Recipe-Pickled Red Tomatoes

This is one of my new favorites.  These pickled tomatoes are out of this world.  A must make at least once even if you are not a fan of tomatoes and or pickled tomatoes.  This recipes balance of tartness with sweetness is absolutely ravenous.

Pickled Red Tomatoes
Yields:  6 pints

Ingredients:

5# roma or plum tomatoes
3 cups white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons pickling salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 each large shallots, large diced
12 each garlic cloves, sliced (2 per jar)
3 each bay leafs ( 1/2 per jar)
60 each peppercorn melange (10 per jar)

Method:

1.  Sanitize all jars and lids.

2.  Start a water bath with enough water to submerge the jars in when we are done filling them.

3.  Bring a pot of water to a boil for the tomatoes.

4.  Core all the tomatoes and make a criss-cross slice on the bottoms of them so we can concasse them.

5.  Place a few tomatoes into the boiling water at a time and leave them in the water until you start to see the skin peel away from the tomatoes.  Remove from the water and place into a ice water bath to cool.  Repeat this step until all tomatoes are done and cooled.

6.   Once cooler, removed skin from each tomatoes and cut them into quarters, set aside.

7.  In a pot, put the vinegar, sugar and salt and bring to a boil.

8.  Place above ingredients that you have prepped in to your dry and sanitized jars.  Layer by adding some onions, peppercorns every two tomatoes.

9.  Once jars are full but not packed tight, began to carefully pour your liquid over each jar.  Fill to just the lower lip of each jar.  Take a butter knife and gently place it into the jar on the sides to remove air bubbles.  Add more liquid if needed and remove air bubble again.

10.  Wipe the lids dry and place on the tops and screw each top on hand tight.  Place each jar carefully into the water bath for thirty minutes at a constant 180 degrees.

11.  Remove from water baths and let them cool, the tops will pop.  That is a good sign, they are sealing.  Make sure all of the seal, if they do not, no worries, refrigerate once cool and use withing 2-3 weeks.