The tomato preservation question

[Betonov]

Enough politics, lets talk food again.

I have a surplus tomatoes this year, they're ripening faster than we can eat them and I'd like to preserve them in one way or another for the winter.

I already made tomato pesto, crushed them with some olive oil, garlic and basil leaves but I seek variety.

So, canning, pickling, freezing, drying... Any ideas and instructions ??

[MothBalls]

Just me but I'd do a little bit of everything. Tomatoes are versatile, you can can, sun dry, make sauces, all kinds of things. Rather than do all of them one way, I do a little of each and get the most out of them.

Found a nice web page that has many options in one place. http://www.pickyourown.org/tomato_recipes.htm

After you finish you could send some to a poor old starving tomato-less guy. It would do much to bolster international relations. I would blog about it, the Slovenian who generously shared tomatoes with me, and convince the rest of the world just how thoughtful and caring the Slovenian people are. After gaining notoriety on the Internet for your contribution you could end up having your own Wikipedia page, and have a local high school named after you. Let me know when they're ready to ship.

Salsa!

This recipe is similar to the one we use but our tomato plants under-achieved this year due to the cooler than usual summer.

http://www.cookingnook.com/recipe-fo...ato-salsa.html

[Skybird]

Crush them without adding anything, then freeze them in portions. If you add salt, garlic, oregano etc, these substances' natural taste will change over time. Freezing crushed (smashed?) tomatoes without anythign else added, leaves them without changing taste. I do it all the time. I love pasta and usually have several portions of unflavoured crushed tomatos in the cellar's refrigerator. But always wiothout any salt,l spice, garlic, oil or pepper. If you add these and freeze it then, you will taste a difference to freshly created tomato sauce.

Also, don'T be afraid to consider to heat them (although this does change their taste a bit for sure). Tomatos are one of the very few vegetables that win in healthiness by heating them, the heat changes some chemical agents and make it better for the consumer. I do not have the details present and cannot explain it, but if you seek for it on the web, I'm sure you find it. It'S comparable to canned corn (maize?), which gets heated before getting canned to - and it wins in quality by that.

Strange, but true.

As a German food scientist put it: we lost those 40% of our intestine that enabled our ancestors or many animals and apes of today to digest those plant ingredients this part of the enteric was meant to digest, by externalising these 40% - and calling it our kitchen and our oven from then on. It is a myth that uncooked vegetarian food or wholefood corn is always better and richer, although I admit I feel for that myth myself for many years, too (which does not necessarily mean a conclusion that superfine flour is less unhealthy). But over the past two years I learned too many medical facts that simply forced me to change my understanding of wholefood and uncooked vegetarian food theory.

Some things remain to be unhealthy, though, like too much salt, too much sugar, too much red meat, too much fat.

Anyhow, freezing unrefined smahsed tomatoes is unproblematic. Once you got themmout of the refrigeratorkl you can prioecess the paste in any way you want. You will just get a more intense separation of paste and water, which can be countered in following processing.

[Herr-Berbunch]

You say 'tomato', I say 'err, tomato as well'.

The only thing I can suggest is drink lots of bloody marys.

[joegrundman]

tomato & apple chutney - it's an anglo-indian preserved vegetable dish, to be enjoyed with any cold meal (meat, cheese and bread)

peel your tomatoes and apples

chop into small pieces

put in big pan

add some chopped onion and garlic

plenty of brown sugar and some salt

vinegar (enough sugar and vinegar to keep it from going rotten)

cinnamon, cloves, bayleaves, chillies, peppercorns, garam masala - as you like it, but should have a "spiced" taste to it

boil it up for about 3 hours until thick and dark

pour into sterile glass jars and put a tight lid on

leave for at least 1 month to mature before eating.

lasts forever unopened (i have some that's 3 years old and delicious) even after opening lasts for a long time.

[Garion]

Pizza sauce... Mmmmmm Yummy

Cheers

Garion

[nikimcbee]

Make tomato juice. That's what my grandparents used to do. They'ed throw an anaheim pepper in for a little zing.

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by MothBalls

Found a nice web page that has many options in one place. http://www.pickyourown.org/tomato_recipes.htm

We have a winner
I'll send you some unprocessed tomatoes by mail

And thanks everyone else

I'll freeze the bulk of them, especially the cherry tomatoes, I produced a train load of them this year

[Betonov]

The bulk of my produce was the Roma tomato, known in our parts as the pelate. the one used in most sauces and pizza sauces.
It was the first year I went with my own garden and it was an utter succes next year I'm expanding

[Jimbuna]

I use a fair amount in the curries I make as does the wife with her chilis and bolognese sauce so I'd be freezing them as Sky suggests.

[TarJak]

I'm with Sky and Jim on this one. I freeze em without addition and then make what I want with them when I'm ready.

One thing a lot of people don't do but should is to pickle them with vinegar, sugar and salt. Yu can add peppercorns, garlic or chilli a well but its simple to just boil up the jars, and then boil 2 cups of water, 2 cups of white vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Place the peppercorns, garlic and or chilli in the jar then fill with tomatoes prick them first to let the liquid in. Fill the jars with the pickling fluid and seal.

For added interest, use different vinegars or herbs and spices for different flavours.