Are You Besieged by Tomatoes?

Is your garden inundated with tomatoes?  This has turned out to be a phenomenal year for our favorite summer fruit – especially when we remember this time last year when all the tomato plants were covered in blight, and a fresh local tomato was worth its weight in gold.

Right now, tomatoes are at their peak and you should be picking ripe fruit every day.  The more you pick, the more the plant will produce.  In our garden, we have several different varieties:  Sun Gold cherry tomatoes taste fantastic right off the vine.  July 4th, which did in fact produce its first fruit in time for the fireworks – these tomatoes are small, round and very flavorful.  Lemon Boy is a gorgeous golden yellow tomato with low acidity.  San Marzano and Italian plum tomatoes are perfect for making sauce, though they are equally delicious dried in a slow oven and put up in olive oil.  The heirlooms are slow to ripen, but oh, so worth the wait.

If your tomatoes are getting the better of you, here are a couple of recipes to help you keep them under control.

Gazpacho is a cold summer soup and incredibly easy. The kids can make it.  Put tomatoes, peeled cucumbers, some chopped onion and some stale bread into a blender with olive oil, a little wine vinegar and some salt.  Blend and chill.  Yum!

Gratin Tomatoes are good hot or cold.  Cut large tomatoes in half, scoop out seeds.  Stuff with chopped garlic, parsley and breadcrumbs.  Drizzle with olive oil, add salt.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Crunchy Tomato Bits are sweet, crunchy and delicious sprinkled over a salad.  Cut plum tomatoes in half, scoop out seeds and place on a baking rack over a cookie sheet.  Dry out in a 200° oven until crunchy.  Break into pieces and store in a Ziploc bag.

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