More Tomatoes?

Tomatoes have already had one post to themselves on this site, but I think they deserve another, don't you?

To introduce myself: I am a British-born, stay-at-home mother of two, and I'm an impostor here. Unlike others who contribute to this site, I'm only a beginner when it comes to growing my own food. I have a tiny vegetable patch in the back yard of our rental home (although I have embarked on a long-term campaign of sweet-talking my landlady in the hopes of persuading her to allow me to extend it in the future) and I have been cultivating it for less than two years. But everyone's got to start somewhere.

Of course, as a beginner, I have yet to learn the fine art of judging the appropriate number of plants to feed my family without undue waste. Which, of course, brings me back to tomatoes. Bushels of them.

We have juicy, red full-flavored Celebrity, tangy, salty little Gardener's Delight, and tiny, yellow, sweet and spicy Sun Gold. We have eaten tomatoes until they bloat our stomachs and ooze out of our pores. I have strip-mined the canon of classic Mediterranean cookery and made ratatouille, gazpacho, pizza, greek salad, pasta alla puttanesca (literally translated as "whore's pasta"!), bruschetta con pomodoro and insalata caprese, and still we have more of the things. Last night, for the first time in weeks, I discovered we had actually used up every tomato in the house - and went out into the yard and found another pound on the plants ripe for picking.

When you're short of freezer space, tomatoes can be tricky little whatsits to preserve. Unlike most fruit, tomatoes can sometimes have a pH higher than 4.6, which means that they could potentially provide a breeding ground for botulism when canned, and which is why the USDA recommends adding some form of acid to canned tomatoes and using a pressure canner to process them. I don't have a pressure canner.

I do, however, have a British heritage, and a visit to an old friend in the UK with a pantry full of home-made preserves reminded me of a classic English dietary staple - the chutney. Harking back to the days of the British Empire, these delicious Indian-inspired condiments complement cold meat, sharp cheese and curries. My friend gave me a sharp cheddar and tomato chutney sandwich and with one bite I achieved gastronomic nirvana. What's more, with so much vinegar in them, chutneys are technically a pickle and most do not need to be pressure canned.

Tomato Chutney

3 lbs tomatoes, either peeled and diced, or unpeeled and roughly blended in a food processor
3 oz fresh ginger, finely grated
1 ¼ c soft brown sugar
1 red onion, diced very small
4 cloves garlic, minced
¾ c apple cider vinegar
¾ c balsamic vinegar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
1/3 cup raisins

Simmer everything but the raisins in a heavy pan over a low heat until reduced to a thickish sauce. For large quantities this may take as long as two hours. Add the raisins and cook for a further ten minutes until plump.  Can and process as advised by the USDA. Please note that this recipe is not one of the tested recipes on the USDA website. I believe that it contains enough vinegar to be safely canned, but you may wish to do your own research to confirm this. Tomato chutney can also safely be kept for short periods in the fridge, or frozen.