Tomatoes

[spiceplace]

TOMATOES

It is tomato season and there is so much you can do with tomatoes! Not only are they used by most cultures because of their wonderful taste, but tomatoes produce lycopene, which is known to fight cancer.

Originiating in the South American Andes, tomatoes were once considered to be an aphrodisiac; and in Italy they are called pomo amoris - or "love apple".

Classifed as a fruit because of its seeds (like eggplant is also classified) the tomato has got to be one of the most healthy-for-you foods there is!

Tomatoes can be eaten plain, in salads, added to any meat, fish, pasta, rice, bread, soup, stew, etc. recipe. They can be canned, frozen, made into relishes and ketchup and used as condiments. They are even eaten before they are ripe as in Fried Green Tomatoes!

Share some of your favorite recipes/dishes with us so that we can also try them!

 

[spiceplace]

Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato Sandwich

I had this for lunch today.

For each sandwich:

• 2 - 3 slices of cooked bacon (I like mine baked at 350 deg for 10 - 15 minutes)
• 2-3 leafs lettuce
• 1 - 2 slices of a large, summer fresh tomato
• 2 slices toast
• mayonnaise

Instructions:
Toast bread, butter with mayonnaise, then top with bacon slices which have been cut in half, tomato, lettuce. Salt and pepper as desired.

Serve with a pickle and potato chips.

 

[Mama Mangia]

OMG those tomatoes look like heaven! I am such a tomato person! How about this:

Tomatoes Stuffed with Couscous


1 cup regular couscous
6 large firm ripe red tomatoes
Salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 clove garlic -- peeled and minced

FILLING
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped orange bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
6 green onions -- finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint - I like to substitute basil for mint
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Bring to a boil 2 cups water in a medium-size saucepan. Add couscous and stir. Boil again, lower beat and cover. Simmer until all water has been absorbed. Stir to fluff, remove from heat and allow to stand 5 minutes. Cool in refrigerator.

Cut a 1/2 inch slice off the top of each tomato from the stem end. Discard seeds, remove pulp with a spoon, and chop pulp into small pieces. Set pulp aside for the filling. Lightly sprinkle tomato shell with salt and place upside down on a cookie sheet for approximately 10 minutes to drain its liquid. Mix together olive oil, Tabasco sauce, and garlic. Turn tomato shells upright and drizzle them with olive oil mixture.

When couscous is cold, toss green, orange and red peppers, green onions, parsley, and mint together with couscous. Add reserved tomato pulp, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss again and taste for seasoning. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each tomato to keep them from rolling. Spoon filling into each prepared tomato shell. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and serve.


You can give it some zing by brushing the inside of the tomate shell with some Tabasco. A bit too strong for me!


Make it a meal and enjoy it with some garlic bread!

 

[Mama Mangia]

hmmmmmmm - you made BLT's and didn't invite us????

 

[KYHeirloomer]

Here's a dish that they'll think you slaved over, but it really just takes a few minutes.

Zesty Tomato Shorcakes

2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
3 green onions, sliced thin
2 tbls slivered basil
2 tbls parsley, chopped
2 tbls balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste

6 corn biscuits
Avocado cream topping

Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Set aside, allowing flavors to blend, at least two hours.

Split each biscuit in half. Layer the bottom half with tomato mixture and a dollop of cream topping. Layer with biscuit top, more tomato mixture, and another spoonful of topping.

Avocado Cream Topping

1/2 large ripe avocado
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tbls lime juice
pinch sugar
salt to taste

Mash avocado in a small bowl. Add sour cream, milk, lime juice, sugar and salt and whisk until smooth.

 

[Jafo232]

For canning crushed tomatoes, here is what I do:

12 - 15 pounds of tomatoes, mostly plums and a few beefsteaks because they add darker color. Should yield about 4 quarts.

Fill a large pot with water and get it boiling. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

While your waiting for the water to boil, wash the tomatoes. Prepare them by cutting the tops off just enough to get the cap. Alternately, many people just cut the core from the top, but honestly, it takes longer and doesn't really save you anything. After you cut the top, turn it over and make two slices on the bottom of the tomato in the form of an X. Do this to all of the tomatoes.

When the water gets boiling, add the tomatoes (in workable batches) and blanch for about a minute or until you see the skins starting to pull away from the fruit. Remove the tomatoes and immediately put them into the ice water. After about a minute you should be able to handle the tomatoes and the skins should practically fall off with little effort.

Place the skinned tomatoes into very large sauce pan over medium high heat and using a masher, crush them down. You don't have to go crazy here, just break them up a bit. The cooking process will take care of them. You want to get all of that liquid out.

From here, I usually cook it "one click lower than high" until it reduces about a third. While this is going on, I get my water bath canner going.

Fill the bath to where it will cover your quart or pint jars about an inch when full. It will take a while to get all this water boiling so start it as soon as you start reducing your tomatoes.

Prepare the jars, bands, and lids as per their directions which usually means washing the jars and lids in soapy water, inspecting the jar tops for any chips. Once cleaned, keep the lids and bands in hot water (nothing over 180, DO NOT BOIL LIDS). I usually keep the jars hot by putting them in my EMPTY dishwasher on the bottom rack and then I put the heat element on. You do not want to put hot ingredients into cool jars. Make sure they are warm!

Once the water bath is starting to boil and the tomatoes are reduced to your desire (you don't want them too watery), you can begin filling the jars. Add two tablespoons lemon juice to each quart before you fill them. 1 tablespoon for pints. Using your canning funnel, add the tomatoes to the jars leaving 1 inch headroom. Put the lid and band on and turn to finger tight. In other words, don't over tighten!

Using the rack, place the jars into the water bath and when it returns to a boil, process 40 minutes. Remove and let cool on a towel in an area where there is no major draft.

 

[oldbay]

We made spaghetti sauce using fresh tomatoes. Chopped 6 them up trying to cut the outer skin off first (had I been planning I would had par-boiled them and dunked them in ice water to peel but I was in a hurry). Anyhow, I cooked them for 20 minutes and added a little oregano, basil, garlic powder, and onion flakes (about 1/4 tsp each). Meanwhile I heated water to boil and in a separate pan cooked 1 pound lean Italian sausage, turning to cook through. In the boiling water I cooked thick spaghetti noodles (for about 12 minutes).

To serve: Cut the cooked Italian Sausage into 1/2" slices. Strain the noodles, serve with the sauce and Italian sausage. Makes 4 -6 servings if you can follow this

 

[KYHeirloomer]

Old Bay, when doing quick sauces like that you can skip the peeling all together, if you wish.

Roughly chop the tomatoes and run them through a blender or food processor. Then cook them.

Make a little more rustic of a sauce, because the skins don't really have enough time to cook down. If that's a bother, just run the cooked sauce through a food mill or sieve.

 

[aeiou]

When we had a garden and would have an abundance of tomatoes at the end of season I always thought about making homemade tomato juice. I have even thought of buying a bushel of canning tomatoes to make homemade tomato juice. Has anyone made homemade tomato juice. If so please let me know how much work it was and how well it tasted.

 

[oldbay]

KYHeirloomer:
I did that once and the skins of the tomatoes were "pronounced" in the sauce. Ever since the I've peeled with the knife or by parboiling. So you say then making sauces with fresh tomatoes to grind 'um up in the food processor and forget about peeling? I hadn't considered the food processor as an assistant in making fresh tomato sauce.

 

[Jafo232]

I think the lesson here is, if you want a quick sauce, then don't use fresh tomatoes.

 

[KYHeirloomer]

Jafa, I don't think that's the issue.

It's really a matter of whether you prefer a smooth or a rustic type sauce. Peeling the tomatoes, or removing the peels after the fact, produces the former. Leaving them in, even ground up fine, gives you the latter.

We (Americans, that is) tend to think of spaghetti sauce as a thick, long-cooked reduction. But you have to put that in historical perspective, because in Italy and environs, most pasta sauces are made fresh, made quickly, and made thinner than we are used to.

When immigrants came here they were, for the most part, poor. So what meat they could afford was the tough, bottom cuts---those that require long braising to become tender. Thus, the sauces, too, were cooked for long, slow hours. The sauce, you see, was a function of how long the meat had to be cooked.

I am not suggesting that thin is better than thick, or vice versa. Just showing the differences, and how they came about.

 

[Jafo232]

I have read many Italian recipes and have also translated a couple. Except for a couple marinara sauces, all of them required a minimum of 2 hours (s)low cooking the sauce.

What I am trying to say is, if I am going to cook a spaghetti sauce and I do not have a lot of time, I just used canned tomatoes. I save my fresh tomatoes for those dishes I have time to work.

 

[KYHeirloomer]

Not to beat a dead horse, but here is Chef Nino Graziano's basic tomato sauce recipe.

Chef Gaziano is the founder and head chef of Il Mulinmazzo--a 2 Michelin star restaurant in Sicily:

1 kg (2 1/4 lbs) peeled, crushed tomatoes
2 tbls EVOO
50 g (1 3/4 oz) onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tbls butter
pinch of sugar
bay leaf, flat leaf parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme
Salt, pepper

Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil. Add the tomatoes, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium heat for 45 minutes.

In a separate pan, saute the herbs in a little butter and olive oil. Filter off the fat and add the herbs to the tomatoes near the end of the cooking process.

And that can be a relatively long time. In the Williams-Sonama "Mastering Pasta Noodles & Dumplings," classic tomato sauce cooks down for only 20 minutes. Even Puttanesca sauce only cooks 20 minutes after addition of the tomatoes.

I could go on. But the point is, relatively few tomato-based sauces are the thick mass we think of as pasta sauce. And about 90% of those that are are Italo-American in origin.

 

[Mama Mangia]

Being Italian - there are various types of "Italian" tomato based sauces/gravies. Depending on which part of Italy you come from is going to depend on the type of tomato sauce/gravy your family enjoys. Some are cooked longer than others; some are thicker than others; some are spicier than others. I consider myself lucky because my immediate family is from Calabria and Naples, and they have married spouses from Tuscany, Rome, Milan, Sicily, and everywhere from northern Italy to southern Italy. The different ways of cooking various Italian foods has given me a wonderful collection of recipes to enjoy and share. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Depending on what I am making will depend on the type of sauce I will make. Many times sauces are cooked longer depending on the amount of "juice" in the tomatoes and the type of tomatoes used. Sauce is cooked to desired consistency - some longer than others. Thickness of sauce depends on the type of pasta being served or the dish it is going to be used for. Thick sauce does not go with angel hair pasta; homemade "rags" will never go with marinara sauce. It is all in what you are making.

Tomatoes do not need to be cooked for a length of time to begin with - tomato paste and tomato puree as well as tomato sauce are already cooked products - and many of the old-time cooks did not have access to pastes/purees and had to cook sauces longer for thickness. Overcooking (cooking too long) and it will eventually break down and taste nasty! I love a thick sauce - which I can make from scratch in an hour to an hour and a half - tops! I can also make my own homemade tomato paste which sits on the stove cooking for 3 days straight to get the right consistency (larger than an canning pot size) before jarring and canning for future use. Or I can make a quick marinara in 15 minutes.

I prefer roma/pomadoro for making homemade sauce - but many times I've been given bushels of beefsteak or mixed tomatoes - and I've made sauce/tomato sauce from those - once again - depending on the type of tomatoes and the size of the pot - depends on the length of cooking time - and yes - LOW!!! Always cook your sauce on low - never any higher.

There is a difference between tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce - I make both. Tomato sauce is used is so many different recipes; spaghetti sauce is just that. Sometimes I will even make and can my own pizza sauce. Easy for quick meals!

 

[oldbay]

This morning we had Western Omelet made from my freshly picked garden tomato. The way I make a western omelet is to dice green pepper and onion, then cook until tender. Remove from pan, beat 3 eggs, add to pan and cook until bottom is set but top is still a little uncooked. Then distribute the green pepper and onion evenly, top with freshly diced tomato and cover. Cook until top of omelet is set and the tomatoes have warmed. Serve immediately.

As an alternative, you could warm some chopped DAK style ham along with the pepper/onion mix and top with grated Cheddar cheese when adding the tomatoes. Yet, I think the green pepper and onion are just fine.

 

[oldbay]

Scalloped tomatoes recipe

Another favorite tomato recipe:

Scalloped tomatoes

3 cups stewed tomatoes
1 cup soft breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons minced onion
3/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of black pepper
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs (unseasoned)
butter for dotting top of casserole

Mix tomatoes with soft breadcrumbs, onions, 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, sugar, salt and pepper. Place the mixture in a baking dish. Mix the remaining 1/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese with a dry breadcrumbs and sprinkle over top of the tomatoes. Dot top dish with butter. Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

 

[oldbay]

Fried Red Tomatoes with and Gravy Recipe

Everyone knows of fried green tomatoes. Here's a recipe for Fried Red Tomatoes with Gravy:

4 medium sized garden fresh tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
3 tablespoons butter or canola oil
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup half and half

Tomatoes
Use fresh firm ripe tomatoes. Cut into slices 1/3" thick, with skin remaining on slices. Roll tomato slices in flour and fry in hot butter or canola oil. When browned on both sides sprinkle with salt, white pepper and brown sugar. Place tomatoes on a warm platter and make gravy.

Gravy:
Add 3 tablespoons of flour to frying pan; blend in the half and half. Cook half and half mixture, stirring often, allowing gravy to thicken. Pour gravy mixture over the fried tomatoes.

 

[aijaraza]

We grill a lot of our food here in the Philippines and tomatoes make good side dishes to these grilled (inihaw) dishes. We combine tomatoes with green mangoes, chopped shallots and shrimp paste (bagoong) or with grilled eggplant, vinegar and minced garlic or combined with salted red eggs.

Let me share this easy Tomato Salad recipe that goes great with any grilled meat.

4 pieces, large salad tomatoes, sliced crosswise into thin slices
1 small piece onion, chopped fine
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/8 tsp ground white or black pepper
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
lots of olive oil

1. Put a layer of tomato slices at the bottom of a bowl. Top with some chopped onions. Alternately layer the tomatoes and chopped onions, ending with chopped onions at the top.
2. Combine the white wine vinegar with the salt, sugar and pepper in a bowl. Dump into the bowl of tomatoes and onions.
3. Drizzle olive oil on top.
4. Chill inside the refrigerator. Remember to mix well before serving.

 

[cooker]

I love heirloom tomato salads. The colors make for a beautiful presentation. And a really simple dressing goes a long way. The one I like calls for 2 cloves garlic, diced onion, parsley and basil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.