Help! 4 pounds of beefsteak tomatoes, 4 pounds of heirlooms,
and 2 quarts of sauce (plum) tomatoes. And 4 days 'til another
farm pick-up. I'm not complaining, but with me working three nights
this week, there's not a whole lot of cooking going on around here.
Surely there are some folks out there who could give me some
original ideas as to what to do with these Jersey beauties. Dig deep.
Make my mouth water. It's easier than you might think.
Chili.
ReplyDeleteWith or without beans?
ReplyDeleteWell, the most obvious thing would be caprese (I happen to have a large chunk of fresh mozzarella in my fridge right now, so that's what came to my mind immediately). But some sort of chutney-like relish could work well also. Chop up the tomatoes, throw in a bit of chopped onion, some light vinegar, ginger, cardamom ... you could even can some for later use.
ReplyDeleteYow. I wish I lived closer, I would say donate them to the Sebago Canoe Club! :D We are having one of our general meetings on Sunday, they are painfully dull but necessary & we try to redeem them with potlucks.
ReplyDeleteIf it were me, I'd probably place one tomato on top of another and then another on top of that, and keep going to see how many I could pile up until they all fell over.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably one reason why my wife says I'm pretty useless in the kitchen.
But, be honest, aren't you starting to wonder now how many tomatoes you could get to balance in a pile?
And why do I care more about things like this than about what kind of boat they'll use for the next America's Cup?
O Docker: Please don't go saying anything about jumping off a cliff next.
ReplyDeleteIt's time to get canning! Make a big batch of salsa or chutney and we can have a tasting session when I come home for Christmas. I had (still have) tons and tons of string beans and runner beans from my allotment/garden this summer. I have been making batch after batch of pickled dilly beans and blanching and freezing the runner beans - in between writing thesis chapters of course. Now if you have any ideas for an overabundance of zucchini, they would be welcome. Tempura perhaps? I also wanted to make some kind of fritter with them and was debating whether potato or rice flour might make it more interesting than regular wheat flour. Hmmm? Kxxx
ReplyDeleteCanning came to mind, but then the quality of the produce seems to beg for a better suggestion. How about giving them away to neighbors? Where we live, people gift extra food from the garden to each other. We have lots of tangerines and cumquats and persimmons so we give them to our neighbors. They often have extra sweet potatoes or corn or even a watermelon to give to us. This keeps food from going to waste and builds a resilient community that knows one another.
ReplyDeleteTomato resort with sweet potatoes and rice comes to mind as well. :^)
A simple bruschetta, maybe? Rub some toasted bread with fresh garlic, sprinkle over some olive oil, add a bit of salt, freshly diced tomatoes and basil.
ReplyDeleteAlso I would make a hot and spicy tomato soup with chili, beans and basil.
I must say, Caprese and Bruschetta are two favorites of mine, and rubbing the raw garlic on toasted bread is the key for sure.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you D on the Caprese and Bruschetta (you can't have too much garlic... unless your spouse doesn't), but I have to say that Taru's closing suggestion of a hot and spicy tomato soup has my mouth watering and is the show stopper IMHO! K
ReplyDeletenice profile picture!
ReplyDeleteI could have done the same with my last pickings from my garden, but cukes don't stack so well, plus they all got eaten by the 5 Years Around Long Island crew.
Of possible interest, B-Dog.
ReplyDeleteWe've found that neighbors are more than happy to help!
ReplyDeleteBut chutney is the best idea to preserve them.
ReplyDelete