Here come the tomatoes

[LindaK]

It will be another month before I'm picking tomatoes from my garden--this year, brandywine, sweet 100 and sungold cherries, and romas for saucemaking--but I'll supplement them with other favorites from the farmers market. I love green zebras but couldn't find a plant for the garden.

Hands down, my personal favorite tomato-centric meal is a salad of assorted tomatoes, green beens, feta cheese, lots of fresh basil, evoo, good bread on the side. I could, and do, eat this every day for weeks when the tomatoes, beans, and basil are all in season. french feta, please, it's creamy and milder than others. toss when the beans are still a bit warm so the feta melts just a bit. so simple but so good.

[heidih]

The June gloom in Southern California has caused my greenies to ripen quite slowly but today was a glorious day: a few vine ripe very flavorful home grown tomatoes eaten with the first sweet yellow corn from the farm stand around the corner where I can see the stalks swaying. They just started harvesting corn two days ago and there must be a pest issue since they were selling the ears trimmed in bags for a song. You could see where the "bad spots" had been trimmed out, and the kernels could have used a few more days to get more corny, but I am sure they were trying to salvage an imperfect situation. Farming is fraught with uncertainties.

However- from a tomato standpoint it was a good beginning to that made in heaven combo of corn and tomato. As I have posted before, just a bite of one, then a bite of the other, repeated till gone.

I am going to cut some of the kernels and use them with a tomato or two that have bug holes and will not continue to ripen without rotting. I plan to warm them in a bit of butter and add just salt, pepper and a little torn basil plus a hint of asiago cheese and use it as a crostini topping.

[heidih]

"The best laid plans"...are flexible! I walked into the kitchen to do the warmed in butter prep mentioned above and saw the avocados (well also the 10" lizard but I'm a trooper). I took the youngest corn and cut off the kernels, chopped the tomatoes minus the bug bits, plus a little thin sliced onion and cubed avocado and torn basil. Dressed with some nuoc mam cham and let sit a few minutes. Scooped it up with Vietnamese sesame crackers (banh trang me)crisped in the microwave. The Vietnamese dipping sauce brought out the tomato flavor well. Great snack and a tomato prep that will be in rotation.

[nakji]

Scooped it up with Vietnamese sesame crackers (banh trang me)crisped in the microwave. The Vietnamese dipping sauce brought out the tomato flavor well. Great snack and a tomato prep that will be in rotation.

One of my favourite restaurants in Hanoi served their salsa/guac with banh trang! They're great together, aren't they? I love using what you have on hand.

I mentioned over in the Small-batch pickles topic that I had made the pickled tomatoes from this month's Saveur - they're going really well on the side of grilled meats, if anyone is finding they're over-run with small tomatoes.

[heidih]

Brought back a bucket of tomatoes from my dad's today. They are spectacular this year in terms of concentrated tomato flavor. They are getting eaten mostly plain along with things like corn, cornbread, Greek yogurt mixed with olive oil, garlic, basil, mint, lots of cracked pepper, and lemon juice, hummus blended with masses of parsley, cilantro and hot peppers, and of course on crusty bread. The pasta dish mentioned in several incarnations earlier in the topic, made with a rested raw sauce of tomato, olive oil, and garlic w/ basil, is on deck for Friday or Saturday.

Since we are approaching the glut time I also wanted to mention that when I get a bunch of dead ripe ones and can not possibly use them or gift them before they suffer in quality, I just pop them whole into the freezer. They freeze rock hard. In the leaner times, take them out, set on counter for just a bit- skins pull right off. Great in a cooked prep or a blended fresh sauce or salsa.

[LindaK]

Since we are approaching the glut time I also wanted to mention that when I get a bunch of dead ripe ones and can not possibly use them or gift them before they suffer in quality, I just pop them whole into the freezer. They freeze rock hard. In the leaner times, take them out, set on counter for just a bit- skins pull right off. Great in a cooked prep or a blended fresh sauce or salsa.

what a brilliant idea! I've always followed the "no refrigeration" rule for tomatoes. the freezer never would have occured to me. This is a perfect solution to the problem of my plum tomato plant. It always seems like a good idea in May ("sure, I'll make sauce and freeze it") but when I'm picking dozens at a time in mid-August heat, the idea of standing by the stove to make tomato sauce loses its appeal.

As of last week, I'm experiencing the onslaught of cherry tomatoes. I planted two--a sweet 100 and a sungold. What was I thinking? But I love to eat them out of hand, in a salad, or saute them briefly. The sungolds (yellow/orange) are especially tasty.

[nakji]

As of last week, I'm experiencing the onslaught of cherry tomatoes. I planted two--a sweet 100 and a sungold. What was I thinking? But I love to eat them out of hand, in a salad, or saute them briefly.

You can pickle them, if you find yourself unable to eat them fresh anymore (or overnight them to us in the frozen North, if you like).

[heidih]

We are finally getting some heat so the tomatoes are ripening. I overbought from the farmstand and then my own got red so I ate the home grown out of hand and used an earlier idea for the stand ones. There have been several discussions about chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, and olive oil happily sitting at room temp for a few hours and then tossed with hot pasta. I had started to prep these for a salad with young raw corn and avocado, but the avocado was worthless so I repurposed. There is a good amount of basil in there but the heat wilted it from sight. Some feta crumbles snuck in there as well. I have more of the tomato mix and am toasting some big cubes of sourdough rye and will try that tossed together as the next course.

Any interesting tomato preps going yet?

[heidih]

I tried the crispy big croutons with the tomato mix mentioned in my post above. I think I enjoyed it even more than the pasta combination. The croutons had lots of flavor and crunch. I added enough liquid from the tomatoes to let the croutons soften just a bit. This will be repeated.

[qrn]

I am jealous!My plants have just set tomatoes in the last week....(several have not),,,gonna be a long time coming,,,

Bud

[dcarch]

Tomatoes are at their peak at the farmers market here. What should I do with them?

Of course I ate a few raw. Then I made a tomato pie (pizza). I really liked that and am hard-pressed to think of anything that would be better.

Even a salad seems likes like it would fail to put the tomato front and center, and I'm just not a big fan of salads.

Suggestions?

Saw this:

"--Tomato eggs is a popular Chinese recipe–a humble dish that is often served at home. Called 蕃茄炒蛋 or 西红柿炒蛋 in China, tomato eggs is basically egg omelet with tomatoes. As simple as it sounds, tomato eggs is hard to master. I have seen many tomato eggs that are not properly cooked–too runny, watery, or simply overcooked.--"

dcarch

[Pierogi]

Sadly, the sucky aphidy/gnatty things got the early bloomer/setter of the two plants that I started. It was a "Better Boy", a cultivar I've had loads of success with previously. Not to happen this year.....

The plant is essentially dead, and after getting 3 tomatoes to ripen on the vines, I cut off all the rest (it had set about 2 dozen fruit before it got bled dry), and will be having lots of fried green tomatoes in the foreseeable future.

The three I got, one was meh, hadn't gotten to that drop-dead ripe stage yet, and the other two had been "nibbled" by something with a sharp, pointy mouth. Haven't determined if it was avian or rodent, but it's NOT insect, and the damage is limited. One I had in an open face tomato/mayo sandwich on a baguette I made, and it was damn fine, after the critter damage had been excised. The other will probably meet the same fate tomorrow.

The other plant, a "Beefmaster" beefsteak is still blooming and setting fruit, and some are moving toward ripening. It too seems to have been invaded by the sucky aphidy/gnatty things, but I think I caught it in enough time to save it. There's another 3 or so dozen fruit set on it, and hopefully I can nurse it along enough to get them to ripen.

My roses sucked this year too, and I think the cool spring weather had a lot to do with it. That and the sucky aphidy/gnatty things....

Thankfully the CSA promises a ton of 'maters soon.

[Tom Gengo]

A co-worker just gave me 4 early girl tomatoes- lunch yesterday. I made some yogurt and drained overnight- to the consistency of thick sour cream. Then, I cut the tomatoes into 1/2" cubes, put into a collander and sprinkled lightly w/ salt and drained into a container for an hour. Then, I combined the yogurt w/ cumin, cracked black pepper, roasted garlic infused olive oil (or you can use minced garlic w/ olive oil) and the tomatoe juices that drained. Gently combine w/ the tomatoes and yogurt and top w/ crumbled feta cheese. Divine. Can serve over boston lettuce and/or w/ croutons.

[Tom Gengo]

Those tomatoes are GORGEOUS.

[antdad]

I'm jealous, not a home grown near to ripening in sight.

Oven drying is my preferred method of preserving if I have a glut and they get anywhere near a preserving jar.

[AnythingButPlainChocolate]

Roast them up in the oven and turn into pretty much any Italian pasta sauce.

[SobaAddict70]

This is what I'm looking forward to.

Not for a couple of months at least, for the heirloom varieties.

I can savor the beefsteaks and Jersey tomatoes until then.

[SobaAddict70]

When you have tomatoes like these beauties, it's almost a crime to turn them into pasta sauce, imho.

Preps that preserve their integrity, for me, are the way to go. That's why you see a lot of uncooked sauces and tomato salads on the blog. If they appear with pasta, I try to cook them just barely (if they're not already destined for confit).

I have the rest of the year to content myself with tomato sauce, when the tomatoes are a pale reflection of the season gone by.

[nikkib]

Pan con tomate is one of my favourites - simplicity at its best

A loaf of crusty white bread

3 cloves of garlic

5 ripe, sweet tomatoes

100ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Cut the bread into 1in slices and toast them until they are golden brown

Cut the end off a clove of garlic and rub gently onto a slice of toast while it is still hot. Cut a tomato in half and rub it over the toast so that the juice and seeds pour out over the top.

Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with parsley and season with seasalt and black pepper mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Pierogi]

After sadly losing one of my two tomato plants to some sort of sucky aphidy/gnatty buggy things, I am now clean up to my snout (and I'm 6-foot 3-inches, so you KNOW my snout is up there !) in tomatoes.

The one plant I had that survived, a "Beefmaster" is still flowering and setting fruit, although they are much smaller than the first round I harvested from it. I had one that weighed one pound, 1&3/4 ounces ! It was as large as my hand, and it was damn tasty ! Most of it went into an uncooked pasta sauce with basil, garlic, olive oil, S&P and fresh mozzarella, that sat and "percolated" for a bit. Over penne, and then Parmesan sprinkled over that. Some of that monster got eaten with coarse salt sprinkled over it, out of hand, leaning over the kitchen sink. It was sublime.....in both applications.

I've been having loads of tomato sandwiches, on good bread, and with homemade mayonnaise, a hint of pepper and lots of coarse salt. Also sublime.

The totally green guys I salvaged from my plant that croaked that didn't get used for fried green tomatoes have ripened just sitting in the kitchen. Not as good as vine ripened, but they'll do in a pinch. I was just thinking today I'll have to snag another one or two from the Beefmaster to make more fried greenies.

And my CSA is inundating me with beefsteaks, medium-sized ones and cherry tomatoes. *NOT* that I'm complaining...

Tomatoes taste like summer.

[qrn]

I am jealous,,Got a late start due to the freezing temps, got at least couple of months yet,

at least they are setting fruit...

Bud

[BadRabbit]

Here are mine. Pink Brandywines, Flammes, Homesteads, and there is a yellow Dagma's Perfection under the big one.

Picking some Green Zebras today and I'm going to do a rainbow Caprese salad with county ham. I use Benton's country ham, my homemade mozz and I'm reduced some La Piana 10 Year old balsalmic to lightly dress.

Edited July 22, 2011 by BadRabbit (log)

[christine007]

heat the oven to 350

thinly slice your tomatos, add some finely chopped onion. Take out a pita, butter it, and put in a pie tin. add your tomato and onion, dot with some more butter.

Keep an eye on it, whem the tomatos seem like they are melting, top them on the pita with whatever cheese you have on hand. when the cheese melts, about another five mintues, transfer to a plate and eat. yum.

[heidih]

Today was a nice surprise when I realized that the heirloom I planted had 2 ripe beauties. I misplaced the tags but went on-line to Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes where I purchased the plants and found it - Berkeley Tie Dye. It was supposed to be mostly green! The two pictured below were indeed ripe. They are large - one is a handful and then some. The other shot is after the first cut. It was enjoyed with a bit of fleur de sel and a few drops of basil oil. Beautiful to look at and the flavor is magnificent! Thin skin, super juicy meaty, sweet and fruity - a winner.

[heidih]

Well the glut has not occurred since we are having unusually cool weather - lots of greenies on the vine but slow to ripen. I have gotten some smaller very flavorful ones from my dad and the favorite recent method of enjoyment has been as follows:

Cut in half, place a cooked a medium cooked shrimp on top, heavily dollop with yogurt sauce and eat in one large bite. Closing your eyes is usually an automatic response to the goodness. The sauce is Greek yogurt, lemon juice, horseradish, garlic crushed with salt, pepper, and lots of scissored basil and mint. Eaten outdoors with fresh local corn, this makes a wonderful light summer meal.