The last of the tomatoes

Yesterday was a sad, sad day.  I used up the last of the beautiful heirloom tomatoes from our garden.  Unfortunately for the rest of the year we are going to have to put up with those poor excuses for tomatoes available in the shops.  You know, those perfectly round, bright red, un-blemished things that you could stub your toe on if you left one on the floor.  

I do have some slight reassurance in the fact that I was able to prolong their life (a little) by turning them into relish.  Chutney.  Sauce.  I don't know what to call it - lets just say yummy tomato, chilli and capsicum relished saucy chutney stuff.  I decided not to go for plain old tomato, as we have a reliably delicious and available source of this from my Mum.  So I added some chilli, ginger, fish sauce, and lime juice to give it my relish a little kick.  

2013 Relish

Approx 750g tomatoes, chopped roughly
1 tin of crushed tomatoes
1 capsicum finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 brown onions, chopped
1 green apple, peeled, cored and grated
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp minced ginger
1 small red chilli, sliced very finely
1 tsp chilli flakes
1.5 tbsp fish sauce
juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Gently sweat the onions until softened in a heavy bottomed saucepan with some oil.  Add the garlic, ginger and capsicum, and saute until the capsicum has softened.  Add all the other ingredients, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for around an hour.  Once it has reached the consistency you like, pour into sterilised jars.