Totally Tomatoes


  • Yellow Slicing - large, round, smooth-skinned. Use these instead of beefsteaks when you want less acidity
  • Green - fully sized, but unripe tomatoes - used fried or in chutneys and jellies
  • Currant - tiny, but very sweet to eat fresh
  • Heirloom - increasingly popular and usually found in local farmer's markets, these tomatoes are grown from historic seeds that did not attain commercial popularity. They can have lots of flavor, are often funny shaped, and come in any number of colors, including striped and purple. Availability varies widely by geography - some of the most popular include Brandywine, Prudent Purpose, Cherokee Purple and Zebra. Definitely use these fresh or in minimally cooked tomato sauces

    Besides never refrigerating tomatoes, some other advice:

    • Due to their high acidity, tomatoes will pick up a metallic taste from reactive (aluminum) cooking pots, as well as aluminum foil. Cook any sauces in a non-metallic pot and don't let foil touch the top of any tomato dish.
    • Add sugar to temper excess acidity.
    • To maximize flavor in a cooked tomato sauce or dish:
      • Seeds have a bitter flavor when crushed and the liquid is watery, so drain the tomatoes. Cut them in half, squeeze out and discard the seeds and juice, salt lightly and let sit, cut side down, for 15 - 30 minutes.
      • Add tomato puree or sundried tomatoes for an extra flavor boost
      .
    • It isn't necessary to peel tomatoes, unless you don't want the texture of the peel in your end product. To peel, dip the tomato in boiling water for 45 seconds, then plunge in ice water.

    Here are a couple of basic recipes:

    Roast tomato sauce, adapted from Food & Wine Magazine:

    • 2 ΒΌ pounds ripe tomatoes
    • 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
    • 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
    • Salt and pepper, to taste
    • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Halve the tomatoes crosswise and arrange them snugly, cut side up, in a glass or ceramic baking dish. Sprinkle the parsley and garlic evenly over the tomatoes and season them with salt and pepper. Pour the olive oil all over the tomatoes and bake them on the top rack of the oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until they are very tender, shrunken slightly and browned at the edges. Let the tomatoes cool slightly.

    Lift the tomatoes with a fork, letting them drain well, and transfer them to a food mill fitted with a medium disk or the food processor. Puree and check for seasoning.

    The copyright of the article Totally Tomatoes in Cooking Basics is owned by Lindsay W. McSweeney. Permission to republish Totally Tomatoes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

    Go To Page: 1 2 3

    Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic