The guys at Dirty Girl Produce at San Francisco's Farmers' Market last week told me there are only a couple of weeks of their Early Girl tomatoes left. They often sell 20lb sauce boxes of tomatoes for just $20. I put these in a large pot, skins and all, and simmer for about an hour before cooling overnight, running through a food mill to lose the skins and then freezing in two cup batches. This box yielded 17 x 2 cup bags of tomato pulp which I can use for pasta sauces, chicken tikka masalas and soups over the next 8 months or so, until tomatoes come back into season again.
Summer is departing and so go my lovely toms.Sadness followed by anticipation of good things to come.
ReplyDeleteWell now, that's what I call making good use of good produce! I wish we had good tasting tomaotes around here.
ReplyDeleteWill it really be eight whole months until tomatoes are back?
ReplyDeleteSigh.
Good work, Sam.
Your blog is getting too cool.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the rest of us to do?
Wah, jealous.
xx
Freezing tomatoes is a great idea and is something I plan to do this year. It is early summer here in New Zealand and I am proud to say that I have grown my own tomatoes for a couple of years now. this year I am planning on having enough to freeze.
ReplyDeleteI love that your tomatoes are steaming little hearts.
ReplyDeleteWe picked up some "blushed tomatoes" on Portabello Road yesterday - something between fresh and sundried - a good fix for winter tomato cravings.
ReplyDeleteThose hearts are fantastic! They make me laugh lots.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, thats one heck of a pan to take 20lb in one batch.
ReplyDeleteDoll face. I'm sure the slide show was lovely, but when I clicked on it, I got (I kid you not) an interesting pictorial of "Julian's B**tches" EEK. Tomatoes indeed.
ReplyDeleteHee.
xoxox
Rachael
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ReplyDeleteand for those of us who missed the early girls, here's a for Muir Glen canned tomatoes, or love apples, as I believe they were known in the Renaissance.
ReplyDeleteoh my god, I've turned into my grandmother. (the coupon, not the Renaissance). I don't even have a working printer to print that sucker out...and even if I did, Brooklyn grocers can be so cruel.
Okay, off to get me an eyeful of that slideshow!
interesting blog!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great name for a produce company :D
ReplyDeleteoh Sam, thanks for the farewell post to tomatoes! i love the fruit and the foods they become and all they symbolize. i thought of you as i grabbed the last early girls at the jack london farmer's market yesterday.
ReplyDelete