Of Beets and Tomatoes

Yep, nothing really sexy being cooked. Just processing what we picked at Larriland.

This is what the beets looked like going into the oven.

I am following a technique recommended in a Preserving Food book I picked up at Tractor Supply a while back.

Dry roasting.

Out of the oven, and cooling, before being peeled. While they were cooling, I cooked a mix of cider and white vinegars, with a tablespoon of pickling spices, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, and a handful of onions and other veggies (some from the Harris Teeter olive bar).

All put into a clean hot Ball jar, right out of the dishwasher.

This jar is in the fridge. Not processed in a hot water bath, and sealed. I want to try the recipe before I process and create a number of small jars with the remainder of the little beets we picked out of the ground.

I figure the rest of the beets will be cooked and canned Tuesday.

As for the tomatoes, I took a large amount of ripe ones and oven roasted them.

Olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar. Roasted at 250 degrees for about an hour and a half.

Packed in a jar, and a small container, they are in the freezer. Once the bulk of the tomatoes get a little riper, there will be roasting, peeling, cooking and hot water processing for a tomato sauce. I think we will be ready for the winter with what we got last week.

It looks like Tuesday and Wednesday there will be lots of cooking and canning going on around here.

hocofood@@@