Tomatoes!

I have about 600 tomatoes! Plums, Cherries, Grapes, and Beefsteaks. I've made gazpacho, sauces (cold and hot), will do a fresh mozzarella and baisl and tomato salad tonight.

Any suggestions, guys? Recipes? Tomatoes are coming out of my ears! It has been a hot dry summer here on Long Isalnd, the kind the tomatoes love love love. (Rough on the cukes, they like more water)

quote:

Originally posted by Danmel

I have about 600 tomatoes! Plums, Cherries, Grapes, and Beefsteaks. I've made gazpacho, sauces (cold and hot), will do a fresh mozzarella and baisl and tomato salad tonight.

Any suggestions, guys? Recipes? Tomatoes are coming out of my ears! It has been a hot dry summer here on Long Isalnd, the kind the tomatoes love love love. (Rough on the cukes, they like more water)

How about a nice tomato pie?...............we are having one tonight.

This is my stepfather’s family recipe for ketchup and making it is an all day affair but it really is good and worth the effort.

JOHN’S KETCHUP

8 lb. ripe tomatoes, washed, cored and cut in quarters
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
1 ½ tsp. whole cloves
2 (3 inch) sticks cinnamon, broken in pieces
1 tsp. celery seed
½ tsp. whole allspice
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. dried mustard
1 cup vinegar
2 tsp. salt

1) Put tomatoes, onions and peppers in large nonreactive kettle. Cook uncovered on high heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and cook 30 minutes more. Press mixture through strainer back into big pot.

2) Tie cloves, cinnamon, celery seed and allspice in cheesecloth. Add to tomato mixture, along with sugar, cayenne pepper and mustard. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is reduced by half its volume – 2 to 3 hours.

3) Add vinegar and salt. Continue cooking over low heat until consistency and taste suit you – about 2 hours. Remove spice bag and spoon the ketchup into hot clean jars, leaving a ½ inch headspace. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Store in a cool dark place. Once opened, store in refrigerator.

Note: for a less spicy ketchup, remove the spice bag at the end of step 2. Ketchup will be brownish in color from the spices but that’s the way it's supposed to be.

I'm fortunate enough to have a neighbor with a tomato patch. Last night's supper was a tomato sandwich, eaten on good bread, toasted, with salt, pepper, and a little Hellmann's mayo. Washed down with iced tea, and eaten over the sink. outstanding.

last seasons containers are "cooking" out back under black plastic, yesterday I planted seeds in starter flats. The one remaining cherry tom is still producing some nice clusters but is looking rather scraggly... aaaaaaahhh florida...where maddogs and tourists go out in the august sun..

quote:

Originally posted by dreamzpainter

last seasons containers are "cooking" out back under black plastic, yesterday I planted seeds in starter flats. The one remaining cherry tom is still producing some nice clusters but is looking rather scraggly... aaaaaaahhh florida...where maddogs and tourists go out in the august sun..

So I taketh you have a 12 month growing season... How long do the plants last before they have to be replaced? Up here they're hit with the first frost, then you await the spring thaw before the next round can get going...

Here's a column I wrote a few years ago about a staple of my wife's family...which, in fact, we're having tonight!

----------------------

If you haven’t noticed yet, seasons in New Mexico are as much a state of mind as they are a meteorological reality. Unlike those parts of the country where Labor Day weekend was the official end of summer not because you’re not allowed to wear white anymore but because it’s turned cold and wet, New Mexico summers usually last until the Balloon Fiesta, which almost invariably brings icy winds, rain and occasionally the first snow of the year. September’s both Back To School Month and Chile Roasting Month, but in a lot of ways, it’s still a continuation of July and August. Most importantly, September is the month when those tomato plants you put in back in May pretty much explode, leaving you with an overflowing basket on the kitchen counter filled with more tomatoes than you think you could ever possibly use.

But you should at least make the effort, since these are the last decent tomatoes you’re going to see until at least next July. Most (some sources say up to 95%!) supermarket tomatoes are picked green, gassed with ethylene (an organic chemical produced naturally in ripening tomatoes, apples, pears and other fruits) and shipped to stores well before they’re ready to be eaten, which accounts for their mealy texture and uninspired taste. They get a little better if you allow them to ripen a bit more in a brown paper bag on the kitchen counter, but they’ll never match the flavor, texture or juiciness of a perfectly vine-ripened tomato.

A ripe tomato is obscenely juicy, and the best dishes find a way to harness this juiciness, like a tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil salad in which the olive oil and balsamic vinegar combine with the tomato juice to create an amazingly sweet and tart dressing. A similar bit of culinary magic happens in a dish that’s a hot-weather staple with my wife’s family, Summer Pasta. They say that behind every great fortune lies a great crime, which is certainly true here: my wife flat-out stole this recipe when she was working the counter at a copy shop in Harvard Square. A customer had come in to get copies of a small personal cookbook and she surreptitiously made an extra for herself after reading this recipe. Since this happened over 20 years ago, I’m pretty sure the statute of limitations has expired. Still, keep an eye on those Kinko’s folks – you never know.

SUMMER PASTA

The longer the sauce sits, the better. For best results, make the sauce in the morning and leave it, covered, on the counter while you’re at work. Your kitchen will smell like a garlic factory by the time you get home. This is a good thing. A mixture of Swiss and mozzarella can be substituted for the Fontina.

Makes 4 servings

Prep time: 15 minutes (plus waiting)
Cooking time: 10 minutes

2 pounds ripe tomatoes (approx. 6 cups, chopped)
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped fine
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (optional)
4-6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds rotini or similar shaped pasta
1/2 cup Romano cheese, grated
1/2 pound Fontina cheese, shredded

1. Chop tomatoes finely, taking care to keep as much of the juice as possible. Add chopped basil, minced jalapeno, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir well and cover.

2. Let the tomato-basil mixture sit, unrefrigerated, for at least 1 and up to 12 hours, allowing the tomato juice, oil, garlic, basil and jalapeno to mingle freely. It will become appallingly soupy from the tomato juice. This is what you want.

3. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

4. Pull about a cup of the oil and juice out of the tomato-basil mixture. Toss with the hot pasta and cheeses until the pasta is evenly coated and the cheeses are slightly melted. Gently stir in the remainder of the tomato-basil mixture, toss lightly and serve at room temperature with garlic bread.

quote:

Originally posted by UncleVic

quote:

Originally posted by dreamzpainter

last seasons containers are "cooking" out back under black plastic, yesterday I planted seeds in starter flats. The one remaining cherry tom is still producing some nice clusters but is looking rather scraggly... aaaaaaahhh florida...where maddogs and tourists go out in the august sun..

So I taketh you have a 12 month growing season... How long do the plants last before they have to be replaced? Up here they're hit with the first frost, then you await the spring thaw before the next round can get going...

more like 2 growing seasons, usually I have plants out by the middle or end of march, by june the heat and rainy season have pretty much done their worst then a new planting the last week of august or so and we wont get a killer frost till after x-mas.. I know..its tough living in NE fl

I'll email you my address. I'l take about 50 of 'em. Haven't had a decent tomato since I left the Mid-Atlantic.

Meanwhile, any of 'em still green? FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!!

Take the maters, cut them in half and place them on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle with fresh garden herbs-basil or tarragon and put in a 200F oven over night. The result is amazing! Use with pasta or sandwiches. Cherries I saute over high heat with olive oil and garlic and serve them as a vegetable. Enjoy them till the plastic things from california haunt us again in November.

Tomatoes R-us

Rumbelly the Cook

quote:

Originally posted by stlouisguy

...and eaten over the sink.

Reminds me of the 'Kitchen Sink Tomato Sandwich' recipe from the 'White Trash Cooking' cookbook.


Dino

quote:

Originally posted by dreamzpainter

last seasons containers are "cooking" out back under black plastic, yesterday I planted seeds in starter flats. The one remaining cherry tom is still producing some nice clusters but is looking rather scraggly... aaaaaaahhh florida...where maddogs and tourists go out in the august sun..

One of my teachers at the U of FL in Gainesville explained to us newcomers that 3 inventions made it possible for Europeans to live in FL: (1) insecticide; (2) fungicide; (3) refrigerated air conditioning. My experience living there for 10 years was that he was pretty much correct. I never tried growing vegetables, but my roses in Winter Park required spraying for black spot (a fungus) twice a week. Once I went to Europe for a month and left the A/C off while I was gone. When I returned the insides of all my shoes had a green coating--maybe I should have sprinkled them with tomato seeds before I left. Then there's the "palmetto bugs" etc. For sport, I used to go out to the FL Turnpike toll booth and watch the electical bug zappers do their best (better than watching a war movie as those suckers would flame up). Ah, well. The rest of the family still loves it--they are all in Ormond Beach and getting new roofs this week (finally).

Oh. man, I'd take some in a heartbeat. Up here in the Pacific NW, my little dinky tomatoes are just starting to ripen. I haven't had a good tomato since the last time I was home in South Carolina. And even though I'm flying back next week, Mama says her tomatoes are about gone, more's the pity. But I will be finding me some you can bet that!

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

Here's a column I wrote a few years ago about a staple of my wife's family...which, in fact, we're having tonight!

----------------------



A ripe tomato is obscenely juicy, and the best dishes find a way to harness this juiciness, like a tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil salad in which the olive oil and balsamic vinegar combine with the tomato juice to create an amazingly sweet and tart dressing. A similar bit of culinary magic happens in a dish that’s a hot-weather staple with my wife’s family, Summer Pasta. They say that behind every great fortune lies a great crime, which is certainly true here: my wife flat-out stole this recipe when she was working the counter at a copy shop in Harvard Square. A customer had come in to get copies of a small personal cookbook and she surreptitiously made an extra for herself after reading this recipe. Since this happened over 20 years ago, I’m pretty sure the statute of limitations has expired. Still, keep an eye on those Kinko’s folks – you never know.

SUMMER PASTA

The longer the sauce sits, the better. For best results, make the sauce in the morning and leave it, covered, on the counter while you’re at work. Your kitchen will smell like a garlic factory by the time you get home. This is a good thing. A mixture of Swiss and mozzarella can be substituted for the Fontina.

Makes 4 servings

Prep time: 15 minutes (plus waiting)
Cooking time: 10 minutes

2 pounds ripe tomatoes (approx. 6 cups, chopped)
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped fine
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (optional)
4-6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds rotini or similar shaped pasta
1/2 cup Romano cheese, grated
1/2 pound Fontina cheese, shredded

1. Chop tomatoes finely, taking care to keep as much of the juice as possible. Add chopped basil, minced jalapeno, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir well and cover.

2. Let the tomato-basil mixture sit, unrefrigerated, for at least 1 and up to 12 hours, allowing the tomato juice, oil, garlic, basil and jalapeno to mingle freely. It will become appallingly soupy from the tomato juice. This is what you want.

3. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

4. Pull about a cup of the oil and juice out of the tomato-basil mixture. Toss with the hot pasta and cheeses until the pasta is evenly coated and the cheeses are slightly melted. Gently stir in the remainder of the tomato-basil mixture, toss lightly and serve at room temperature with garlic bread.

We're having Tomatoes and Fresh Mozarella and Basil tonight. The pasta sounds a lot like one I make except we use capers instead of jalapenos.

I'd send you all tomatoes if I could. I'm stopping people on the street and giving them tomatoes!

My neighbors that I garden with were just talking about this, we have huge, and I mean HUGE beefsteak tomatos that are going to ripen all at once, looks like.
We are stocking up on Ziplock bags and are planning on making some large batches of pasta sauce with the surplus, then freezing it in the bags. We just are going to use a recipe much like the one Lucky posted. Then you'll have them to enjoy come winter. They don't take up to much room in the freezer in the bags. Do you have a chest or upright freezer Danmel? we have one in our basement and we're going to need it this year, what with the squash and green beans and all.

Green tomata pie!
2 cups green tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinager
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisin, chopped
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cloves
1/4 teaspoon mace
pie crusts

1. Cover tomatoes and boilt quickly

2. Drain toms and add other ingrediants(except crusts of course)

3. place in pie cruats--crimp crust and slit top to allow steam to vent

4. bake 35-40 mins in hot oven--375

I also like gteen tomato cassarole---0 out a little olive oil in an 8x8 pyrex baking dish---layer of green tomatos--layr of this sliceed onions, layer of cheese--you favorite-repeat--top with mix of good bread cruns and cheese ad bake! MMMMMMMMM!!!!!

Tomato relish

Tomato and chile pepper relish

In the recent weeks, we have had tomatoes out the kazoo. We have canned them, made tomato juice, salsa and whatever. I picked several dozen daily.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

i love to chop up tomateos ans zucchini mix thenm in a saute with garlic/basil/oregano (S&P to taste) and then put em in a baking dish....... i top them with breadcrumbs( buttered) and parm cheese, and bake until crusty and brown. YUM so good. soooooo easy, and if you have a garden with tomatoes you might just have zucchini as well...

layer toms red or green or both with onion slices, drizzle on some evoo and salt/pepper/oregeno to taste, top with italian breadcrumbs, bake at 350 45mins to an hr... I some times add peppers either hot or sweet or both, my daughter adds mozzerella before the breadcrumbs....

If you still find that you're getting too many tomatoes, may I suggest the following? If you have friends who live where they can't get real, homegrown, tomatoes, pick a few that need a couple more days to ripen, wrap them individually in bubble wrap, and 2-day express them to your needy friends!(include one of those gel-ice things also, and wrap it so the tomatoes don't get cold enough to ruin them) I know it sounds kind of weird, but I've never had a complaint!

I have a couple of pounds of tomatoes, some cilantro, scallions, avocadoes, and three hot peppers. I'm going to make salsa, but am never sure about the acid component if any - vinegar and if so what kind? lemon juice? Any thoughts?

quote:

Originally posted by dctourist

I have a couple of pounds of tomatoes, some cilantro, scallions, avocadoes, and three hot peppers. I'm going to make salsa, but am never sure about the acid component if any - vinegar and if so what kind? lemon juice? Any thoughts?

I have never added vinegar but I do add some olive oil and lime juice. I let it chill a while before I enjoy.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Oh my God, am I ever late for this discussion but maybe it is not too late to share with all of you the salad of a lifetime. My neigbor, a Naw'leans native, who incidentally has won numberous cooking awards from Emeril makes the most wonderful dinner salad with spinach and herbs as the base on the salad plate, then a slightly warmed tomato steak topped with baked goat cheese (biscuit sized) drizzled with an herb dressing. I think she got the receipe off Emeril's website. It is absolutely wonderful. I could eat a bushel of tomatoes prepared that way.

quote:

Originally posted by queenb

If you still find that you're getting too many tomatoes, may I suggest the following? If you have friends who live where they can't get real, homegrown, tomatoes, pick a few that need a couple more days to ripen, wrap them individually in bubble wrap, and 2-day express them to your needy friends!(include one of those gel-ice things also, and wrap it so the tomatoes don't get cold enough to ruin them) I know it sounds kind of weird, but I've never had a complaint!

It's definately NOT weird at all since Z and I were the lucky recepients of such a box of lovely tomatoes! AND queenb brought MORE ripe and GREEN ones with her. She cooked up the green ones on the boat (fried green tomatoes) while I grilled the halibut. What a feast!
Anyone who has too many tomatoes.......please send them to Alaska!!!

we also have a tomato garden.

We made spaghetti sauce and this tomato soup:

FIVE CROWNS TOMATO SOUP

(This recipe is from the S.O.S. column of the L.A. Times Food Section. It is the Best!)

1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cups diced onions
2 slices of bacon, cooked ‘til crisp and crumbled
6 to 8 “Roma” tomatoes, diced
1 quart chicken stock
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 Tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon sugar
1Tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 Tablespoons torn fresh basil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
Garlic croutons, optional
Additional chopped fresh herbs, optional

In a medium saucepan over medium heat sauté the onions in the olive oil ‘til soft and beginning to brown. Add everything else, except salt & pepper, croutons & additional fresh herbs & bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Using an immersion (sometimes called a “stick“) blender or a food processor, puree soup ‘til smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot with garlic croutons and a sprinkling of fresh herbs.

We just got a huge crop of yellow cherry tomatoes. I'm thinking of making a gazpacho. Do I have to seed them first?

My Grandmother back in the 50's use to prepare a dish for a lite lunch called Cream toast and tomatos. She toasted day old homemade bread blanched and peeled tomatos drained and put on the toast then topped off with a simple white cream sauce I belive she probably added grated nutmeg to sauce. I'll tell you it was a little slice of heven. Brings back fond memmories on the menu for lunch today. Thanks for bring up the subject. Chow Jim