Taming the Tomato Jungle
It's a jungle out there! In my garden,
that is. The tomatoes have taken over, toppling the flimsy wire cages
that were supposed to contain and support them. I got a late start
getting my tomatoes planted this year, but I've got a bumper crop
now. I'm drying tomatoes to use in soups and stews, roasting
tomatoes and packing them in jars of olive oil (stored in the
freezer) for dipping bread into or adding to winter salads. I'll soon
be canning tomatoes and tomato juice and freezing purée.
We grow our own because tomatoes
ripened on the vine taste the very best. You can find excellent
locally grown tomatoes with exquisite flavor in all shapes, sizes and
colors at markets throughout the county. There are heirloom varieties
in shades of rosy pink and purple to almost black. Look for green
striped tomatoes, yellow and orange tomatoes, pear-shaped tomatoes
and tiny cherry and grape tomatoes. And don't overlook the Roma or
Italian plum tomatoes. Bright red and oblong, they are meatier than
the juicy “slicing” tomatoes. Roma types, and San Marzanos in
particular, make especially good tomato sauce.
My husband eats tomatoes the way some
folks eat apples; he just picks one out of the basket and bites right
into it. My son loves a great bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. My
favorite way to eat tomatoes? Dress them with basil, garlic, olive
oil and balsamic vinegar and pile them high on a crusty baguette
slice. Bruschetta is meant to be an appetizer, but to my mind, if
it's made with good bread and tomatoes at their peak, I can make a
meal of it.
How about some soup? Everything you
need for gazpacho, a cold tomato and vegetable soup, is in season
right now. Cucumbers, peppers, garlic, and onions blended with your
perfectly ripe tomatoes become a refreshing first course for these
hot summer nights.
Both of the following recipes include
vinegar. Bruschetta is traditionally made with dark, slightly sweet
balsamic vinegar. I like to use apple cider vinegar in gazpacho, but
I've also use rice vinegar. Just the other
day I was picking up a gallon of apple cider vinegar and noticed
that the store brand was more expensive than the famous name brand
vinegar.
Thinking that was odd, I took a moment to compare the
labels. Turns out, the name brand vinegar is “apple-flavored”
vinegar distilled from grain. (I'm not sure if that would affect
someone who is gluten-sensitive.) It also contains natural flavor
with caramel color. The store brand's only ingredients are apple
cider vinegar diluted with water to 5% acidity.
The flavored type
would be fine for filling my homemade fruit fly trap. When it comes
to what I eat, I always go for the real thing.
