Essence of sun-dried toms recipe

[smallblueplanet]

Recipe from the 'author' off my previous thread on 'how-to do oven-dreid toms'.

Now that we have a pint of sun-dried tomatoes, what do we do with them?
Their chewiness makes them somewhat unwieldy, unless sliced or chopped.
The author offers the following recipe, which is "Rich, dark, and pungent,
... a heavenly concoction".

Essence of Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1 C (moderately packed) sun-dried tomatoes (if oil-packed, drain and
reserve the oil)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp drained capers
1 Tbl coarsely chopped fresh basil (or 1 1/2 tsp dried) 1 1/2 Tbl olive
oil (use reserved oil from oil-packed tomatoes, if you
used them)
1 Tbl red wine vinegar.

Place tomatoes, garlic, capers and basil in bowl of food processor.
Process just until mixture is chopped, NOT pureed. Add oil and vinegar and
pulse food processor just until mixture is combined.

Place in covered jar and store in refrigerator.
Let it come to room temperature before using.

[JazzDuke]

Will keep indefinitely is poor advice imho, at the very least you need to be sure that the solids are not exposed to the air. Without trying to alarm anyone too much you should also be aware that garlic can carry botulism spores and anyone home preserving should be aware of this risk and the ways of avoiding it.

[smallblueplanet]

I guess I'll edit it, its too much nowadays in our Nanny State for folk to understand that 'indefinately' doesn't mean 'forever'....

[Squirrel]

. Without trying to alarm anyone too much you should also be aware that garlic can carry botulism spores and anyone home preserving should be aware of this risk and the ways of avoiding it.

I think I saw the answer to my question in another thread but can't be sure. How do we solve the problem of the botulism spores and garlic JazzDuke? I use a lot of garlic in my preserving but assumed that it was ok because it had been 'fried' off. Thanks!

[Sunbeam]

You need to acidulte the garlic before storing it..

[Squirrel]

You need to acidulte the garlic before storing it..

Excuse me?

[smallblueplanet]

Acidify - I imagine thats what the red wine vinegar is in the recipe for, and why the author recommends dipping oven-dried toms in white wine vinegar b4 jarring them in oil.

I think that its because garlic isn't acidic it is susceptible to botulism.

[martini]

I've looked up 'acidulate' ??? and it means to 'make sour' but I'm still none the wiser I always thought you could kill off the bugs by roasting it first and then putting it in oil???