Alexa, I have Sharon's recipe. I've also enjoyed a jar that she made. It's wonderful and tastes just like the chili sauce my DG used to make. I love it with pot roast.

I'll just go ahead and post the recipe for Sharon, I don't think she'll mind.

CF--Chase

Recipe Introduction

A bit of work but it tastes so good and your house will smell divine!

Elaine's Chile Sauce

11 Q basket (1/3 bushel) of field tomatoes peeled and smashed
7 Cup white sugar
4 1/2 Cup cider vinegar
2 Bunch of celery chopped
4 small hot peppers chopped
4 large sweet peppers (2 green , 2 red) chopped
4 large onions chopped
1 Tbl ground ginger
1 Tbl cinnamon
5 Tbl coarse salt
2 Tbl Pickling spice tied in a cheesecloth bag

Simmer/low boil chopped veggies with tomatoes for 2 hours then drain off 2 cups liquid. Add everything else EXCEPT sugar and simmer another 3 hours or even more, until nice and thick. Add sugar 1 hour before canning. Fill pint jars and HWB for 15 minutes.~

Note: If time is tight I make right up to the add sugar part, refrigerate overnight and finish the next day.~

Nancy

Thanks Nancy!

Alexa this stuff is really good. Don't know how to describe it exactly. It's sweet yet tart with a bit of a kick from the ginger and hot peppers. We love it as a side with scrambles eggs, on top of burgers and dogs, alongside any pork dish or meat pies. I send a jar to Ann T's Moe every Christmas. He loves it with Tourtierre.

I also add it to my cheater baked beans (the secret ingredient) , meatloaves and mix it with BBQ sauce for a great rib sauce.

Clive eats it ON fresh French Bread!! LOL

Thanks!

Can this be halved? i just realized I only have 9 pint jars left.......

A

I can't see why not. Go for it!!!

Nancy

Easily halved but you'll be sorry..........

How many pints will the entire recipe make? I will go shopping for more jars.....

A

I looked at my notes and I haven't recorded the number of jars I usually get (I always do a half bushel or more never just the basic recipe) but for sure I don't think it makes much more than 12 jars. I need to keep better notes!

Do a half recipe and if you like it do another batch.

Would the six pounds of tomatoes in the first recipe be equal to the 1/3 of a bushel in Sharon's recipe? I work better with pounds or cups of when working with tomatoes. I'd like to try this if I have time...I'm way behind on canning this year. TIA!

David

thanks for posting that Nancy, I lost the recipe. It makes really good sloppy joe sauce too...

Annie

David I'm picking up an 11 Q basket tomorrow and will weigh but I'd say closer to 12 pounds than 6.

Thanks Sharon! I've only made Annie's salsa and your tomatoe sauces and they both call for cups of smooshed or chopped/chunked tomatoes. I just hope this forever heatwave hasn't killed off our fall crops of tomatoes that we usually get down here.

David

Chase, I have a very similar recipe using 1 peck (1/4 bushel) of tomatoes. It came from my Aunt Mille and originally from the 'Watkins Spice Man" -- back in pre-WWWII days salesmen travelled country roads selling spices to farm women.

The cooking techniques are very different. Do you have any idea why you wait to put the sugar in an hour before canning?

If you ask my husband, he will tell you that Sharon's Chili sauce is the BEST. Sharon has been kind enough to send Moe a jar of her chili sauce around Christmas each year so he can have it with his Christmas Tortiere.

Ann

Sharon - I just asked at my local farmstand and was told that a bushel is 50 lbs, so I should buy roughly 17 pounds. I'm interested to see how that equivalent compares to the 11 quart basket you're picking up today.

kayscats, the reason for waiting to add the sugar is because it can easily burn on the bottom of the pot unless you stand over it and constantly stir.

David/FOAS.... I bought six 11 Q baskets this AM and made the guy at the market weigh one for me. It was 9 kilos including the basket........so that's almost 20 pounds, so I would say 17-18 pounds is good!

Also I need to point out that this recipe was given to me 35 years ago by a farm wife named Elaine, same lady that taught me how to make dills. I still have her hand written recipe card and she spells it "Chile" and I so that's how I spell it. I could never change it.

Thanks Sharon! WOW, six baskets! I guess your taking on the chile sauce and your tomato sauces this weekend. I can't imagine peeling all those tomatoes in one weekend though. Yikes!

David

Reporting back here and all I can say is OMG! I love this stuff. Had a little leftover and took it into the office for a sampling. I'll be making another batch next weekend now. I'm taking your advice and trying it with some bbq sauce on ribs Sharon...maybe this weekend. Thanks for posting Alexa and Sharon for a GREAT recipe!

David

I bet this stuff would be great for grape jelly meatballs (the only thing I've ever used chili sauce for). It sounds wonderful... but I don't can. Could I make a batch to use immediately, or does it freeze well?

David... just wait until you open a jar on a cold winter day when you make pot roast. Unbelievable!

Bobby, try dividing all the ingredients by 3 and make a small batch. I'd buy some 8oz canning jars and put the hot sauce in those (using a canning lid and ring) they should seal well enough to be able to store in the refrigerator for maybe a few months. We'll get you canning yet!
Freezing would change the texture.

Nancy

Glad you like it David! How many jars did you get? I tallied mine this time and an 11Q basket (18-20 pounds) yielded 15 pints. I've added that to my notes.

Bobby, it is fabulous with the meatballs. I use to make them for Clive as his contribution to their Christmas potluck. They were inhaled!

As Nancy, says it won't freeze well but it keeps in the fridge for a very long time.......months!

Sharon, I ended up with 11 pints with a little leftover for sampling. About 3/4 of a jar. My tomatoes were very wet/juicy this go around. I'm sure that has some thing to do with it. I had to use a lot more of them to get the 8 cups for Annie's salsa too. Making another batch this weekend as I don't see this stuff lasting long around here.

Bobby, love that recipe for meatballs and little smokies. I think this recipe will take them over the top for me and my group. Take Nancy's and Sharon's advice and make a small batch. You won't be sorry!!

David

I pulled up this thread last weekend to find the recipe that I failed at two years and one week prior. I don't think I'll ever figure out exactly what went so drastically wrong the first time I made Elaine's Chile Sauce, but fortunately Sharon took pity on me and shipped a jar as part of a very sweet surcie.

So with that memory in mind, I finally gave it another shot. This time it came out as expected and while there were still a couple tiny bumps in the road I won't bore you with, my biggest mistake was making just half a batch. Can't say I wasn't warned; scroll up and you'll see where Sharon says, "Easily halved but you'll be sorry.........."

I'm already through half a jar, having enjoyed most of that on meatloaf (Bobby Flay's Throwdown! recipe, which by the way is incredible IMO) and the rest, well, just on a spoon.

Figured I'd bump up this thread since the recipe is here, and also to call out Bobby and David, neither of whom I've seen post in a while.

Thanks for everything, Sharon!

(oops, call out to Bobby and David - makes a difference!)

For those who don't want to go on a search for the recipe....here it is...

Reminds be of my grandmother....tastes very like her chili sauce....but she had no recipe.

Elaine's Chile Sauce

11 Q basket (1/3 bushel) of field tomatoes peeled and smashed
7 Cup white sugar
4 1/2 Cup cider vinegar
2 Bunch of celery chopped
4 small hot peppers chopped
4 large sweet peppers (2 green , 2 red) chopped
4 large onions chopped
1 Tbl ground ginger
1 Tbl cinnamon
5 Tbl coarse salt
2 Tbl Pickling spice tied in a cheesecloth bag

Simmer/low boil chopped veggies with tomatoes for 2 hours then drain off 2 cups liquid. Add everything else EXCEPT sugar and simmer another 3 hours or even more, until nice and thick. Add sugar 1 hour before canning. Fill pint jars and HWB for 15 minutes.~

Note: If time is tight I make right up to the add sugar part, refrigerate overnight and finish the next day.~

Thanks Linda, even if the search wasn't harder than "scroll up on this thread!" LOL!!! ;-)

FOAS SO glad it turned out for you but I guarantee you you;ll be making another batch before long!

I just about had a fit when I opened this thread this AM.

I saw Alexa asking for the recipe and I thought OMG how did I miss her request? So I've been searching every thread for her request....then I scrolled down a bit and realized it was an old thread! LOL

I'm getting my tomatoes this week I'm down to 1 jar of chile sauce and 2 jars of tomatoes. All of which means summer is coming to an end :(