As promised, I’ll share my method (not recipe, because a lot of the time, I’m winging it and not following a recipe) for one of my freezer fillers. At least once a week for the past several weeks, I’ve been buying a bucket of “seconds” tomatoes–for a dollar a bucket. Since we use a lot of canned fire roasted tomatoes in various recipes all year, I thought I’d just make my own and freeze them to use this winter.
In their raw form, tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, but since it is heat sensitive, cooked tomatoes don’t contain much vitamin C to speak of. The cooked form, especially when there is a little oil present (olive oil is a favorite choice around here), the antioxidant Lycopene is readily available–it is protective of men’s prostate health, which is something we can all appreciate: the men for obvious reasons, and the women who love them…Here is what I do:
1 bucket of seconds tomatoes, cored and cut in half along the stem side (not equator)
splash of olive oil (maybe 1/4 or 1/2 cup)
Stir/toss the tomato halves gently with a spatula or spoon so that they are all evenly coated with the olive oil. Fire up the grill (I use gas, and set the burners to medium high) and let it heat up. Using tongs, I place each tomato half, cut side down on the grill, and close the lid. After a few minutes, or when I start to see smoke, I turn the halves over so that the skin is on the grill. You may have to arrange and rearrange the tomatoes based on how fast they are cooking due to size or hot spots on the grill. Let them grill for a few more minutes. Start turning them over to see how charred the skins are. I let a few of them get quite charred, while others not as much. They are done when quite mushy and you are slightly afraid they might slip through the grill bars. Some can be more mushy than others. Put them in the bowl you tossed them around in originally and let cool a bit. Then you puree them in the food processor of your choice and store in a quart sized freezer safe container. I usually add a little smoked salt when I puree them, but you don’t have to salt at all–taste and decide for yourself!
Enjoy!
August 21, 2008
One of my favorite authors, Barbara Kingsolver, has written a book that I actually CAN’T read before bedtime because it kicks my brain into high gear. It keeps Kurt awake too, because I’m “thinking too loud”. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is her latest book and chronicles the year that she and her family ate only local foods (which would be hard for me because I just love olives too much). This book, complete with recipes, thought promoting information, and how-to’s, along with a local business called Locavorious (I wish I’d thought of the idea myself!!), which is a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that disperses its shares in the winter months with produce they have processed and frozen when things are at their peak of harvest NOW (genius!), have provided me with endless inspiration this summer. A co-worker suggested I read “Saving the Harvest” for more ideas.
I was too late in signing up for a share of the frozen CSA (a good sign–I’m not the only one that thinks this is a great idea). After I got over my initial dismay, I decided to be my OWN frozen CSA. Last week we bought a freezer that is almost as tall as I am, and I’ve been busy filling it. I started by visiting the web page for Locavorious (see link) to get a list going of things that freeze well. Then I thought of more things.
So far, I have several pints of pesto (I’ve been averaging a pint per week for the past month or so), a few gallon sized bags each of yellow and green beans, carrots, corn, strawberries. Currently caramelizing away in the crockpot are the onions I bought today at market (look for the recipe in a future post). I plan to puree them and freeze them in amounts appropriate for various uses such as soups, pizza toppings, casseroles, sauces, etc. I’ve also been pureeing fresh tomatoes (if you buy “seconds” at the farmers market, they are VERY cheap, about $1 per bucket, which makes about a quart of puree). I’m planning to follow a canning recipe from the book, but I’ve also just started a trend of fire roasting tomatoes (look for the recipe in a future post) on the grill and pureeing them–most likely they will end up in pizza sauce, chili, lasagna, soup, crockpot cassoulet…uh-oh there goes the brain again…
So far, the bottom drawer of my new toy has grass fed beef (on sale) and is the future home of chicken carcasses I’ll use to make chicken stock, which I’ll also freeze in amounts I can use for various recipes…
August 9, 2008
