Eating & preserving: Tomatoes

Hi Everyone,

20150808vine tomatoes onlineAt this time of the year, all around the markets, you can see trays, boxes, and baskets brimming with red, shiny, beautiful tomatoes. With such abundance, at such reasonable pricing, one cannot help buying multiple pounds of this fruit-vegetable. However, there is only so much of it that we can eat at one time, and for most Caribbean people, our preferred way to eat tomatoes is sliced, served with a salad.

Today, I want to share with you other ways in which you can use tomatoes and how to preserve them for later use when they are not in season.

EATING

20140809Tasteslikehome Tomato Choka

Roast tomatoes in the oven or over an open flame until charred and soft.

Remove the skin and mash or puree until smooth.

Heat oil in a pan, fry minced onions and sliced garlic until golden and fragrant. Add tomatoes and chopped fresh coriander/cilantro; season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes.

Eat with bread, roti, bakes, boiled ground provisions, rice

Tomato Choka (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Tomato Choka (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Fresh Tomato-basil Sauce

Pound or pulse together chopped tomatoes and basil; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve tossed with hot, buttered pasta or spoon over grilled seafood. Great with garlic-rubbed toasted bread. Use as tomato sauce base for pizza.

Fresh Tomato-basil Sauce (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Fresh Tomato-basil Sauce (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Sundried Tomato Bread

Add 1/3 – ½ cup of finely minced sundried tomatoes to your favourite white bread recipe.

Mix in the sundried tomatoes with the dry ingredients before adding the liquid to knead the dough.

This bread will elevate your sandwich.

Sun-dried Tomato Bread (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Sun-dried Tomato Bread (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Salsa

Steam tomatoes and remove skin.

Add to food processor and pulse coarsely with chopped onions, hot peppers, cilantro/coriander, fresh lime juice along with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve as a dip or with poached, sunny side up eggs or eggs over easy.

Tomato Salsa (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Tomato Salsa (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Tomato Salad

Slice firm, ripe tomatoes.

Toss with baby leaves of lemon basil, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Diced avocadoes can be added too.

Tomato Salad (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Tomato Salad (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

PRESERVING

 Sundried Tomatoes

Wash and dry firm, ripe tomatoes: halve or cut into ½-inch slices.

Place on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet and put out in the sun to dry for 4 – 5 days. The time would vary depending on the weather and thickness of the tomato slices. Or place on a baking sheet and put in a preheated 180 degrees F oven until dry and feeling plump like a raisin.

Store dry in an airtight container or packed in oil and refrigerated.

Dried Tomatoes (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Dried Tomatoes (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Tomato Confit (slow roasted tomatoes)

2 pounds tomatoes washed and pat dry.

Add to a baking dish, pour in ½ – ¾ cup oil, sprinkle with salt and toss in fresh thyme sprigs and whole garlic cloves if you like.

Cook in a preheated 300 degrees F oven until soft and skins wrinkled. Cool completely; peel skin off tomatoes and garlic (if added). Discard thyme sprigs.

Add peel tomatoes and garlic to sterilized jar along with oil in which it was cooked. Store in the refrigerator.

Puree and use for sauces, dips and stews.

 Tomatoes Confit (slow roasted) (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Tomatoes Confit (slow roasted) (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Green Tomato Achar

Wash, dry and chop tomatoes.

Sauté masala mixture for achar then add tomatoes. Reduce heat to low and cook until tomatoes are soft and pulpy. Cool completely and store in sterilized jars.

Green Tomato Achar (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Green Tomato Achar (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Fire-roasted

Skewer tomatoes and roast on a medium-low flames until charred and cooked through. It should still be slightly firm.

Cool completely; remove charred skin, season with salt (optional) and store in sterilized jars, refrigerated.

Fire-roasted Tomatoes (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Fire-roasted Tomatoes (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Hot Sauce with Tomatoes

2 pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped

10 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 cups chopped onions

½ pound hot peppers (or more if you like)

A squeeze of lime juice

Salt to taste

Add all the ingredients EXCEPT lime juice and salt to pot, cover and place over medium heat. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer until all the ingredients are soft. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Puree in a blender or food processor, add lime juice and salt to taste, and blend to mix. Pass through a sieve and store in sterilized jars in the refrigerator.

Hot Sauce  with Tomatoes  (Photo by Cynthia  Nelson)
Hot Sauce
with Tomatoes
(Photo by Cynthia
Nelson)

Enjoy the bounty of the season.

Cynthia

Cynthia@tasteslikehome.org

www.tasteslikehome.org