The Tomatoes Are Ready And So Are We 6/25/2015
Tomatoes have a rich flavor, high liquid content, very soft flesh which breaks down easily, and the right composition to thicken into a sauce when they are cooked (without the need of thickeners such as roux). All of these qualities make them ideal for simple and appealing sauces. The simplest tomato sauces consist just of chopped tomato flesh cooked in a little olive oil and simmered until it loses its raw flavor, and seasoned with salt.
Optionally tomato skins may be scalded and peeled according to texture (especially thicker pelati paste varieties) and tomato seeds may be removed to avoid their bitterness.
They do not get fresher than this
Right out of the garden
We have oodles of them
While picking tomatoes we kept looking for cantaloupe
Be careful of the hot water
Plop the tomatoes into boiling water for a few minutes
The water is cool and clean at first
Them toss them into ice water... The skin almost falls off
Did You Know? - How it all began. Tomatoes are thought to originate in Peru. The name comes from the Aztec "xitomatl," which means "plump thing with a navel".
Love and paradise. When the tomato was introduced to Europe in the 1500s, The French called it "the apple of love." The Germans called it "the apple of paradise."
Then you core and peel the tomatoes... After they cool down a bit
Did You Know? - Tomato cousins. Tomato is a cousin of the eggplant, red pepper, ground cherry, potato, and the highly toxic belladonna (a herbaceous perennial, also known as the nightshade or solanaccae, that has historically been used as both a medicine and poison).
Squish by hand to remove many of the seeds
and toss into a colander
Our green colander fits just right inside the white one so we can squeeze
as much moisture out of the tomato as we can
Now they are ready for the food processor
Into the processor they go!
Did You Know? - Heaviest tomato. The heaviest tomato on record weighed in at 3.51 kg (7 pounds 12 ounces). A "delicious" variety, it was grown grown by Gordon Graham of Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986. Gordon sliced the tomato to make sandwiches for 21 family members.
Largest plant. The largest tomato plant (a "Sungold" variety), recorded in 2000, reached 19.8 meters (65 feet) in length and was grown by Nutriculture Ltd. of Mawdesley, Lancashire, UK.
Biggest tomato tree. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest tomato tree grows at Walt Disney World Resort's experimental greenhouse and yields a harvest of more than 32,000 tomatoes and weighs 1,151.84 pounds (522 kg). The plant was discovered in Beijing, China, by Yong Huang, Epcot's manager of agricultural science, who took its seeds and grew them in the experimental greenhouse. Today, the plant produces thousands of golf ball-sized tomatoes that are served at Walt Disney World's restaurants, and can be seen by tourists riding the "Living With the Land" boat ride at the Epcot Center.
Official veggie and official fruit. The tomato serves as both the official state vegetable and the official state fruit of Arkansas, in honor of the South Arkansas Vine Ripe Pink Tomato, sometimes known as "Bradley Pink."
Official state beverage. Tomato juice is the official state beverage of Ohio.
Then into the food processor
...and finally into the pot to cook for four or more hours
Just getting started
We filled up both pots and them some
Let it lightly boil all afternoon to remove the excess water
Beautiful color and smell
Five quarts of fresh tomato sauce is ready to be used!