Ingredients: |
Ingredients: A combination of apples, pears, and/or peaches to total 10 to 12 medium-sized pieces of fruit
4 medium onions
1 six-quart basket of very ripe tomatoes (that is about 10 pounds)
3 large sweet peppers (red or yellow are the best but green will do)
2 tablespoon pickling salt (non-iodized)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoon mixed pickling spice in a cotton or cheesecloth bag
3 cups white vinegar
5 cups white sugar (reduce to 4 cups or less if using fruit)
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Directions: |
Directions:Using a peeler remove the skin from the apples and pears. Then cut them in quarters and remove the core and seeds. The easiest way to remove the skin from peaches and tomatoes is blanching. The instructions for this are at the bottom of the recipe. Once the skin is removed take the core out of the tomato. This is done by cutting a cone-shaped plug around the stem scar. The size of the core (the hard whitish bit varies with the type of tomato. Cut the fruit off the peach pit into quarters. Chop fruit and veggies and place in a large heavy cooking pot. You want a fine dice (about 1/4 inch cubes). This can be done by hand but it is much easier to do it using a food processor. If you use a food processor be careful not to get the pieces too fine. For the tomatoes, you can just squish them up with your hands. To make the spice bag: use a fine piece of cotton (or several layers of cheesecloth) about 5 inches square. Put the spice in the center and draw the cotton up around it and tie securely with cord. Add spice bag, cinnamon, and salt. Cook over medium heat for two hours or until thick. It should be at a slow boil. Stir as it becomes thick so it does not stick. Add sugar and vinegar and boil again until it is thick. Be careful not to let it stick and burn. Stir frequently as it starts to thicken. Once it begins to thicken you can add one or two cans of tomato paste to help it thicken. Place in sterilized jars leaving about a centimeter headspace. Jars should seal with the lids becoming concaved. Jars can be processed in hot water for 10 minutes to help to seal.
Blanching: Fill a large pan about half full with water, and place on your stove to bring it to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, put the tomatoes or peaches in until the pan is nearly full. Leave the tomatoes or peaches in the boiling water until the skins begin to split. This usually takes about 12 minutes depending on how many tomatoes or peaches you have in the pot. Once the skins begin to split (you can poke the fruit with a sharp knife to see if the skin splits), remove the fruit from the boiling water using the slotted spoon, and place them into ice water (the ice water is optional but does cool them quickly and prevents further cooking). Repeat this process until you have blanched all of your tomatoes & peaches. or at least all that you want to mess with at one time! Use your hands and slide the skin off.
Personal Notes: This is the traditional recipe. It can be made without the apples, peaches, or pears; just add more tomatoes. The actual amount of fruit and vegetables is very forgiving. I just use what I have. If you do not have time to make it in the fall the fruit and tomatoes can be frozen for use later. Or instead of fresh or frozen tomatoes, you can use the low salt canned whole or chopped tomatoes. This is relatively sweet and the sugar can be reduced to taste. Hot peppers, hot pepper flakes, or hot sauce can be added to taste. For this recipe, it is important that the tomatoes, peaches, and pears are very ripe. Andre called this Sweet Salsa when he was growing up. (for those who care tomatoes are really a fruit)
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This recipe for Fruit Sauce (all the details) Mom is from