Tomato Paste {Water Bath Canning}

I've been canning tomato products for years, but I never thought I'd be making my own tomato paste. I guess I was just convinced it had to take a long time to cook down and thicken ... never did I dream it would actually take less time and be much easier than I thought.

When tomato season came around again this year, I found myself buying my favorite Roma tomatoes from Willard Farms, a family farm local to me. If you can't find Roma tomatoes, San Marzano plum tomatoes are also an excellent choice.

"Prized for its use in tomato paste and sauces since its introduction in 1955, Roma Tomatoes produce a large harvest of thick-walled, meaty, bright red, egg-shaped tomatoes about 3 inches long and with few seeds. This tomato is not juicy. This is not a slicing tomato. Instead, the flesh is thick and drier so that it will cook down into a thick sauce. Cooking intensifies flavor, too. If you can tomatoes, make your own spaghetti sauce, or like to chop a tomato into an omelet, this is a great choice. It's not too juicy in the pan compared to slicing tomatoes. The fruit freezes well for later cooking, too."

And so today I set out to make tomato paste. Oh my goodness, the flavor is so rich and intensified, it tastes like a vine ripe tomato just picked. Amazingly delicious ... I may never buy it commercially again!

RECIPE
Ingredients
4 quarts tomato sauce
lemon juice concentrate
salt (optional)

Method
Begin by making Tomato Sauce following my Tomato Sauce Canning Made Easy recipe. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 1 quart tomato sauce onto a rimmed baking sheet. You can do 2 baking sheets at one time.

Place baking sheets on 2 racks in your oven and set the timer for 60 minutes. At the 30 minute mark, stir tomato sauce; you will see it's already reducing and thickening. Switch baking sheets around by moving the baking sheet on the bottom rack to the top rack and the top baking sheet to the bottom rack.

Continue baking another 20-30 minutes, checking and stirring often, until tomato sauce is reduced to a tomato paste being careful not to burn it.

Repeat process with remaining 2 quarts of tomato sauce.

Add 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice to each 4 oz jar or 1 tablespoon to each 8 oz jar, and 1/4-1/2 tsp. salt (if using) to each jar. Spoon tomato paste into jars, smoothing and removing air bubbles, leaving 1/2"-inch head-space.

Process jars 45 minutes in boiling water bath following the guidance from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Remove jars from canner and let cool undisturbed 24 hours on your kitchen counter-top. Jars are sealed when button on top of lid is fully depressed and won't move. Store in pantry up to one year. Open jars need to be refrigerated.

Yield: approx. 2 - 8 oz jars or 4 - 4 oz jars per quart of tomato sauce (my total yield was 5 - 4 oz jars and 3 - 8 oz jars for 4 quarts of tomato sauce)

Enjoy,
Mary

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Beef Bourguignon {Beef 'n Burgundy}

Beef bourguignon is one of many examples of peasant dishes being slowly refined into haute cuisine. Most likely, the particular method of slowly simmering the beef in wine originated as a means of tenderizing cuts of meat that would have been too tough to cook any other way.

Over time, the dish became a standard of French cuisine. The recipe most people still follow to make an authentic beef bourguignon was first described by Auguste Escoffier. That recipe, however, has undergone subtle changes, owing to changes in cooking equipment and available food supplies. Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking describes the dish, sauté de boeuf à la Bourguignonne, as "certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man." (Source: Wikipedia)

RECIPE

Ingredients

6 slices bacon, diced

1 lb. grass-fed Angus stew beef, cubed

1 medium onion, quartered

1 tsp. minced garlic

1-2 tsp. salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp. course-ground black pepper

2 cups beef bone broth

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tsp. dried thyme leaves

1 1/2 cups burgundy wine
1 lb. carrots, sliced into 1-inch chunks

1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)
2 cups egg noodles, cooked

Method
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a Dutch oven, cook diced bacon until crispy. Add beef and cook until browned. Stir in onion, garlic, salt, pepper, bone broth, tomato paste, thyme leaves, and burgundy wine.

Cover with lid and bake 2 hours. Uncover, add carrots and mushrooms (optional) and return to oven to cook 30 more minutes.

Remove from oven and serve over cooked egg noodles.

Enjoy,
Mary

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CINCINNNATI CHILI

Cincinnati Chili ... so different from traditional chili, but oh so good. So what is so different? You eat it on spaghetti with a fork. Huh? Seriously. Anyone who has had Cincinnati Chili has a favorite way of ordering it. You can choose from the following:

• two-way: spaghetti and chili
• three-way: spaghetti, chili, and shredded cheese
• four-way: spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, and diced onions
• four-way bean: spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, and beans
• five-way: spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, diced onions, beans and oyster crackers

You can also order:

• cheese coney: hot dog topped with chili, shredded cheese, diced onions, and mustard
• chili cheese fries: French fries topped with chili and shredded cheese

So what's not to love? This stuff is so darn good and the mix of spices makes it perfect! I was a doubter, but they do and this is excellent!

Recipe

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
4 cups water
2 tsp, minced garlic
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1½ tbls. cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbls. chili powder
2 tbls. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (reduce if you don't like spicy foods)
1/2 tsp. pepper flakes
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
In a large sauce pan brown ground beef until cooked through; drain grease. Add all other remaining ingredients and let simmer 45 minutes - 1 hour to thicken slightly. Serve while hot over spaghetti, or hot dogs!

Enjoy,
Mary

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Old-Fashioned Beef Pot Roast

 Probably one of my all-time family favorites is Pot Roast. It's easy, it cooks slowly in the slow cooker, and it's a fabulous "one pot" meal = easy clean-up and I love "fix it and forget it" dinners.

What made this even better tonight was the BEEF! Grass-fed Angus Beef from Hill Creek Farms - Hartsville, a local to me farm, I personally visited in 2014, and have visited many more times since. At that time, a friend of mine and I purchased a side of beef we shared, and it has been worth every penny we paid.

For the price per lb., we got roasts, steaks, tenderloins, stew beef, ground beef and everything in-between. It's all been wonderful, and something I would do again and again and again. Why? The taste is far superior to store-bought and I know how they were raised, with no antibiotics or added growth hormones. You can read all about my trip to Hill Creek Farms - Hartsville here.

RECIPE
Ingredients
1 beef chuck roast
1/4 cup Copycat Lipton Onion Soup Mix from my friend, Ann, at The Fountain Avenue Kitchen
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
4 cups beef bone broth (or beef broth)
2 tbls. minced garlic
2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste
6 medium-sized Red or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
6 - 8 carrots, peeled and cut in half

Method
Spray or lightly oil a large slow cooker. Place onion soup mix, tomato paste, red wine and beef bone broth in slow cooker and whisk lightly to blend. Add chuck roast and ladle some of the mix over top. Cover and cook on low 6 hours.

Add whole peeled potatoes and peeled carrots and continue cooking on low approx. 2 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Remove roast and vegetables from slow cooker to a large serving platter. Ladle some of the "gravy" or cooking liquid over top, or serve the gravy with the roast at the table.

Enjoy,
Mary

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Smoked Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Soup

Smoked Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Soup is a warm, comforting bowl of soup, with a delicious blend of sauteed veggies, smoked sausage, beef bone broth (or stock), tomato paste and spices.

It's budget thrifty and family-friendly. What's even better is this soup is so easy to make and comes together in no time.

RECIPE
Ingredients
1 package Smoked Sausage
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup diced carrots
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small can (4.5 oz) tomato paste
4 cups beef bone broth (or beef stock)
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon basil
3 teaspoons parsley
1 bay leaf
8 to 9 ounce pkg. cheese tortellini
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Method
Saute onions, garlic and carrots in olive oil until onions are soft and carrots are beginning to soften (they will continue to cook as the soup simmers.).

Add in sliced sausage and saute for a few minutes. Add in tomato paste, beef bone broth or beef stock, water and spices. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Ten minutes before it is done add in cheese tortellini and cook until tender.

Pour into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.

Yield:  4 servings

Enjoy,
Mary

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Irish Stew with Beer & Wine

Irish stew (Irish: stobhach / Stobhach Gaelach) is a traditional stew made from lamb, or mutton (mutton is used as it comes from less tender sheep over a year old, is fattier, and has a stronger flavor, and is generally the most traditional variation used) as well as potatoes, onions, and parsley. It may sometimes also include carrots. Irish stew is also made with kid goat. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_stew)

Irish stew is a celebrated Irish dish, yet its composition is a matter of dispute. Purists maintain that the only acceptable and traditional ingredients are neck mutton chops or kid, potatoes, onions, and water. Others would add such items as carrots, turnips, and pearl barley; but the purists maintain that they spoil the true flavor of the dish. The ingredients are boiled and simmered slowly for up to two hours. Mutton was the dominant ingredient because the economic importance of sheep lay in their wool and milk produce and this ensured that only old or economically non-viable animals ended up in the cooking pot, where they needed hours of slow cooking. Irish stew is the product of a culinary tradition that relied almost exclusively on cooking over an open fire. It seems that Irish stew was recognized as early as about 1800...

Today you can find many recipes for Irish Stew, some with beef and some with lamb ... no matter how you make it, this is comfort food at its best. 

RECIPE
Ingredients
1 1/2-2 lbs. stew beef (lamb is traditional)
1/2 cup flour
1-2 tsp. minced garlic
1 cup Guinness beer or other dark beer
1/2 cup red wine
*4 cups homemade beef base or beef bone broth
1 small can tomato paste
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. dried thyme leaves
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 red or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
5-6 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2-3 turnips, peeled and cut into chunks
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Combine beef pieces and flour in a zip-top bag and shake to coat; place all in a slow cooker sprayed with cooking spray.  Add the next 11 ingredients and stir to mix well.

Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-6 hours.  If you're in a hurry, parboil the potatoes, carrots ad turnips until partially cooked; add to slow cooker and turn on high for 30 minutes and cook until softened.  Otherwise, add the potatoes, carrots and turnips during the last 2 hours of cooking time (be sure to turn the slow cooker to high).

Serve stew immediately with a nice crusty bread for dunking in the stew.

*Beef base - To make a quick beef base, roast beef bones (soup bones, rib bones) in a large roasting pan several hours (this is going to take about 3 hours) in a 250-300 oven until the marrow is cooked. Add 8 cups water and cook an additional hour or two until broth has reduced in half. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. At this point, you can either "put it up" by canning it in a pressure canner or freeze it for use another time. I like to make the beef base and keep it on hand for when I want to use some, such as in this stew recipe. It's also amazing in vegetable beef soups, French onion soup, or almost anything calling for a hearty beef base. You can also use homemade beef bone broth.

Alcohol substitutes - If you'd rather not use the beer and wine, substitute non-alcoholic beer for the Guinness and apple cider or unsweetened grape juice for the wine. Some balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar could also be added a teaspoon at a time until the flavor is where you like it.

Also seen on Meal Plan Monday

Enjoy,
Mary

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French Onion Salisbury Steak

French Onion Salisbury Steaks look and sounds fancy, but use everyday pantry ingredients and the flavor is phenomenal.

I love using grass-fed beef in this recipe, and either my own beef bone broth or homemade French Onion Soup, but you can also use and ground beef you like, and Onion Soup Mix if that's what you have on hand.

RECIPE
Ingredients
1 1/4 lbs. grass-fed ground beef
1/4 cup fresh minced parsley
2 teaspoon scallions, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
Onion Soup mix with with 2 cups water
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

Method
Combine ground beef, parsley, scallion, salt and pepper. Divide evenly into 4 portions and shape each into 3/4-1″ thick oval patties.  Place 2 tablespoon flour in a shallow dish; dredge each patty in flour.

Heat one tablespoon oil in an electric fry pan over medium high heat. Add patties and cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from pan.

Add Onion Soup Mix and stir in 2 cups water. Stir in garlic and tomato paste; simmer a few minutes, or until bubbly.

Stir in wine and thyme. Return meat to pan and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through.

Serve steaks with rice, egg noodles or mashed potatoes with gravy ladled over top.

Recipe adapted from Cuisine at Home Magazine

Enjoy,
Mary

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Cuban Shrimp Stew (Enchilado De Camerones)

Just dug out this recipe I've had in my collection for years yesterday when I was steaming up some shrimp!  This is a wonderful, full of flavor, spicy shrimp stew you serve over rice. 

 

Photo credit:  The Daily Chef Blog

 

RECIPE

Ingredients

Shrimp:

3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ tsp. Cuban oregano (any oregano will work)

¼ tsp. cumin

1½ pounds large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed

Salt and pepper to taste

Stew:

3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cups onion, chopped

1/3 cup red bell pepper, chopped

1/3 cup green bell pepper, chopped

1/3 cup yellow bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp. cayenne, or to taste

½ tsp. oregano

½ tsp. cumin

1 bay leaf

⅔ cup tomato paste

1½ cup dry white wine (I use cooking wine)

¾ cup water

½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp. chopped parsley for topping

Method

For the shrimp: Combine the lime juice, garlic, oregano and cumin in a bowl and mix well. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

For the stew: Heat the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute' the onions, peppers, celery, 2 T. of the parsley, cayenne pepper, oregano, cumin and bay leaf in the hot oil for 5 minutes or until onions start to brown. Stir in the tomato paste. Saute' for 1 minute longer. 

Add the wine and water to the vegetable mixture and mix well. Simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring frequently. Stir in the un-drained shrimp. Simmer for 5-6 minutes or until shrimp turn pink, stirring occasionally. Discard the bay leaf. Stir in Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the stew into a serving bowl over cooked white rice. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

 

Enjoy,

Mary

 

Simple Marinara Sauce

Updated October 2020

Why buy marinara sauce in a jar, when you can make your own quite simply at home? In just a few minutes, and allowing some time for the sauce to simmer, you'll have a simple Marinara Sauce that's wonderful in all kinds of dishes: 

• spaghetti
• lasagna
• baked ziti
• rigatoni
• eggplant Parmesan
• zucchini Parmesan
• chicken Parmesan

RECIPE
Ingredients
2 - 14.5 oz. can tomato sauce (make your own)
1 - 1.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (make your own)
1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste
1-2 tsp garlic powder (or more to taste)
2-3 tsp. Italian seasoning (more or less to taste)
1/2 cup red wine (optional, but it adds a lot of flavor)
1 medium onion, chopped

1 lb ground beef, browned (optional for Bolognese sauce)

Method
Cook and simmer over low heat an hour of so, until sauce has thickened some and seasonings have blended in.

Taste sauce and adjust all seasonings as necessary, to taste.

Serve immediately over your favorite pasta, or use in pasta/veggie dishes you need to bake.

Enjoy,
Mary

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