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August 25, 2006
If you have tomatoes ... make this stuff
The tomato season continues for gardeners, and for the rest of us, too. There are plenty of tomatoes -- heirloom varieties and others -- available straight from garden plants, at farmers markets, even from supermarket produce sections. And if you haven't tried a true heirloom variety, you owe it to youself to sample the flavors that your grandparents talked about -- you know, that whole, "The tomatoes these days don't taste anything like they did when I was a little boy/girl/other."
They were right. My Brandywine plant has yielded only about a half-dozen tomatoes -- albeit ones that weigh about a pound each -- and they taste like nothing I've ever had before.
If you have the good fortune to be overrun with homegrown tomatoes, Daily News food editor Natalie Haughton this week wrote about what to do with them:
No longer just the darlings of restaurant chefs, these delicious-tasting, brilliantly colored tomatoes in a wide array of oddball shapes can be found at farmers or specialty markets, select supermarkets and in home gardens. In fact, we just recently spotted packages of heirlooms in Trader Joe's, an indication of their mainstream status.
Natalie also offers tomato tips, including this one:
Use your nose. A ripe tomato should be fragrant, with a classic tomato perfume. Never refrigerate tomatoes. Leave at room temperature (out of sunlight) to ripen (they should yield to gentle pressure like an avocado when ripe) and until you're ready to use them.
And turn those tomatoes into these tasty dishes:
Baked Tomatoes Stuffed With Couscous
Five-Minute Brandywine Tomato Sauce
Southwestern Heirloom Tomato Salad
Heirloom Tomato Bloody Mary Shrimp Salsa
Posted by Steven Rosenberg at August 25, 2006 2:53 PM