I just ordered 30 pounds of heirloom tomatoes that I will sort, peel, deseed and blend up with some fantastic organic garlic. I have 6 different types in a mixture of color and taste to store in freezer bags for the winter ahead. I do this every year but have never used tomatoes of this caliber before. Now if I can just keep them hidden from my house partners there might be some left to do this with. Sooooo good! On Tuesday I pick up 4 different types of beets and then it will be dills. Still having no luck finding pearl onions locally. I'll make some Giardiniera too. I'll keep you posted.
I generally like my fruits, vegetables, and tubers uncircumcised. Sorry if that's too much information ("TMI").
I have a question: what's the deal with peeling the tomatoes? Is there something wrong with the peels? Can they hurt us internally? I rarely peel anything except maybe oranges and bananas. Am I doing something wrong? Will these tomato and potato peels, etc. injure me down the road?
I think it's more a matter of texture. When I eat a raw tomato I eat the skin but when I'm doing a sauce I find that the skin toughens and doesn't break down in the blend. Probably only a matter of mouth feel in this instance because it surely won't injure down the road and I think it might be safe to say, that being organic and pesticide free...blah, blah, blah....it would probably benefit you to eat the skins. What surprises me is that after bushel and bushel of tomatoes, how little skin and seed is left in the sink. You peel your bananas? Weird...
Just saw an article on a straw-mato. Google it. Totally weird.
(08-27-2010 05:02 PM)Brutus Wrote: [ -> ]I just ordered 30 pounds of heirloom tomatoes that I will sort, peel, deseed and blend up with some fantastic organic garlic. I have 6 different types in a mixture of color and taste to store in freezer bags for the winter ahead. I do this every year but have never used tomatoes of this caliber before. Now if I can just keep them hidden from my house partners there might be some left to do this with. Sooooo good! On Tuesday I pick up 4 different types of beets and then it will be dills. Still having no luck finding pearl onions locally. I'll make some Giardiniera too. I'll keep you posted.
I tried to make Giardiniera once but everything turned brown. What's the secret for retaining the natural color of the vegetables. I used vinegar and salt. I'm sure there's something else I missed.
I assume you used a white vinegar and omitted stuff like broccoli and beets so I'm not sure what would cause the mixture to turn color. Have a look at this site to see what they did and how nicely they turned out.
http://thelunacafe.com/italian-giardinie...-in-a-jar/
The other thing is make sure you're using Kosher or pickling salt, NOT iodized salt. Here's another good recipe if a little over the top. I use the KISS priciple when I'm pickling but this will show how far you can take it. Good luck.
http://www.food.com/recipe/giardiniera-75385
(08-31-2010 07:24 AM)Brutus Wrote: [ -> ]I assume you used a white vinegar and omitted stuff like broccoli and beets so I'm not sure what would cause the mixture to turn color. Have a look at this site to see what they did and how nicely they turned out.
http://thelunacafe.com/italian-giardinie...-in-a-jar/
The other thing is make sure you're using Kosher or pickling salt, NOT iodized salt. Here's another good recipe if a little over the top. I use the KISS priciple when I'm pickling but this will show how far you can take it. Good luck.
http://www.food.com/recipe/giardiniera-75385
Wow...this looks fantastic! Thanks for this Brutus!
What a great autumn project! Maybe my cauliflower won't turn brown... even better!
Those green tomatoes are soooo sweet too. I was surprised because I'd always equated green with unripe. Not in this case. They just get greener and sweeter every day. I'm thinking of frying a slice of each of the 6. Do a blind tasting. Maybe Panko the suckers. Damn, I'm in tomato heaven. Maybe there should be a link to the veggie grazing forum.....
My husband's tomatoes were very abundant this year. Not to mention he grew 9 different varieties, which he started from seed in the house during late winter. Some of the varieties were heirloom...some were not. At one point he picked over a half bushel in one day along with several pounds of grape tomatoes...about a pecks worth.