Fun With Heirloom Tomatoes

Now that I’m over that nasty bout with salmonella-laced foreign tomatoes, I must say I’m delighted that my own heirlooms are finally turning red in the garden, providing the sweetest, meatiest, most desirable fruit/veggie on the planet. Since the FDA rescinded its warnings due to the sudden availability all over America of actual locally-grown tomatoes, we can talk about what to do with all that juicy incoming bounty.

Processing tomatoes for preservation (or just for making dinner) is a messy job. That’s why I planted varieties this year that are known more for their usable inner ‘meat’ than their juice and seeds. Plus it’s been a bit dry this season, so too much water definitely isn’t their issue. When it comes time to do the processing, you may wish to do what I do and use the back deck grill instead of the kitchen stove to boil those large amounts of water. No air conditioning here, it’s usually not necessary and is a total waste of ‘trons. But when you’ve got big pots of water boiling in the kitchen for long periods of time, even the most mellow of summer mountain weather can quickly become unbearable.

Here are the basic prep steps for processing fresh tomatoes:

1. Wash all your tomatoes in running cold water. Even if you never use pesticides or pepper spray on them, washing is always a good idea (unless you’re eating tomatoes while out there picking them).

2. Put tomatoes in rapidly boiling water for 10-20 seconds, until you see the skin split. Remove quickly and put them in cold water (I fill up the sink with cold water ahead of time). This stops the cooking and further loosens the skins.

3. Cut the parboiled tomatoes in half and cut out the stem-end core, pull off the skins. Then quarter, squeeze out the seeds, seed membranes and juice into a compost container or bowl (from which you can later extract seeds to save and juice to drink).

4. Put the peeled and seeded tomato quarters (or pieces, if you chop further) into a colander or sieve to drain more moisture. I usually sprinkle salt on them at this point, it helps to get the moisture out.

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I Messed Up, Got Sick

Yeah, I should’a known better. I wrote a post here about How NOT to Be Poisoned by Your Food, and got poisoned anyway. Got sick enough for two whole days to be really, really sorry.

It might have been tomatoes. Or it might have been a pepper or cilantro used as seasoning. The FDA seems to be suspicious of anything coming in from Mexico right now, and I didn’t ask.

A friend came over last weekend with tons of food for munchies and the grill. It was his birthday, and we ate quite a lot. He’s a meat-eater and we’re not, though I did try a grilled shrimp that was delicious. Didn’t taste the bratwurst, the hamburger patties or the chicken. But he had this container of olive oil and vinegar ’stuff’ gathered at a salad bar style buffet at the big local grocery, with mozerella and artichokes and peppers and cherry tomatoes and whole garlic cloves and such - it just looked too good. I tasted the cheese, the artichokes, a jalapeno and one cherry tomato. Before I knew it I was puking my guts out, and was so sick the next day I couldn’t get out of bed.

It was almost immediate, too. Which of course has to be food poisoning. Since I didn’t also have the watery runs, I’m guessing salmonella that never got past my stomach, and I’m pretty sure it came in that little container of oil and vinegar goodies God only knows where they came from.

Despite the fact that the outbreak’s been going on for months and the FDA claims it just can’t find the culprit, haven’t recalled anything and don’t plan to do a darned thing, I’m telling my readers yet again to BEWARE OF FOREIGN PRODUCE. Even when it’s the most appetizing-looking stuff at the ‘build your own’ bar at your own local grocery store. Salmonella poisoning is no fun at all (thousands have been hospitalized just in this current outbreak), you’re better off not eating at all if your own tomatoes and peppers aren’t yet ripe. One poisoned ingredient in the mix can quickly poison everything it’s mixed with, and your system will hate you for it.

Just a warning, it can happen even when you’ve been really careful. All you have to do is give in to what your friends bring to munch on - and no one but me got sick, which tells me something. Hubby didn’t touch any of it (except the shrimp). Both friend and grandson are confirmed meat-eaters (hoping grandson gets over it soon). Anybody who can stomach ground mystery-meat and bratwurst can handle a little salmonella without getting sick. Don’t let that be your guide!

Buy local, dear readers! There’s a farm truck, fruit and veggie stand or farmer’s market near enough to you to make it well worth your while!

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How NOT to Be Poisoned By Your Food

As we homesteaders begin to rake in the summer produce (while planning for yet more), it may be time for some good advice on how to make sure that the produce you’re buying at the grocery store, at the farmer’s market, and off that farmer’s truck by the side of the road fully safe for your family to eat in this age of imported food, bad farming practices and bacterial contamination.

I am presuming that homesteaders know enough about the critters in the soil (and compost) to be regular produce-washers and cooks who know how long to cook a hamburger or egg so as to preclude any possibility of e.coli 0157:H7 and Salmonella poisoning. But with recent news of e.coli contamination of fresh produce - everything from “pre-wahed” lettuce and spinach and scallions to tomatoes - it’s good to review the basics.

Most of us who can our own produce as well as cook our own food also know that contamination like Salmonella and e.coli can be easily transferred from one food to another if we’re not very careful with the cleanliness of our working areas, cutting boards and utensils, and equipment. Sure, we can kill the critters with high enough heat and processing times, but as a semi-vegetarian, who wants to eat dead bugs either?

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