Half Recipe:

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
4-1/2 cups chopped cored plum tomatoes (about 2 lb or 6 medium)
3 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:

PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.
COMBINE garlic, wine, wine vinegar, water, sugar, basil, oregano and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes or until garlic is heated through. Remove from heat.
PACK tomatoes into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Ladle hot vinegar mixture over tomatoes leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.
PROCESS filled jars in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

This is the recipe I used, it didn't say to add the tomatoes to the brine, so I didn't. I used regular tomatoes but let them drain as it said to in the book. When packing I filled the jars to 1/2 in. and did not pack them down. I topped the jars with the brine,but it just laid on top, and then the jars were too full, so I did take a little of the tomatoes out. What are your thoughts on this recipe, and how the brine should fill the jar! So confused,and I had a lot of tomatoes left over! LOL! I just used the rest of the tomatoes and brine to make a pizza sauce to eat fresh! It was yummy!

The original instructions say to pack the tomatoes leaving a "generous" 1/2 inch headspace (a loose pack). Then after adding brine you remove all the air from the jars and that will increase the headspace as you stir the contents (unless you have over-packed the jars) and then you add more brine.

Since you didn't use the plum tomatoes you will have left over liquid no matter how long you let them drain - that is just their nature - so you can expand the recipe into an extra jar.

As to the recipe itself, previous discussions here about it were mainly negative as to flavor and texture.

Dave

OK, I just noticed the wording is not the same as in the Ball Complete Book so assumed you got it somewhere else. Plus there is no 1/2 recipe instructions in the book and that 1/2 recipe needs some additional modifications.

Dave

Dave