Pickled Tomatoes and Peppers

This recipe is yet another master sauce from her cookbook This Will Make It Taste Good. This is one that she sells in a jarred form, so if you are short on refridgerator space or just not up for the challenge, you can still try them. They are then used in a multitude of ways as a flavoring agent. That is the focus of the cookbook, that you spend some time putting together something that is very highly flavored and then you can use it to make things that are easy peasy (which she calls no brainers--do not get me started on how silly the wording in this cookbook is, but the ideas are very solid) or you can use it in something that is a bit more like traditional cooking,b ut this is the flavoring agent. 2 pounds plum tomatoes, cut into quarters lengthwise 1 bunch scallions, sliced thin 5 jalapeños, sliced into thin rings 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger 3 tablespoons minced garlic 1½ tablespoons Brown Mustard Seeds 1½ tablespoons Cumin Powder 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1½ teaspoons Spicewalla Cayenne Chilli Powder 1½ teaspoons Spicewalla Turmeric ½ cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar ¾ cup white wine vinegar ¾ cup packed light brown sugar 1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil Put your tomatoes in a large, wide, heatproof bowl that is plenty large enough to hold all the ingredients. I like to assemble and start to “pickle” my weapons there on the counter, letting their flavors marry as they cool down. Then, once they’re mixed together and have reached room temperature, I transfer them to smaller containers suitable for the fridge. (This recipe is sized to just barely fit into two quart-size mason jars, but you may have a little extra. While you can try to pull it all together directly in the jars, that might just be a big mess waiting to happen.) In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, bring all the ingredients except for the tomatoes and the olive oil to a boil over medium heat. Let it boil for 1 minute. Then add the olive oil and bring back to a boil. Immediately pour over the tomatoes in the big bowl, pressing them down to make sure they are submerged. Let the tomatoes and the liquid cool to room temperature without the aid of an ice bath or anything to speed the process along. If you’ve got room in your fridge, the big bowl can go in there. But if the weapons sit out at room temperature overnight, that’s totally fine. The more slowly they cool down, the more quickly they will pickle. Once they’ve cooled, transfer the weapons to jars and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 days or up to 3 months.