Grandma's Chili Sauce

History and Memories

This is one of the best recipes Mom got from her mother-in-law. It became almost mandatory with roast beef, pot roast, hash or meat loaf. It is also good on scrambled eggs (particularly with fried potatoes) and even in slightly messy sandwiches.

As I recall the story, Grandma got this recipe from a woman's magazine back when women's magazines were newly popular. It calls for "50 tomatoes", which is a little less specific than most recipes for processed foods today. Mom decided that this meant "medium tomatoes". I did a rough measurement with 5 tomatoes, and I figure that this amounts to about 5 or 6 quarts of diced tomatoes. Your results may vary.

I have memories of making this chili sauce as a rather big production: scalding and peeling tomatoes, grinding green peppers and onions (best done outside with a sprinkler running to limit tears) in a food mill (meat grinder). I still think the finished product tastes best when the onions and peppers are ground, but it was a messy business, with a little of the juice running down the back of the food mill onto the floor. Today, you can use a food processor if you like. Aim for onions and peppers diced to a size of about 1/4 inch - less than 1/2 inch in any case.

After following Grandma's recipe for several years, Mom decided to substitute whole spices for the ground spices in the original recipe to produce a redder sauce. She ties the whole spices in a cheesecloth or muslin bag so they can be removed after the sauce is cooked down. The longer the whole spices simmer in the sauce, the stronger the flavor they impart.  You can add more whole spices if you prefer a spicier sauce.

I compromise, leaving the celery seed swimming in the sauce and bagging the other spices.   (I am partial to celery seed).  I have used one of the little nylon tulle circles used to tie up bundles of Jordan almonds for wedding receptions.  But you run a very slight risk of melting it if you allow the sauce to scorch during cooking.

The biggest change Mom made in this recipe was adding tomato paste at the end of simmering, which drastically cuts down on the time that you need to cook the sauce down until it is thick.  Adding tomato paste also means that there is proportionately more tomato and less of the other ingredients in the final sauce. If you wish to increase the amount of the other ingredients for a zingier sauce, feel free.

According to my calculations from a "home cooking" website, a 12-ounce can of tomato paste is roughly equivalent to 6.6 cups of fresh tomatoes, packed (minus a lot of water).  This means that 4 cans of tomato paste is about equivalent to the amount of fresh tomato in the recipe.   This little comparison also gives you an idea how long Grandma's version has to be cooked down to produce a thick sauce.  Mom's new version is thicker than Grandma's version, however (at least as we prepared it).  We didn't use any paste tomatoes, either.  So the "sauce" between bits of vegetable tended to be somewhat watery.  It was still very good.

 Jason also got Mom to add jalapeño peppers for an unusual Chili Sauce Picante (or "Salsa") variation.

Ingredients

50 medium tomatoes (about 6 quarts) peeled, cored and diced to ~ 1/4 inch pieces
5 cups vinegar (we use apple cider vinegar - 5% acidity)
6 Tablespoons sugar (less sweet than most commercial chili sauces)
6 Tablespoons salt (preferably non-iodized: check labels of pickling or kosher salt for equivalent amounts)

1/2 Tablespoon cloves (ground in the original, whole in Mom's version)
1 1/2 Tablespoons allspice (ground in Grandma's version, whole in Mom's version)
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon or 4 sticks cinnamon, broken
2 Tablespoons celery seed

4 green peppers, cores and seeds removed, ground or diced to ~ 1/4 inch
4 onions, ground or diced

For Mom's updated version: 4 twelve-ounce cans tomato paste

For Chili Sauce Picante

Add ten Jalapeño peppers, cores and seeds removed, minced - or other hot peppers to taste.   You may wish to add 2 to 4  Tablespoons of coriander seeds, toasted or not, to your spice bag and omit the celery seed, which doesn't seem very "Mexican".  Mom uses celery seed.

Directions

Tie whole spices in a cheesecloth or other food-grade cloth bundle, if using whole spices.  Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed kettle and simmer briskly, uncovered until thickened. Stir frequently, particularly as sauce thickens. For Mom's version, cook down for about an hour, add the tomato paste and cook for a few more minutes. Stir frequently as above.  Remove the spice bundle.

Pack in cup, 12 ounce or pint canning jars, using normal home canning techniques. Leave 1/2 inch head space. Process in a boiling water bath (covered with boiling water) for 12 minutes if sauce is already hot when processed, about 15 - 18 minutes if sauce has cooled significantly before processing, or for larger jars.

Quarter Recipe

It's much less of a project to make a quarter batch, especially if you use a tomato variety that's easy to peel while raw.   Blanching even the easy-to-peel ones may be worthwhile if you make the larger batch above.

You can easily process jars in a large kettle, slightly elevated in a steamer insert, if you have a smooth-topped stove which doesn't work with a typical cold-pack canner. Separate canning jars in the steamer insert with clean, wet washcloths to prevent bumping during processing.

I increased some of the ingredients a little to compensate for the addition of tomato paste, for a result a little closer to Grandma's original, but redder and fresher in flavor like Mom's.

12 to 14 medium-sized tomatoes (about 6 cups peeled, cored and diced)
1 1/2 cups real apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar, scant
2 Tablespoons salt, scant

1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1 heaping teaspoon whole allspice
1 stick cinnamon, broken (I used 1/2 stick each of the assertively-flavored flaky Mexican cinnamon sticks and the harder "standard" cinnamon sticks - they're from different species of tree)
2 teaspoons celery seed, scant

1 large green pepper, diced
1 very large onion, diced

1 twelve-ounce can tomato paste