Too many tomatoes

[rpysher]

Help,
I have a huge bowl of fresh tomatoes and was wondering if anyone had any interesting ideas as to how to consume them. I made fresh tomato sauce, slice them daily, made salsa but was looking for something different.

Robin

[aggie94]

What about emilycat's tomato soup?

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12224&highlight=tomato+AND+soup

I haven't made it, but it sounds wonderful! Perfect light meal for these dog days, IMO.

[KValley]

Hi Robin,

Not the most imaginative suggestion, but a practical one: How about roasting the tomatoes, to use in place of canned, diced tomatoes? They will freeze easily. Just remove the stems, place in a baking dish lined with foil, roast on 400 for about 30-40 minutes. Drain the liquid halfway through, so they roast instead of stew. Cool to room temperature, peel, chop, and Voilà! Roasted tomatoes. They are so much more flavorful than the canned version.

Fresh tomatoes, sliced and topped with slices of fresh mozzarella, put under the broiler for just a couple of minutes, or not cooked at all, topped with fresh basil. Oh, my mouth is just watering at the thought!!

I've got a couple more weeks yet, before my tomatoes ripen....

[JennieL]

You could ship them to me! I'm originally from Delaware and miss the East Coast tomatoes. I have a great French Tomatoe Soup recipie. I'll post it when I get home.

[SandyM]

Not sure what type of tomatoes they are, but if they're plum tomatoes, here's a thread on how to make your very own sundried:

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6048&highlight=sundried+tomatoes

[SHERRY]

I too have an abundance of tomatoes...over 100 plants..
We have already finished our salsa making and canning, and now the rest are just excess...I have been selecting the best ones, core them, put them on a cookie sheet, freeze solid, vacuseal, and wait for winter...The will be great in sauces, soups, chili, etc...When a frozen tomato is ran under water, the skin falls right off, so no need to worry about skin in your soup or sauces :)

They do need to be used for cooking though...they loose their texture and cannot just be sliced or chopped and eaten raw.

[Ohioan]

How about stuffed (baked) tomatoes? You can stuff them with any of the following:
Rice and peas with Indian (curry) flavorings.
Meatballs with a lot of filler (breadcrumbs, oatmeal, rice, or whatever you use) -- this makes its own "tomato sauce" for the meat, but it isn't a sauce.
Fish or tiny shrimp with corn and bell peppers. (Again, an inside-out version of stuffed peppers.)
BEANS! -- and cheese, maybe?
Or you can stuff them cold with tuna salad, chicken salad, macaroni salad, potato salad, etc.

Or if all else fails, you can have a food fight with them.:p

Cheers,
Phoebe

[AZLorena]

coming from my neck of the woods, too many tomatoes sounds like a fabulous problem to have. The tomatoes at the stores here in Arizona are just terrible. I long for the days when my family lived in NY state.......with huge tomato plants growing on the side of our house.

[RobinC]

This is one of my favorite fresh tomato dishes.

Stir-Fried Beef with Tomatoes in Tany Sauce

2 1/2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine
3 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak, cut diagonally into strips 2 inches long and 1/2 inch thick
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, cut into 1/2" thick half moons
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes, cut into eighths

1. In a medium bowl, mix 1 1/2 tablespoons of the soy sauce, the rice wine, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch. Ad the beef strips and toss. Let stand for 15 to 30 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, the chicken broth, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, and pepper. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and whisk to combine. Set aside.

3. Heat a large (12-inch) skillet or wok over medium-high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil, swirl to coat the bottom of the skillet, and heat until the oil is very hot. In 2 batches, adding more oil as needed, cook the beef strips, turning occasionally, until browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

4. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet and heat until very hot. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Stir-fry until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.

5. Return the beef to the skillet. Stir the broth mixture and add to the skillet with the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, stirring gently until the tomatoes are heated through, about 1 minute.

6. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

[Peggy]

Sherry!!!

100 tomato plants!!!:eek: I'm having trouble using up tomatoes produced from 2 plants!! Yours is a full-time job!
I am in awe...

Peggy

[keeganm]

Here's what I do with those awesome tomatoes....


--Baguette sandwich w/tomatoes, fresh mozzerella, fresh basil, and vinaigrette

--slice them in thick slices, top with lowfat blue cheese dressing, lightly sprinkle w/blue cheese chunks, serve with grilled flank steak, YUM

-- dice up tomatoes w/garlic, olive oil and basil, marinate for a few hours, pour on top of hot penne pasta

-- Grill them with your favorite chicken kabobs

[AZLorena]

SEND THEM TO ME......!!!! ;o)

[kwormann]

I would also be happy to take some off your hands......

I agree with keeganm, make a bagette sandwich!

[art]

Originally posted by SHERRY
I too have an abundance of tomatoes...over 100 plants..
We have already finished our salsa making and canning, and now the rest are just excess...I have been selecting the best ones, core them, put them on a cookie sheet, freeze solid, vacuseal, and wait for winter...The will be great in sauces, soups, chili, etc...When a frozen tomato is ran under water, the skin falls right off, so no need to worry about skin in your soup or sauces :)

They do need to be used for cooking though...they loose their texture and cannot just be sliced or chopped and eaten raw.

Do you have a good salsa recipe? I too have an abundance of tomatoes. How do you can them?
Sue

[JennieL]

FIVE CROWNS FRENCH TOMATO SOUP - Corona Del Mar, CA
LA Times

A favorite of Marina’s

2 slices bacon
1 T. olive oil
2 c. sliced onions
6 to 8 Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1 quart chicken stock
1 T. tomato paste
1 T grated lemon peel
1 tsp. sugar
1 T chopped parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh basil
½ tsp chopped fresh thyme
Salt, white pepper
Garlic croutons, optional
Additional Chopped herbs, optional.

1. Cook bacon in medium saucepan over medium heat until crisp. Add olive oil and onions. Saute 7-8 minutes or until onions are tender and begin to brown.
2. Add tomatoes, chicken stock, tomato paste, lemon peel, sugar, parsley, basil and thyme. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20minues.
3. Puree tomato mixture in blender or food processor until smooth. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Serve hot with garlic croutons, and sprinkle with additional chopped fresh herbs, if desired.

[Paula H]

Do you have a dehydrator?? If you've still got extra tomatoes and you can't stand eating any more, put them through a dehydrator and you end up with your own "sun" dried tomatoes. Warning - the entire house ends up smelling rather "interesting", so I'd advise leaving the house for a while, or having fresh air moving inside.

I also make up batches of tomato pesto, tomato pasta sauce..... and freeze them when I'm feeling overwhelmed by my garden's harvest.

[rpysher]

Thanks everyone for your great ideas. The last few days I made:

Pasta with tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil and brie cheese - recipe from the Silver Palate Cookbook. Not exactly light but once a summer is not too bad.

I made the tomato and smoke gouda pizza yesterday. Pretty good.

Last night I found a recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens August issue called Farmers Tomato Pie. It was a pie crust filled with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs and topped with basil. Pretty good.

Paula, I don't have a dehydrater, but I can buy the kit for my kitchen aid convection oven. I may look into that sometime.
Robin

[SHERRY]

One of my family traditions is canning salsa every summer. We plant a hundred or so tomato plants and a variety of peppers. Here it is:

Salsa
25-35lbs of tomatoes
4-6 green bell
4-6 red bell
4-6 yellow and orange mixed bells
5 habanero peppers (wear gloves-hot!)
6 jalapenos
5 annaheim or other mild peppers
9 onions, mix red and vidalia
1/2 c. sugar
6 Tablespoons salt
1 c. vinegar
3 bunches cilantro
10 whole heads of garlic cleaned skin removed (we found the garlic skin removers, a rubber tube does wonders for cleaning all of this garlic. you could use the pre-minced in the jar, but we think the flavor differs)
1 large (1.9 oz) spice jar of cumin
sm jar of lime juice

skin tomatoes
chop tomatoes, onion, bell peppers-seeds removed (easy to use food processor)
destem and seed peppers and puree with cilantro and garlic
put everything in very LARGe pot and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, stir often to keep from burning on bottom
meantime, sterilize quart jars and rings in dishwasher

( I then put the jars in the oven at 275 to keep them hot while I finish the salsa, just take them out of the oven as you need them)

all jars that seal can be kept a year if they don't seal keep in fridge 3 weeks
makes 18-20 quarts

you can make a personal batch of salsa by chopping a sm amount of all the ingredients above in a food processor and then keep in bowl in fridge or freeze in freezer bags or jars.


We vary this recipe every year depending on the peppers we grow, we have found that our favorite recipe ends up being one with more peppers and onion and less tomatoes..But don't worry there are plenty of tomatoes still used...We bought one of those throw away aluminum roaster pans, and fill it heaping with the skinned tomatoes and this tends to be just the right amount. The trick is to chop some onion or peppers first then add the tomatoes and continue in the processor until the tomatoes are the right consistancy...If you process the tomatoes by themselves, they tend to just puree...making it a less chunky salsa..

[art]

Boy, you are a serious canner! 25-35 lbs. of tomatoes! Wow! I will definitely try your recipe, but in much smaller quanties.
Thanks,
Sue

[Susan]

Originally posted by KValley
Hi Robin,

Not the most imaginative suggestion, but a practical one: How about roasting the tomatoes, to use in place of canned, diced tomatoes? They will freeze easily. Just remove the stems, place in a baking dish lined with foil, roast on 400 for about 30-40 minutes. Drain the liquid halfway through, so they roast instead of stew. Cool to room temperature, peel, chop, and Voilà! Roasted tomatoes. They are so much more flavorful than the canned version.



Hi Julie~

Thank you for your suggestion about roasting fresh tomatoes. I have an abundance of tomatoes and plan to try your method. How do you handle the freezing part? (Freezer baggies? Containers?) Also, what quanities do you freeze them in? (2 cups?)

Thanks,
Susan

[masimmons]

Sherry -

I would like to try your salsa recipe, but am new to canning stuff. Do you process the filled jars in boiling water, or just fill with the salsa and seal? Thanks for the help. Your recipe sounds wonderful to me.

[SHERRY]

"Help,
I have a huge bowl of fresh tomatoes and was wondering if anyone had any interesting ideas as to how to consume them. I made fresh tomato sauce, slice them daily, made salsa but was looking for something different. " robin

I am sure this spark some debate, but here is what I have found...Technically, you should take your hot filled jars and boil them in a water bath 10 minutes, then remove...allowing to cool and seal...then store...

We have done this, and find we don't like the quality of the salsa as the months go by...it takes on a smokey flavor...so we boil our salsa in the pot, heat the jars to 275º F in the oven, take out the jars a few at a time, fill them with the simmering salsa, wipe the rim clean, and top with a sterilzied lid and ring...The jars are extremely hot so be careful...They have all sealed, without using a water bath after filling...IF they don't seal..we would put them in the fridge after cooling and eat within a couple weeks... :)

[masimmons]

Thanks Sherry. That is how I make bread & butter pickles with the exception of the oven part. I just keep the jars in a large pot of boiling water until ready to put the boiling cuke mixture. The guy who gave me the recipe has made them this way for YEARS and never had a problem. And, like you said, if any of the jars don't seal, just refrigerate them and eat first. I'm going to try your recipe - maybe just a half of it, but it sounds good & do-able, even for me!

[KValley]

Originally posted by Susan


Hi Julie~

Thank you for your suggestion about roasting fresh tomatoes. I have an abundance of tomatoes and plan to try your method. How do you handle the freezing part? (Freezer baggies? Containers?) Also, what quanities do you freeze them in? (2 cups?)

Thanks,
Susan

Hiya Susan,

I use Tupperware, but I hadn't thought of freezer bags! That's a great idea. 2 cups- about what comes in a 15 oz can.

Have fun!!

[Susan]

Thanks, Julie!

[BosunsWife]

We make a similar sandwich to the "baugette" sandwich mentioned previously.

We use a hearty type of french bread - country style loaf or similar. Slice thick. Grill with a little olive oil. Add slices of tomatoes, black forest ham sliced thin, fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. OMG, its making me so hungry.

I miss growing our own tomatoes. When we lived in Saugerties, NY we had about ten plants and they were producing very well. Our neighbor came over one night (late Sept.) and told us he heard it was going to freeze. DH and I ran outside with our flashlight and picked all of our green tomatoes and put them down in the cellar to ripen. We still laugh about that night.