Mater-Palooza (part 2)

Remember how I talked about all the tomatoes I have been harvesting from my garden here?

Well I decided to can mine own SLOPPY JOE sauce--NO MEAT!!. And I also decided to prep the sauce using my food processor, an 8 inch mesh colander and a rubber spatula. And I realize not everyone may have all of this equipment. You can sub a regular colander lined with cheesecloth and hand chop if you don't have a food processor.

I began by weighing out 2 lbs of tomatoes at a time to blanch. 

Make an X on the blossom end

Add to salted boiling water for about 30 seconds. You will see the skin start to pull away slightly.

Remove the tomatoes and quench in an ice water bath.

Waiting to be peeled and processed.

Next began the assembly line process of pulling the skins off, coring the tomatoes and adding them to the food processor. Because I am making a sauce I process for a good 30-45 seconds. This mixture is then transferred to the colander to drain into the measuring cup. I just moved the seed/puree mixture around on the colander with the spatula until it stopped draining.

Sorry I don't have a picture showing the puree but my hands were all gunky and I couldn't work the camera!

All the liquid and seed-free puree was added to a large non reactive stockpot. I took the seeded pulp added it to a small sauces pan added just enough water to boil, stirring occasionally, let it cook for 15 minutes, transferred it to the food processor, puled for a few seconds and drain through the colander to get the last bit of the juice.  The juice was added to the large stockpot.

16 cups of tomato juice/ puree
14 ounces of good tomato paste (commercial or home canned)
3/4 cup white vinegar
12 ounces of pureed pepper onion mix (I used frozen because I was out of fresh. I just ran under water to soften, drained and pureed)
Cook and reduce by 1/3 volume. Stirring frequently, scraping sides and bottom

Now for some flavor!
1 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. mustard powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
2 tsp tobasco sauce
1/2 tsp powder nutmeg
1/4 tsp powder allspice
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs garlic powder
1/8 c sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/8 c good quality bbq sauce

Cook for 30 minutes or until thick.

Follow all safety guidelines and recommendations for food preservation as per USDA. Prep your jars and hot pack leaving a 1/2 inch head-space. I ended up with 8 pints (And because I wasn't quite sure I did a cross between a salsa, chili sauce and tomato sauce) I processed this for 15 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure. It is better to over-process than under process. THIS IS FOR NO ADDED MEAT--JUST SAUCE! I personally don't feel confident canning meat and therefore would not feel comfortable providing instructions.

IF you want to can sloppy joe sauce with meat--
Please consult the USDA website on canning meat sauces! Follow your pressure canner manufacturer recommendations! 

The hubbs decided he really, REALLY wanted to try it, so we had sloppy joes for dinner!
Use 1 pint with 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef or ground turkey. Not sure for use with TVP.

Not only did it look and smell  like the Sloppy Joe/ Manwich(c) sauce that you would buy from the store--

it tasted even better!!

The hubbs LOVED it.  I have made sloppy joe sauce before using canned tomato sauce and spices but this is the first time I actually made it completely from scratch AND canned it! I am glad I did!