home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes....

Only two things that money can’t buy are,
True love and home grown tomatoes…..

I guess I’m a better gardener than I thought, because my counter top is covered with large grape tomatoes, plump Romas and beautiful beefsteaks. So last night, under a full moon, I made classic marinara sauce and roasted a baking sheet full of grape tomatoes. I packed them in gallon zip lock bags, flattened them out and then placed them in my small, but essential, garage freezer.

Here are some tips on how to do the same with your own home grown tomatoes or some beauties from your farmers market.

I think my favorite tip this summer has been blanching garlic before using it. This takes out the raw flavor and mellows it a bit. It’s especially important when you aren’t cooking the garlic, such as in dressings. A good example is the classic Italian Insalata Caprese, a salad of sliced fresh tomatoes, layered between fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves, topped with chopped garlic, olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar, plus fresh salt and pepper to taste.

To blanch garlic: Separate the clove, unpeeled and place a pot of boiling water for about 1- 1 ½ minutes. Drain, cool and peel. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator until ready to use, within a week.
When making sauce, it best to take the time to peel and seed the tomatoes. If left on, the peel becomes a mini roll up and has unappealing texture, and the same is true of too many seeds.
Peel and seed tomatoes:
Place whole washed tomatoes with an X cut into the bottom, into a boiling pot of water to 30 + seconds. Remove the whole tomato, cool, then the peel will easily slip off. Cut each around the belly, then wiggle you r fingers into the seed pockets over the sink, to remove many of the seeds. There is a lot of flavor around the seeds so you don’t need to remove them all. Now you’re ready to add your fresh homegrown tomatoes to your favorite sauce recipe. Substitute these flavor bombs into any recipe that called for canned whole or diced tomatoes.
Roasting grape, Roma or large cherry tomatoes:
Wash and cut each tomato in half lengthwise. If needed, scoop out the green or white stem section. In a large bowl, toss with salt and pepper, chopped blanched garlic, olive oil, to cover but not drown . Place them face up on a parchment paper lined rimmed baking sheet. Roast in 450° oven (or on a gas BBQ grill) until they have reduced in size and are beginning to brown. Top with chopped fresh basil, and serve along with bread or over pasta, on pizza etc.
A small batch of roasted tomatoes can be done using the same method and ingredients on the stove top. These will be wetter and are best served with good bread to soak up the juices. These are amazing and taste similar to sun dried tomatoes. When you pull them out of the freezer this winter, they will be a bit of summer sunshine.

For still more tomato recipes and a great guide to fresh herbs, from Food & Wine:

http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/tomatoes/1

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/herb-guide