A Happy Dilemma

Every year, come the end of summer, I'm swimming in tomatoes. This year I'm literally drowning. I planted about 9 starts and all of them have been producing beautifully. I've been harvesting the Sungold cherry tomatoes since about mid-July. The yellow pears were ready a couple of weeks after that. In the last 3 weeks, I've been getting a steady supply of the larger tomatoes. To put it all into perspective, during the peak I harvested over 6 pounds of the various cherry tomatoes and 8 lbs of the larger varieties...in one day. No kidding. Thank goodness it appears to be tapering off.

Thanks again to my awesome FIL, who built me another planter box, effectively doubling my garden to a whopping 36 sqft. Who says you need a lot of space to have a productive garden?

I'm sure I'll be jonesing for a decent tomato in February, but right now if I have to eat one more fresh tomato, I might die. Okay, not really. Rather than let all the tomatoes sit and rot on my countertop (yes, I tried to give some away, but my neighbors are in the same boat), I canned a big batch of tomato chutney. Actually this was the second batch. The first batch went straight into the freezer because I couldn't be bothered to bust out the canning paraphernalia.

Making a tomato chutney isn't hard, but it does require some babysitting. I simply took my 6+ pounds of cherry tomatoes and put them in a pot with 1 cup rice vinegar (regular white vinegar is also fine), 1 cup granulated sugar and salt to taste (optional if you're watching your salt intake). Then I just let it all reduce over medium heat. This took a long time...like 2 hours because the tomatoes have so much liquid that has to be cooked off. I stirred it occasionally at first then frequently toward the end to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. The 6+ pounds of tomatoes gave me 4+ cups of chutney, which I canned in 8 x 125ml jars (processed for 15 minutes using boiling water canner).

A couple of tips: As it's cooking down, taste it and add more sugar if you find it's not sweet enough. I always end up doing this. You can also add spices. I added copious fresh ginger to the first batch and it was fantastic, tangy and slightly spicy.

Chutneys aren't just meant to accompany Indian food. There are limitless ways to enjoy this one. My favorite is atop a nice sharp cheese with crusty bread. Or served with a grilled cheese sandwich. Or how about on a bacon and lettuce sandwich for an nontraditional but delicious BLT. I also like it mixed in with hummus and eaten with pita chips. You may also try adding fresh herbs, such as finely chopped mint, coriander and/or chilies before serving. Of course chutneys are good accompaniments to meat dishes and this one is good for everything from a roasted chicken to roasted lamb.

This is my entry for Weekend Wokking. This round we're celebrating vinegar and I'm the host! If you want to participate, send your entry to me at blazinghotwok(at)gmail(dot)com by Oct 4th.

Someone Call 911!

I was going to do a post about Thanksgiving, but after nearly taking off every finger on my left hand*, I need to keep this brief. Typing is slow going as it is and an extra strong mojito is about to catch up with me. So I apologize in advance for any and all spelling and grammatical mistakes or if there are sentences that just plain don't make sense.

What can I say about Thanksgiving..? I’m going to use a frozen organic turkey because I’m testing the idea that frozen turkeys taste better than fresh. I know it sounds unbelievable, but there's a whole debate out there. I will say the best turkey I ever had was frozen (and brined) but that was years ago, and I've yet to experience a turkey worth remembering, whether fresh or frozen.

I’ll also be making creamed spinach, corn muffins and cranberry chutney, the inspiration for which I found in a new (and cool) local food magazine called MIX. I made the chutney in advance and put it in the freezer. That’ll be one less thing to worry about on Turkey Day.

Cranberry Chutney
adapted from MIX Magazine

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tbs neutral oil, such as canola or grape seed
• 1 tbs mustard oil (or 1 tsp mustard seeds, finely ground)
• ½ cup minced onion
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1-2 jalapenos (or more to taste), split lengthwise
• ½ tbs grated ginger
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ to 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 12oz bag fresh cranberries
• salt to taste (about ½ to 1 tsp)

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, fry the onions, cinnamon stick and jalapenos in the hot oils until the onions start to brown. Add the ginger and cook for about another minute or two. Add the ground spices and turn to mix well. Fry for 30 seconds to a minute. Add the cranberries, sugar and vinegar. Allow to come to a boil and the cranberries start to pop. Turn down the heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the cranberries are soft. Take off the lid and turn up the heat a little to drive off some of the moisture until it becomes the consistency you like. Add salt to taste.


*Here’s what happened: I was going to make a mojito to enjoy with our dinner (Mexican food), but the glass shaker shattered. The cuts were pretty deep and it took about 15 minutes for the bleeding to stop. Have you every tried to compress 3 fingers at once while holding your hand over your head? It’s harder than it sounds.