anyone had a real jersey tomato yet?

[Josefinajoisey]

Make fried green tomatoes!

[Anonymouze]

ROFL! I like Josefina's answer... Isn't there a way to "cheat" the tomatoes into ripening faster or does that screw up the flavor? I remember hearing something once I think?!?!?

[Jason Perlow]

Make fried green tomatoes!

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No, I'm not sacrificing the first tomatoes of the season with that. That's what I like to do around october when the last stragglers are struggling to mature in the colder weather.

[Ike]

PathMark has Jersey tomatoes this week for $1.49/lb. Or at least my PathMark in Belleville does. But not many. I think they're labeled "#4800." Easy to get them confused with the other, evil, standard tasteless cardboard California/Florida tomatoes, so look for the label number.

I ate one last night and it was OK. Not bad, not great. I got three; I'll eat the other two tonight (assuming the heat doesn't destroy them while I'm here at work... sigh). Maybe they're better. I wonder if it's worth the $2.79/lb to get them from a farmer's market instead. Although the only farmer's market convenient to me is the Union Square one, since I work long hours in NYC, and things are often overpriced there.

I also saw some Jersey tomatoes on July 8 at the Ramsey ShopRite, but they didn't look very healthy. The sign said "first Jersey tomatoes of the season" or some such. I'm not sure why they bothered.

Haven't seen any Jersey tomatoes at my local Stop & Shop in Bloomfield yet. What the hell's wrong with S&S? They hardly ever have local tomatoes. They need to get their act together. I have to go out of my way and go to the evil PathMark to get them. Grrr. However, S&S *does* have NJ blueberries on sale for 99 cents this week. But limit two. Sigh.

[Deldino]

When I was in LBI this past weekend I had tomatoes from the Country Market - It is over the causeway when you come in - on the left side before the main drag. They were seriously yummy. I had some fresh basil, mozz and the tomatoes - I sauteed some garlic in oil and spread that on the semolina bread with some kosher or sea salt and then add the basil, tomatoes and mozz -- this is fantastic with ripe tasty tomatoes.

Edited July 17, 2006 by Deldino (log)

[Jason Perlow]

PathMark has Jersey tomatoes this week for $1.49/lb.  Or at least my PathMark in Belleville does.  But not many.  I think they're labeled "#4800."  Easy to get them confused with the other, evil, standard tasteless cardboard California/Florida tomatoes, so look for the label number.

I ate one last night and it was OK.  Not bad, not great.  I got three; I'll eat the other two tonight (assuming the heat doesn't destroy them while I'm here at work... sigh).  Maybe they're better.  I wonder if it's worth the $2.79/lb to get them from a farmer's market instead. 

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Well, a supermarket is going to have the tomatoes picked a lot earlier and somewhat underripe in order to extend their shelf life. The farmers market tomatoes are fully ripened and would have been picked that day.

[Cook456]

PathMark has Jersey tomatoes this week for $1.49/lb.  Or at least my PathMark in Belleville does.  But not many.  I think they're labeled "#4800."  Easy to get them confused with the other, evil, standard tasteless cardboard California/Florida tomatoes, so look for the label number.

I ate one last night and it was OK.  Not bad, not great.  I got three; I'll eat the other two tonight (assuming the heat doesn't destroy them while I'm here at work... sigh).  Maybe they're better.  I wonder if it's worth the $2.79/lb to get them from a farmer's market instead.  Although the only farmer's market convenient to me is the Union Square one, since I work long hours in NYC, and things are often overpriced there.

I also saw some Jersey tomatoes on July 8 at the Ramsey ShopRite, but they didn't look very healthy.  The sign said "first Jersey tomatoes of the season" or some such.  I'm not sure why they bothered.

Haven't seen any Jersey tomatoes at my local Stop & Shop in Bloomfield yet.  What the hell's wrong with S&S?  They hardly ever have local tomatoes.  They need to get their act together.  I have to go out of my way and go to the evil PathMark to get them.  Grrr.  However, S&S *does* have NJ blueberries on sale for 99 cents this week.  But limit two.  Sigh.

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But you can make multiple trips all week!!!

[ghostrider]

I have to say thanks for this recipe. Took my first stab at it last night with basil & tomato from the Rutherford Farmers' Mkt, mozz from Belgiovine's in Montclair, with some terrific ciabatta from Nicolo's Bakery, also in Montclair. I had difficulty timing my night so it got to marinate for only about 15 minues, but still, yum!

This is a simple & great preparation and this is the time of year to do it. Thanks again!

(PS I used no salt due to my diet, & no pepper cuz SO doesn't like pepper. Still, with flavors like those, I didn't miss the seasoning.)

That Caprese was so good last night, I'm tempted to do it again for lunch today. Just in case you've never made one, here's how I do it. I like it to marinate for an hour or so before service.

Take a big juicy home grown or farm stand, locally grown tomato (to be fair to those not in New Jersey). Frankly, this really isn't worth doing with store bought tomatoes unless they are really ripe and in season. For one large tomato you'll need one small (or half a large) ball of fresh mozzarella. Slice both into 1/4 inch slices. Pour some salt & grind some pepper into a small mise en place dish, taste the mozz. If it is salty, then use equal proportions of salt to pepper, if unsalted, use about 2:1 salt:pepper. You'll need about 1/3 cup of best quality EVOO and several sprigs of basil, fresh from your garden.

Drizzle a bit of oo into a tall container, I use a quart size deli/soup container. Add a small sprinkle of S&P and a basil leaf or two (tear the big ones, leave the small pretty ones whole) and lay on a slice of tomato. Sprinkle of s&p, drizzle of oil, basil, slice of mozz. Spinkle of s&p, oil, basil, tomato. Continue until you use everything up. If you have leftover oil, pour it on. Put an airtight lid on the container.

Allow to marinate while you get the rest of the meal together. Turn the container over occasionally. Serve, layering the tomatoes & mozz, pour on a little of the oil/juices, eat with a slice of crusty bread. You can sprinkle on a bit of vinegar at service, I prefer a mild one, like Sherry Vineger from Spain, or maybe a good red wine vinegar over Balsamic. Mmm, summer on a plate.

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[Ike]

Well, a supermarket is going to have the tomatoes picked a lot earlier and somewhat underripe in order to extend their shelf life. The farmers market tomatoes are fully ripened and would have been picked that day.

Thanks for the tip. I didn't know that. Hmmmmmm. That's depressing. I knew that they pick CA/FL/Carolina 'maters when disgustingly, completely unripe and then gas them with ethylene (or something) to make them LOOK ripe, and that's why they taste like cardboard, but I didn't know that they picked LOCAL tomatoes when underripe too. Sheesh.

Still, the ones I got at ShopRite last Sunday, on sale for 99 cents a pound through Saturday 8/5/06 at all SRs in NJ north of Trenton, were pretty good. Better than the PathMark ones I mentioned in my previous post. One of those three PM tomatoes was excellent, but the other two were just OK. They're marked #4800 at ShopRite, too.

They also have local corn on sale -- eight ears for $1.99. The last local corn I got there was very very good. Stop & Shop has 13 ears for $1.99 this week, though.

But you can make multiple trips all week!!!

If you're referring to the blueberries that were on sale, I assumed that the annoying discount card (which was required for the 99-cent blueberry sale at S&S) restricted that. I figured the computer system would remember my card and not allow me more than two discounts that week. Maybe I'm wrong.

In any case, most weeks so far this blueberry season, one of the major supermarket chains has had them on sale. Not this week though, it seems.

[ghostrider]

But you can make multiple trips all week!!!

If you're referring to the blueberries that were on sale, I assumed that the annoying discount card (which was required for the 99-cent blueberry sale at S&S) restricted that. I figured the computer system would remember my card and not allow me more than two discounts that week. Maybe I'm wrong.

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I've lost track of which chain we're discussing, but at ShopRite, for one, the computer system doesn't do that. There is the per-transaction limit, but you can go back as often as you want while a sale is on & get the discount every time. I haven't tried it twice in one day, but I've often done it several times during a week-long sale.

Edited August 4, 2006 by ghostrider (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

I haven't tried  it twice in one day, but I've often done it several times during a week-long sale.

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I have. If there are two of you and you want more than your per order limit, you just break up your purchases into two orders. You can use the same discount card for both orders.

[zoe b]

yeah, I just did this for the first time at A&P--I panicked because I somehow missed that the big bags of 8 O'Clock coffee were on sale until the last day!

The checker lady told me it was fine to go through 2x--so i got my four bags--whew!

[Jason Perlow]

Caprese for a late lunch. A single bright moment in an otherwise very depressing afternoon, having just gotten back from Matthew's funeral service:

Tomatoes were from Ploch's Farm in Clifton. Basil is from our garden, and Mozzarella was purchased at the Teaneck Farmers Market.

Edited August 5, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[lcdm]

Made a tomato salad over the weekend using cherry tomatoes.

Cherry tomatoes cut in quarters, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, red wine vinegar, minced garlic, oregano salt and pepper- let sit until it breaks down a little and serve with crusty Italian Bread for dipping in all the lovely juice.

For lunch toady I'm having a tomato sandwich (think slices of tomato on white bread w/mayo).

The tomatoes were from our garden.

Also forgot to mention that Rutgers Tomato Tasting is scheduled for 8/30.

Has anyone ever attended, how is it?

http://www.snyderfarm.rutgers.edu/html/tom...ing_poster.html

Edited August 9, 2006 by lcdm (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

BLTs for lunch today. Mmm.

[DonnaMarieNJ]

lcdm:

I will be attending the Rutgers Tomato Tasting, first time for me!!! Wish it was not on a weekday.

Edited August 10, 2006 by DonnaMarieNJ (log)

[ghostrider]

Made another Caprese last night. My gosh but the tomatoes are good right now.

[Rachel Perlow]

Our big tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. I noticed one just starting to get attacked last week. Even though it was only starting to get a first blush of red, I picked it and let it ripen on the kitchen table. It fully ripened and we ate it last night, the taste was very good, about 90% of fully vine ripened. So, I picked a few more that were about half-ripe. I figure 90% as good is better than nothing, because if they're left on the vine too long they get eaten by birds, rabbits, or squirrels.