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| last of the moonglow and principe borghese tomatoes |
From a cookbook lent by a CSA member:
The Gardener's Community Cookbook
compiled and written by Victoria Wise
one of our CSA members has lent me one of her favorite cookbooks for some time and I've been trying to figure out what recipe to post. There were plenty of tasty sounding recipes, but I just couldn't decide. When we went out into the garden and gathered the last of the green and half ripened tomatoes, my mind started to wander toward what we will do with this green abundance.
The following are two recipes from the cookbook lent by a member.
Green Tomato Relish
1 pound green tomatoes, finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds onions, finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds bell peppers, assorted colors if possible, finely chopped
1 large jalapeno, stemmed and finely chopped
2 tablespoons of pickling salt
3/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of distilled white vinegar
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons pickling spices tied in cheesecloth
1. Place the tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, and salt in a large bowl. Add water to cover and set aside to soak overnight at room temperature.
2. Next day, drain and rinse the vegetables. Set aside.
3. Prepare 3 pint jars and lids for canning
4. Combine the sugar, vinegar, turmeric, and bag of pickling spices in a large nonreactive pot and bring to a boil. Add the drained vegetables and return to a boil. Remove from the heat immediately and ladle into the jars. Seal and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Or cool, cap, and store in the refrigerator. Will keep in the refrigerator 6 months, 1 year if processed.
For pickling spices:
any of the following will do depending on the flavors you prefer: all spice berries, bay leaves, black peppercorns, cloves, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, red chili peppers, ground ginger, celery seed, dill seed, cinnamon, cardamom, mace, white peppercorns
Green Tomato Chutney
2 pounds green tomatoes, rinsed and quartered
2 pounds tart green apples, such as Pippins, peeled, cored, and quartered
1 pound shallots, peeled
2 heads of garlic, peeled (20-24 cloves each)
6 fresh red chili peppers, stemmed and seeded
1 inch piece fresh ginger, coarsely chopped and tied in cheesecloth
1/2 pound of golden raisins
1 pound Demerara or other crystal-form brown sugar
2 1/2 cups distilled white or cider vinegar
1. Put the tomatoes, apples, shallots, garlic, and chilies through a mincer or finely chop in a food processor, taking care not to over chop them into a mush. Transfer to a nonreactive canning kettle or very large pot.
2. Add the ginger, raisins, sugar, and vinegar and slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring from time to time. Lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook for 1 hour, or until all the ingredients are soft and the mixture has thickened into a loose syrup.
3. Meanwhile, prepare 4 quart jars and lids for canning.
4. Remove the ginger bag and ladle the chutney into the jars. Seal and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Or cool, cap, and store in the refrigerator. Let mature for 1 month before using. Will keep up to 1 year if processed, 6 months in the refrigerator.
A classic dish to make with green tomatoes is to bread them and fry them up for fried green tomatoes. Here's my take on the recipe:
Baked Green Tomatoes
4-many medium to large sized green tomatoes (1-2 tomatoes per person)
1 small handful of flour (I've had success with just about any flour, white flour is typical, but I like cornflour and coconut flour)
1 Tbsp tapioca flour or cornstarch or arrowroot (optional really)
salt
herbs chopped finely as desired (rosemary or sage or thyme or basil are great)
oil (canola or olive oil or even coconut)
Preheat oven to 350-400degF
Cut up your green tomatoes into large rounds about 1/2 inch thick. In a small bowl, mix your flour, tapioca or cornstarch or arrowroot, salt, and herbs. Drench each tomato slice on each side with the floury mixture.
Oil up a baking pan or cast iron and place each flour
drenched tomato on the dish. Drizzle some oil over the tops of these
tomatoes. Place in oven and bake for 25-35 minutes depending on how
crispy you like your tomatoes. Toward the end of baking, flip your
tomatoes if you want each side a bit more browned, but this isn't
necessary.
Serve as a side with any dish. These are excellent on top of soups or pastas or hearty grain dishes. And there really is no limit to experimenting with different flavors, so your green tomatoes can have curry spices or savory spices or possibly even sweet spices. The flavor of the green tomatoes themselves lends a sour lemony sweetness that gets almost caramelized when baked. So delicious, we don't have to feel too bad that ripe tomato season is on its way out, if we get to enjoy these green tomatoes for a few more weeks.
Green tomato storage
Storing green tomatoes during the winter involves some storage space and some containers, but not much else. One thing to keep in mind is that you have to be vigilant about culling any rotting or bad tomatoes so that it doesn't spoil the whole box. Ideally, you would place tomatoes in a box in a single layer, but last year we even just put them into a bucket and just pulled them out every week to check for "going bad" tomatoes. Your green tomatoes will ripen over time and you can sort them by ripeness: greenest at one end of box or bottom of bucket and yellowing/yellowist at other end or top. A cool, dark place is ideal for storage. Most people don't have a root cellar around here, so even the kitchen cabinet or pantry does great.
Any other classic recipes or new recipes out there involving green tomatoes we should share?
