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 Since the FDA rescinded its warnings due to the sudden availability all over America of actual locally-grown tomatoes, we can talk about what to do with all that juicy incoming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.

That’s it. From there, once the tomato pieces are well drained, you can put them into freezer bags to freeze, you can dry (in dehydrator or in the sun), you can go ahead and cook up some sauce to can or freeze, or you can simply can them by packing jars, attaching new lids and putting them into a rapid water-bath boil (over the top of lids) for a full 20 minutes. Don’t forget to check your seals before putting them away.

Kitchen Gardeners International: Canning Tomatoes

Or you can use them fresh for my absolutely favorite summertime tomato dish: Good Ol’ ‘Mater Pie. Here’s the Super-Secret Recipe:

Summer Fresh Tomato Pie

6 cups processed fresh tomatoes, slightly salted and well drained
1 cup mayonnaise
1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (or mixed Italian pizza cheese)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Mix tomatoes, mayonnaise and basil in a bowl. Layer one large (or two small) pie crusts with mixture and cheese, ending with cheese on top. Cover with top pie crust, seal edges and cut slits to let steam escape. Bake until crust is golden brown, about 35-40 minutes in a 350º oven.

‘Mater pie can be served hot, but my family loves it even better after it’s been refrigerated. One of the best breakfast delights since watermelon! And speaking of watermelon, mine are starting to fruit at the low end of the garden. Already made 5 quarts of pickles from the first rush of cukes, more on the way. Corn is starting to tassle too, summer squash and okra and new potatoes are in plentiful supply.

It’s times like these that dedicated homesteaders love most, when all that hard work in the garden when it was still cold and muddy pays off with the most delicious of foods. Foods that don’t come complete with pesticide residues or gnarly bacterial poisons that can do great harm to human beings.

Related Ads:

Filed under Cultivated Herbs, Food Safety, Food Storage, Garden, Harvest, Homestead, Recipes |