“It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.”
Lewis Grizzard
Tomatoes form an integral part of our everyday food, often like the butter on our daily bread. Whether it’s a simple tossed salad, soup, salsa, juice, pizza sauce, chicken curry or ketchup … it seems to rule the palate. Think tomatoes, think typically red edible juicy fruit {has seeds, is technically fruit}, one that originated in South America, but can be found in every little corner of the world. This heat loving crop is in season in India the whole year round, but not so in many other places, where it is a ‘seasonal vegetable‘, thus the need to preserve it when the season is at it’s peak.
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Preserve the Bounty: August 2010 |
A little bit about the Preserve the Bounty Challenge hosted at Nourished Kitchen. In the month of August we’re setting aside our pressure canners and we’ll be preserving the bounty of the summer season naturally while optimizing the nutrition of the foods we put up for winter. Over the course of 5 weeks we’ll cover sun-drying, oil curing, freezing, fermentation and salt-curing – traditional techniques that optimize nutrition and don’t heat up the kitchen like canning.
Week # 1 was Fermentation where I posted Ottolenghi’s Preserved Limes. Further inspired, I decided to pickle some local peppers and made a jar of Pickled Jalapeños.
Week #2: Oil & Fat
Preservation by oil and fat is a traditional technique that has been practiced for a very, very long time. It’s an ancient technique, really and it’s most prevalent in the Mediterranean where olive oil is plentiful. Oils and fats are remarkable preservatives and can keep fresh foods and herbs in good condition for several months or even years, provided proper conditions are met for optimal storage. Certain foods are better suited to certain preservation methods than others. Among the foods most well suited to preservation by oil or fat including mushrooms, garlic, herbs, tomatoes (fresh and dried) and eggplant. … Nourished Kitchen
It’s important to note that, while quite rare, botulism spores can contaminate low-acid foods (like garlic) that are preserved in oil or fat when it is kept at room temperature. For this reason, it’s critical that you either keep your oil-preserved food in the refrigerator or freezer (unappealing, I know) or that you add a bit of acid to the oil which should keep the toxin at bay … Nourished Kitchen
To Preserve in Oil {Preferably Olive Oil} – Recipe from Nourished KitchenClean your vegetables and pack them in a quart-sized mason jar.
Add spices and herbs that suit you.
Add about 1/4 cup cider or wine vinegar, preferably raw.
Cover with oil.
Allow to marinate at room temperature for at least a month, shaking periodically to distribute the the vinegar.
After a month, you can open the jar, scoop out what you need, place the lid back on the jar and continue storing in a cool, dark place.
I made just a small batch of preserved tomatoes since I have a tiny little oven. If you wish to do a larger batch it is worthwhile reading this post by Chez Panise – Tomato Confit: oven-dried tomato in olive oil. Parboiling the oven dried tomatoes before canning them seems a more sure shot way, but for now I am content with doing small batches that I can use up sooner.
There are over 7000 listed varieties of tomatoes worldwide, and one of the most fascinating ones are heirloom tomatoes {which we don’t get to see in India}. Though it is botanically a berry, a subset of fruit, the tomato is a vegetable for culinary purposes, because of its savory flavor. Tomatoes are acidic, making them especially easy to preserve in home canning whole, in pieces, as tomato sauce or paste. The fruit is also preserved by drying, often in the sun, and sold either in bags or in jars with oil.
This recipe at Cook Sister posted by the wonderful & hilarious Jeanne has been in my bookmarked folder forever! Small wonder that I reached there pronto when I read this weeks challenge. Oooh delicious, tangy, dried tomato bits, some which fell into my greedy little mouth. For that Jeanne is to blame. She should have never mentioned the odd nibble!! I loved the vibrant end result – a heady mix of garlic, oregano and tangy tomato in a wonderful olive oil. Try the recipe, and you will know!!
Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Adapted from Jeanne’s recipe @ Cook SisterAbout a dozen large, ripe tomatoes2 Tbsp good olive oil2 Tbsp dried oregano3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped2-3 tbsp sea saltEnough good quality extra virgin olive oil to cover cooked tomatoes when placed in a jar {I used Borges from here}Method
Wash the tomatoes and cut into halves or into quarters, and remove and discard seeds. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and leave cut side down for about an hour for extra water to drain.Mix the oil, garlic and spices together in a large bowl and toss the tomatoes in the mixture until well coated.Line a sheet with parchment paper and arrange the tomatoes on it, cut side down.Place the baking sheet in an oven that has been preheated to 100C. Sit back, relax and wait for the house to start smelling glorious.You will begin to see a difference after 2-3 hours – a little shriveling. Check them after about 4-6 hours depending the size and quality of tomatoes, and on the temperature of your oven, they should be ready. The tomatoes should have shrunk to about half to a third of their original size, the skin should be puckered and should be able to be pinched off with relative ease.Remove from the oven when done. Remove the skins while they are still warm if you like, but, like Jeanne, I like leaving the skin on. You can either use them immediately, freeze them in batches to use throughout winter, or put them in a glass jar, cover with olive oil and store them in the fridge and use within a week.Note: I don’t recommend storing them for longer in view of botulism fears in the long run.
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