Tomatoes are in....

This morning, I am celebrating finding a heck of a deal on canning tomatoes at the Farmers market in Barron. Yesterday, as I was searching for cauliflower, I stumbled over a display of wooden buckets filled with "canning tomatoes, 15 lbs for $15". How could I resist? My tomato plants have started producing, although not with as prolific a harvest as I had hoped for. I believe that monsoon rains at the height of blossoming are to blame, as well as horribly hot weather that baked them into submission directly after the rain. In any case, I have the need for copious amounts of tomatoes as they are my go-to ingredient for homemade soups, sauces, chili, and casseroles.

Today, I am making an incredibly good concotion called Tomato-Basil simmer sauce. It winds up thick and delicious, with fresh basil added after the cooking process is done, right before you sling it into jars to be sealed up tight. It is great as a pasta sauce, or pizza sauce, and I love it on top of browned chicken made into a fantastic rendition of chicken parmesan. Everyone who has every tried it raves about it (even kids). I found it a couple years ago in Real Simple magazine, and with a couple of tweaks I think even they would agree that it is extra-fantastic!

Tomato-Basil Simmer Sauce

You will need: 12 lbs of ripe tomatoes; 3 T. brown sugar; 4 tsp. kosher salt; 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar; 1 tsp. ground black pepper; 2 cups basil leaves, finely chopped; 1 cup herbs, chopped; 6 Tbsp. lemon juice.

So first, you need to peel the tomatoes. Using a sharp knife, cut the core out of the tomato (also known as "where the stem was"). Then drop the tomato into a pot of boiling water, leave it in there about a minute or so, and then scoop out and put into a big bowl of ice water. The skin will peel right off. Drop your peeled tomatoes into your handy-dandy food processor, whirl them around, and pour the liquid mess into a big non-reactive pot (I love my enameled steel pot). Add sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper, then bring to a boil. Lower heat just enough to maintain a steady boil for the next 70-90 minutes. You want to cook this until it is thick and darkened slightly, and smells like tomato heaven. I recommend not going far in the last 20-30 minutes, as you are going to want to stir it often to prevent burning...and burned sauce needs to be tossed to the compost, honey, because you cannot save it. Pull the sauce off the heat once it is thickened to your liking, and add your herbs. Stir them around well. Put the lemon juice, 1 Tbsp each, into hot pint jars. Ladle in the sauce, being sure to leave a good half-inch of head space (that tricky space between the bottom of the lid & the food) because this sauce does expand when heated during the hot water bath processing. Place your hot lids, tighten down with a band, and process in a hot water bath for 35 minutes. Allow to cool overnight, then check the seals & store them in a cool, dark place. Makes about 6 pints, but I really recommend making a double-batch. This goes FAST! It's a great way to use up those "too soft" tomatoes, as well as the crazy amount of basil that is turning into shrubbery in the garden. If you prefer it spicy, you can add 2 Tbsp. of crushed red pepper flakes with the herbs. Or, you can snip in 1 cup of sundried tomatoes at the same time, if you like your sauce to have that extra-tomato flavor.