiththaitomatochutney/
2015- did this version http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/spicy-tomato-chutney-100732

Beet Hummus and Eggplant Hummus

I've been making beet hummus for several years now based on inspiration from Elise at http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/beet_hummus/.  I use twice as many beets as Elise.  The eggplant recipe is a combination of ideas from Elise and David Lebovitz. It is easy to make these 2 recipes at the same time because they both beets and eggplant can roast in the oven at 400 degrees and they use almost the same ingredients, in a food processor.  Whip up the eggplant hummus in the food processor first, scrape it into another bowl, and you may not even have to wash the processor before using it to make the beet hummus.

Beet Hummus Recipe

Roast Beets First
Preheat oven to 400 degree.  Cut beetroot from greens leaving about an inch of stem with the beets. Place 1 pound (or more) of washed beets in a roasting pan with about 1/2 inch of water and cover tightly with foil. Roast until done.  Most medium sized beets are ready 60 minutes, large beets take about an hour and half.  Let beets cool.  Slip off beet skins while running under cold water (helps minimize staining hands red. (You may want to wear gloves).  You can also roast by tightly wrapping each beet in foil and placing on oven rack.

Add to Food Processor:

• 1 to 2 lbs quartered cooked beets
• 1-2 large garlic clove, chopped
• 5 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I used lime juice once by mistake and that was good too)
• 1/4 cup of tahini (sesame paste)
• 2-3 teaspoons cumin
• salt and pepper, a little 

Run processor until smooth.  Adjust lemon juice, tahini, cumin, salt and pepper to your taste.
I usually use about 2 bounds of beets, but I don't increase the rest of the ingredients much or at all, and it still tastes really good.

Each pound of beets will make about 2 cups of hummus.  Freeze what you won't eat within a week in small containers.

Eggplant Hummus (aka Baba Ganoush)

Poke several japanese or globe eggplant several times with a fork (about 2 pounds raw).  If the globe eggplant are large, cut them lenthwise in half first.  Roast on cookie sheet at 400 degrees about 40 minutes until they collapse insides are very soft.  You cannot overcook eggplant, but if you undercook it, you won't be able to mash it with a fork.  You can also roast the eggplant on the grill.

Scrape cooked and soft eggplant into food processor.  Add the following ingredients and pulse until it is the consistency you like.

3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tablespoons lemon juice (or lime, which I used last time)
1/4 to 1/2 cup tahini
1 - 1.25 teaspoons coarse salt (use half if you use regular salt)
1/8 -1/4 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
1/2 -1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
regular pepper if not using cayenne
1 T olive oil (or more for consistency) (I did not use any last time)
flat leaf parsley, chopped

Use any combinations of the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne that appeals to you.  Most baba ganoush recipes garnish with parsley, but I like to put the parsley right in the mix, although if freezing, I wonder if it is better to leave out the parsley.  Update:  I froze it with parsley and it was fine when it defrosted.
Eat within 3 days or so, or freeze some for later.