In the spirit of the holiday season- and our current "frugality"- we decided make our December
with things that we already had available to us, as opposed to going out and shopping for ingredients. (See also Spicy Pickled Watermelon Rind). It may or may not be a stretch to use tomatoes as a fruit; technically they are, and we had plenty to play around with. While consulting our trusty Flavor Bible, we came up with the idea for a gazpacho, but more concentrated. The flavor affinities kept bringing us back to this dish, especially because Gazpacho almost always contains lemon juice,and/or vinegar. We increased the acidity so we could can it and balanced it with brown sugar to give it a really nice, rich depth of flavor. Can be used as a condiment (maybe for a nice piece of fish or chicken), salsa or it could also be made into a great bowl of gazpacho with the addition of some V8.4 sterilized 1/2 pint jars, lids and rings
1 medium green bell pepper
1 sweet vidalia onion
1 large fresh tomato
8 sun-dried tomatoes
1 medium cucumber
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
pinch black pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
1 6oz. can tomato paste
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
Small dice pepper, onion, tomatoes, and cucumber; mince garlic. In a 4 quart pot heat oil and saute veggies on medium. Add salt, pepper and cayenne and continue cooking just until vegetables have softened, about 10. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan mix tomato paste, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer while whisking to incorporate. Add vinegar mixture to vegetables and mix well. If mixture is too thick and might contain air bubbles, feel free to add a little tomato juice,red wine or a little water to loosen it up. Remember to adjust your seasonings to taste when diluting recipe for canning. Ladle into sterilized jars, wipe rims, attach lids and rings; process 10 minutes.
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