tomatoes

[Patf]

One of the mysteries of France - what do french gardeners do with the vast amounts of tomatoes that they produce? Most people seem to have at least 20 plants. We have 6 and have already picked several kilos.

I slice some for salads and have made some chutney. But there's still about half the crop to come. I bought the plants as "cherry tomatoes" but they've become giants.

So seriously, what do french people do with them all? Pat. 

[Russethouse]

Several french friends have two, three course meals a day, they use tomato salad etc as a starter.

[Clair]

Salade de tomates

Tomates provençales

Tomates farcies au riz

Tomates farcies à la viande

Flan à la tomate

Tarte tomates-mozzarella

Velouté de tomate

Sauce tomate

Ratatouille

Pipérade...

peel and freeze

give to the relatives who live in town and don't have a garden

give to neighbours...

EDIT: Cooking with tomatoes

[Bugsy]

SOUP, Yummy and very good for you.

[Clair]

One of my favourites is Tomates farcies. To keep the lids looking fresh and not frazzled round the edges, put them upside down on the tomato before cooking and turn them the right way up before serving (works for peppers too).

[Patf]

Thanks for all the ideas, will try some . I know soup is good, I have made that. 

Another problem is that husband won't eat tomatoes, so I try to disguise them. Not very easy .

[andyh4]

Puree them cook with onions and garlic until liquid.  Sieve or put through a potato ricer (to take out the bits of skin).  Put into containers and freeze.

 

Can be used as the base for soups, chilli, Italian sauces or even curries - although proper curry should not have tomato in it sinc ethis is not an Indian plant.

 

Food snob - Moi?

[Lotmontel]

although proper curry should not have tomato in it sinc ethis is not an Indian plant.

 

Has anybody told Madhur Jaffrey this? [:-))]

[Clair]

My kind gardening neighbour has just brought me another basketful of tomatoes...

I oven-roasted the lot he gave me last week and have added half of those to some fresh ones from this morning to make a delicious spicy tomato soup (it is cold here at the moment!!).

I will ladle half the soup into manageable-sized freezer bags and keep the other half in the fridge as soup or reduced it down as tomato sauce.

I am just waiting for the off-peak electricity rate to kick off so I can put 3 trays of halved fresh tomatoes to dry in the oven. I will leave them 3 hours at 120°C (250°F) and decant them into freezer bags for use as sauce or soup this winter.

[Patf]

So what do you do with these frozen dried tomatoes when you want to use them? I suppose let them thaw out first, then do you soak them in boiling water?

I saw this gadget advertised on another forum: http://www2.westfalia.net/shops/household/kitchen/cooking_desiccating_grilling/desiccating_appliances/193811-food_dehydrator.htm

It might be worth investing in one if you have a lot of surplus produce. Pat.

[Clair]

They're not dried, just semi-dried with caramelised juices.

I freeze them in small bags (1l) and they can be thrown into stock for soups, heated then whizzed, or into a pan with olive oil and onions for a quick tomato sauce.

I have looked into dehydrators, but with kitchen space at a premium, decided the oven would do [:D]

[Hoddy]

What I would like is a relatively inexpensive way of preserving tomato pulp which could later be made into sauces and soups and which doesn't involve drying. I tried drying last year and produced some wonderful mould and the only bottling recipes I've found include whole tomatoes and involve sugar or vinegar; neither of which I want to use. Any ideas ?

Hoddy

 

[Clair]

Hoddy, have a look here: http://www.fao.org/docrep/S6570F/S6570F0b.htm#Table

[Hoddy]

Thanks for an interesting link Clair. I was hoping someone could come up with an idea that wouldn't involve me in buying yet more gadgets !

Hoddy

[5-element]

[quote user="Clair"]
I am just waiting for the off-peak electricity rate to kick off so I can put 3 trays of halved fresh tomatoes to dry in the oven. I will leave them 3 hours at 120°C (250°F) and decant them into freezer bags for use as sauce or soup this winter.
[/quote]

What a wonderful idea Clair, I do make "tomates confites" which are as you described (hours inb oven), but I never thought of freezing them!!! I bet it willbe fabulous to re-discover them in winter, as they explode with flavour! (I only put a pinch of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of oregano on them, and (optioal) a little drizzle of olive oil . Now I'd better get going and make all the surplus like that and freeze them.

Tomates confites make a very good starter - you can serve tapenade as well as part of the starter.

[Clair]

The 3 trays of tomatoes have been decanted into 5 freezer bags of 300g each.

I did put some olive oil, a pinch of salt and sugar and sprinkled some fresh thyme on them... [:)]

[babcock]

[quote user="Lotmontel"]

although proper curry should not have tomato in it sinc ethis is not an Indian plant.

 

Has anybody told Madhur Jaffrey this? [:-))]

[/quote]

Tomatoes are not an Italian plant either nor French. Aubergine is not a French plant.Ingredients for ratatouille looking a bit short?

[abbo2]

I was hoping someone could come up with an idea that wouldn't involve me in buying yet more gadgets !

You could bottle them, we do quite successfully each year. 

Fry in oil 1 part onion, when soft add 5 parts toms, best skinned but if you dont mind skin then leave it.  Boil gently for 2 or 3 hours until you have a chutney like consistancy, thick and lumpy, and then put in jam jars, the ones with twist lids are best, if you do this when hot it creates a vacunm. We do this most years and have never had a jar go off.

Once you open the jar you can season as to your chosen use, garlic more onions chilli mushrooms etc