HERB - tomato butter recipe

[Gaylin Walli]

By popular demand, an OOP tomato butter recipe or, possibly an alterable
poisonous addition to a bad-for-you feast, depending on where you are
in Europe. This was a recipe my grandmother gave me and one my mom
used not nearly often enough. It may have existed in a magazine at one
point because it seems common in older recipe books that I've seen.
Enjoy! --Jasmine, jasmine at infoengine.com

PS: Clare, I've used this successfully as a basting sauce for ham, as
a sandwich spread for ham or roast beef, as a sauce on the table, and
as a simple spread for bread when I've nothing like jelly or milk butter.


Tomato Butter

   Makes about 5 pints.

Equipment:

  - something to grind tomatoes and onions with
  - a knife and cutting board (makes grinding easier)
  - measuring cups and spoons
  - a spoon to stir with, preferably with a longer handle
  - an oven or stove
  - canning jars and the equipement to seal and process them
    (roughly 5 pints worth of jars per batch)

Ingredients:

   ~5 quarts ripe tomatos, ground
   3-4 medium-sized onions, ground
   1 pint vinegar
   3 cups brown sugar
   2 cups white sugar
   1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
   1 teaspoon cloves, ground
   1 teaspoon allspice, ground
   1 tablespoon salt

Notes about ingredients--I used a combination of romas and beefsteak
tomatoes for sauce last summer. The skin and seed gunk leftover was
the source of my 5 quarts of ground tomatoes because I couldn't bear
to throw it away (okay, I'm a cheapskate, I admit it). The onions were
common yellow garden onions. The vinegar was homemade red wine
and champagne vinegar. The salt was sea salt.

Instructions:

Peel and grind the tomatoes and the onions. A food processor or blender
is invaluable for this. I aimed for the smallest possible pieces without
actually liquifying all the ingredients. They'll be wet, but you want
noticeable bumps of texture.

Combine the vinegar, sugar, spices and salt together in a heavy, non-
reactive saucepan. I recommend one made of oven-proof enamel that is
roughly 1/3 again the size of the amount you're making. I stole my
grandmother's pot and she's not getting it back. :) Bring the mixture
to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugars. Complete the butter on the
stovetop or in the oven.

Stovetop: Add the tomatoes and onions to the boiled mixture and reduce
the heat low enough to simmer very gently (probably low on your stove).
Simmer the mix slowly until it is thick, stirring frequently. This may
take several hours. Toward the end of the cooking time, the mix will
be quite thick.
     You'll know the tomato butter is ready to be bottled when it mounds
up on the back of a soupspoon and requires constant stirring to avoid
burning and sticking in the pan. Fill prepared canning jars and process
them according to the instructions of your jar manufacturer (I usually
process mine in a hot water bath).

Oven: Make sure your pan is oven-safe, then add the tomatoes and
onions, and place the entire mix in a 350 degree F oven. Stir the mix
occasionally to keep a crust from forming on the top. The cooking may
take sesveral hours, but requires less attention than the stovetop
method, I believe.
     You'll know the tomato butter is ready to be bottled when it mounds
up on the back of a soupspoon and requires constant stirring to avoid
burning and sticking in the pan. Fill prepared canning jars and process
them according to the instructions of your jar manufacturer (I usually
process mine in a hot water bath).




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