Tomato Relish

Intro 

My mother in law, Nancy Ransom, was a terrific cook. She made gorgeous tomato relish and sauce, bottled peaches by the ton and always had baking in the tins. Cheese cakes (queen cakes?), chocolate and banana cakes with hundreds and thousands and crunchy Astrid biscuits. She never made scones - that was  her husband Des's territory and he was a master at them - although she could whip up Cheese Puffs for unannounced visitors practically while the jug boiled! I'll share all of Nan's recipes that I have. They are a family legacy and it will be nice to share them publicly so her kids and grandkids can have them to. 

Recipe

Boil gently together for 1 hour:

• 4 pounds ((2 kgs) tomatoes - sliced
• 4 large onions - sliced
• 325ml malt vinegar
• 1 pound (454g) sugar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 and half teaspoons dry mustard

Mix together 1 tablespoon cornflour with a little water, add to the simmering relish and bring to the boil for 1 minute. Pour into hot clean glass jars.

Tagine of Butter Beans with Tomatos and Black Olives.

Intro

A gorgeous vegetarian tagine recipe - and really fast to prepare using tinned beans. .

Recipe

• 2 x 410g tins of butter beans (large beans are best)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• knob of butter
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 red onions: chop cut in half lengthwise, then in slices with the the grain
• 1-2 red or green chillies - deseeded and sliced thinly
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds - crushed
• 25g fresh ginger, peeled and finely shredded and chopped
• a pinch of saffron threads
• 16-20 cherry tomatoes
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2-3 tblsp pitted black olives
• freshly squeezed juice of a lemon
• sea salt
• ground black pepper
• small bunch flat parsley coarsely chopped

Saute garlic, onions, chillies in oil and butter until soft. Add coriander seeds, ginger and saffron. Put the lid on and cook gently for 4-5 minutes. Toss in the tomatoes, sugar and thyme and simmer for 5 more minutes. Add beans and olives, pour on lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook gently for 5 more minutes. Sprinkle on flat leaf parsley and serve. Serve with yoghurt and crusty bread.

Parmigiana di Melanzane

Baked eggplant with Mozzarella

Intro

One Christmas Day my mate Dave rang me from some Balkan hell-hole, Pristina I think, and I started crying over some bloke who'd stood me up the night before (turns out his Mother had been rushed to hospital with a heart attack). Anyway one thing led to another and Dave, who was quite distressed that I was crying, suggested that what I needed was a nice week in Naples and why didn't I pop over and he'd meet me there. Lack of money was no problem - he would pay. 

So 8 days later I found myself in Rome, exploring on foot, feasting my eyes and soul on the glorious churches and galleries. I truly didn't have much money at all and I used to squirrel away a spare bread roll from the Youth Hostel breakfast buffet to get me through the day. On the last day I had to choose between visiting the Colosseum or buying a slice of pizza for tea. The Colosseum won - of course. 

That evening I hopped on a train to Naples, I'd bought the ticket when I'd arrived, and made my way to the prearranged 'hotel', a particularly seedy one with very dodgy stains on the wallpaper, run by a a pair of old ladies with hairy legs and men's socks. And then I got an email from Dave; he was stuck in Kosovo, snowed in and didn't know when he would be able to get over..... so I went for a walk. And you know what, sometimes the universe just provides because I found a large note in the gutter and had enough money for the few days until Dave managed to hitch a ride over with the Italian army. 

Dave is a kindred soul; we both love food and drink and it was a glorious week in Naples. I ordered this dish in a little trattoria across the street from our 'hotel' and it was breathtakingly, heartbreakingly, divine. 

PS I foolishly entered into an agreement that in exchange for the trip of a lifetime to Naples, which cost Dave an enormous amount of money because we both had a very good time and we drank a lot of laphroaig, I would provide him with a lifetime of wine.....

Recipe

• 1 kg aubergine (eggplant)
• salt
• oil for frying
• 300g mozzarella, thinly sliced
• quarter cup fresh basil leaves
• Italian tomato pasta sauce

Slice the aubergine into 1cm rounds. Sprinkle both sides with salt and place on a rack or sloping plate or sieve so the juices drains away. Leave for 1 - 2 hours (I often miss this step if I'm in a rush and it doesn't seem to matter much). Drain and pat dry. Shallow fry the slices on both sides in smoking hot oil until golden brown - don't crowd the pan. Drain on paper towels. Spread a layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of a small gratin dish, put a layer of aubergine slices in next, then a layer of mozzarella and a few basil leaves, then sauce and keep layering again until ingredients are used, finishing with a few basil leaves. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees (200 celcius) and serve hot with crusty bread to sop up the juices.

Italian Tomato Pasta Sauce

Intro

Don't buy bottled pasta sauce ever again. Just don't do it. It takes about 15 minutes to make this simply gorgeous sauce - and it works just fine with plain tinned tomatoes. Don't be tempted to buy flavoured tomatoes or to dress this up with too many extra flavours or ingredients - its big enough on its own. 

Recipe

• 1 kg ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped or 3 x 425g cans chopped Roma tomatoes,
• 4 - 6 plump cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt
• quarter cup of olive oil
• fresh basil leaves

Heat the garlic in the oil at a low sizzle until its just starting to colour. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper then simmer for 15 - 30 minutes until you have a nice thickish sauce consistency. Tear some basil leaves in at the end. I use this for Cannelloni which the kids love and for one of my all time favourites, Parmigiana di Melanzane.

Tomato Sauce

Intro

Another one of Nancy Ransom's recipes - and its so yummy. I havn't made this for ages but I used to do a big cookup every year when I could buy tomatoes by the boxful from the market gardens for about $4. Des used to grow magnificent beefsteak tomatoes in his glasshouse - big as your palm - and I guess thats how come Nan accumulated these recipes utilizing the surplus.

A kitchen whizz is fine for chopping everything up and also for whizzing afterwards before bottling.

Recipe

Simmer together in preserving pan for 2.5 hours:

• 6 pounds tomatoes, chopped roughly (3kgs)
• 2 pounds onions, sliced (1 kg)
• 2 pounds apples, chopped roughly (1 kg)
• 3lb sugar (1.5 kg)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 15g ground ginger
• 15g garlic

Tie these together in a square of muslin and throw in as well:

• 15g whole allspice
• 15g whole cloves
• 15g whole peppercorns

After the 2.5 hours is up, add vinegar and simmer for another half hour

• 1.125 litres malt vinegar

Remove muslin and bottle (in really hot sterilized bottles).