Sun-Dried Tomatoes (in the Oven)

Have you ever bought sundried tomatoes to use in a pasta dish or salad? They are just bursting with tomato taste, but they can also be a bit dear at the grocery or specialty store. With all the tomatoes we've gotten this year, it's easy to make your own at home—you don't even need the sun.

For years I made sundried tomatoes from the roma tomatoes I grew in my backyard. They are the best choice, but this year I found those small round tomatoes (about 2" in diameter) we get from the Enright Ridge CSA are great candidates for drying. I took my share of tomatoes in those small ones last week, and dried a batch of them over the weekend.

Just a few simple steps will get you a delicious bag (or jar) of sundried tomatoes, too. And, when you open a jar of tomatoes preserved in oil in the middle of February—well, let's just say Proust's cookie has nothing on these little jewels for conjuring up summers past in the dead of winter.

Sundried Tomatoes

Small tomatoes--roma or other varieties
Foil
Baking sheets
Salt

Optional Ingredients for Canning Dried Tomatoes
Garlic cloves
Basil leaves
Peppercorns
Olive oil

Cut the tomatoes almost in half, so they open up like a book. Line cookie trays or baking sheets with foil, arrange tomatoes cut side up in rows, and sprinkle salt over the tomatoes.

Put the trays in an oven on low heat (180 to 200 degrees works well) and leave in heated oven for about 12 hours (doing this overnight is a good idea). When the tomatoes are dried (but not burnt), you will probably find some that are not entirely dry but still have some mush in them. That's okay if you are willing to pack them in oil and process them.

So, take any completely dry tomatoes and store them in an airtight container. You can keep these in the pantry and use them for cooking right away. Then, take the ones that have a little softness still and pack them in one or more pint canning jars. Add a peeled garlic clove, a couple of basil leaves, and a few peppercorns. Add olive oil to fill to about a half-inch from the top of the jar. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to push the tomatoes aside and let the olive oil get down between the fruits. Add a little more olive oil as needed, wipe the tops of the jar, put on the caps and bands, and process in a hot water bath for about 15 minutes.

When you open those jars in February, you have great tasty summer tomatoes for pasta, and you can use the flavored oil for salads and marinades.

Riffling Through—and Interpreting—Old “Mango” Recipes

Because we got so many varicolored peppers in this week’s share, my mom called me looking for an old recipe for relish made from mangoes—an old name for sweet peppers—that she had given me. It took a little while, but I found it typed on its original 3 x 5 index card, probably from the 1960s. I sent it to her, and then decided I’d put it on the blog, too. It’s quite succinct, but I’ll warn you—a fifty-year-old recipe needs a little interpretation, which follows. Also, I’ve halved the recipe (it originally called for two dozen “mangoes”) but you can easily double this if the peppers keep coming.

Uphouse[1] Mango[2] Relish

1 dozen red and green MANGOES (soak in HOT water[3])
8 lg. onions[4]
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. white mustard seed
1/2 Tbsp. celery seed
1 cup white vinegar

Put all peppers thru food chopper with a large knife[5] and cover with boiling water[6]. Let stand 10 minutes. Add onions and rest of ingredients. Cook 10 minutes and seal hot[7].

1. My grandparents’ neighbors were called the Uphouses, and as a kid I assumed it was because they lived in a house up at the top of my grandparents’ yard, but it turns out their name actually was “Uphouse.”
2. When I was a kid, we didn’t have green peppers; they were called mangoes. I’m told that no one around here ever ate tropical mangoes, but as green peppers turned orange and red, they looked a little like those tropical fruit, and so they got the name. I expect a few people still call them mangoes, but this mango relish uses green and red peppers. I’m sure you can substitute purple and white peppers as well.
3. I don’t know what this direction means. Do you soak them before you chop them, or after? I just don’t know.
4. My guess is you want to chop the onions, too.
5. A food chopper with a large knife—sounds like a proto-food processor, so I’m assuming you could chop them, pulsing before they turn to mush, or use a knife or some other chopping device.
6. How much boiling water? Hmmm. To cover. And it never says to drain the water. Do you? Or do you just throw in the sugar, salt, seeds, and vinegar on top of that water? Another mystery.
7. Seal hot is concise shorthand for a canning process—you want to put the hot mixture in sterilized jars, put on the lids and rings, and then put the jars in a boiling water bath. Since it has vinegar in the mixture, you don’t need to pressure can the relish, as it’s acidic. Probably best to leave it in the boiling water bath for 5 to 10 minutes. When you take the jars out, you should hear them click as the seal forms.

If you expect to eat the relish with a couple of weeks, you can probably safely put it in sterilized jars and refrigerate it without canning. And let me know if you figure out the hot water soak and whether or not to drain the boiling water. I’ll probably give it a try at some point, so if I figure it out I’ll post an addendum to this blog entry, too. One final note: As I recall, this relish is really delicious, well worth trying with our large "mango" harvest.

Top Ten Things to Do with a Surfeit of Tomatoes

We’re going to get a bumper crop of tomatoes in the next few weeks. How great is that? The only thing is, you’ll need to figure out some ways to keep some of them for later. Even the most ardent tomato fan, like me, can’t eat tomatoes morning, noon, and night. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind when the tomatoes start rolling in; we’ll start posting recipes for some of these ideas soon, too!

10. Cook up a big batch of ketchup. How cool will it be to have homemade ketchup for your burgers and fries?
9. Experiment with exquisitely flavored spaghetti sauce and freeze it to enjoy the essence of summer in the middle of winter.
8. Chop them up for tomato chutney, relish, chop-chop, or whatever you call it, to can and keep or jar and keep for a long time in the fridge.
7. Use them for a facial. It's true; they are an astringent and can allegedly clear up acne, open pores, and generally help your skin.
6. Create a French country pizza—fresh dough topped with olive oil, sliced tomatoes, and mozzarella. Or bake them in a pie. A tart actually, but there are lots of recipes for tomato tarts out there.
5. Process a few jars of tomato jam (great with homemade ricotta on homemade bread).
4. Make sun-dried tomatoes. You can do it in the oven, and if they aren’t completely dry, they also keep marvelously packed in olive oil with garlic and spices. When you want to use them, drain them and toss with pasta; save the olive oil to make a delicious salad dressing, too.
3. Blanch, peel, and freeze them in freezer bags to make sauce or add to stews all winter.
2. Put together a gallon of gazpacho. It’s no-cook (except for skinning the tomatoes) and the perfect food for hot summer days.

And the number 1, most delicious way to enjoy homegrown Ohio Valley tomatoes—slice and eat them with a little salt and pepper or oil and vinegar—enjoy the bounty!

Look for more ideas and recipes coming soon . . . and if you have a favorite recipe to share, send it to the Enright CSA blog at farm@pricehill.org or to the Enright Greenhouse Gazette at hotchsdirt@gmail.com.