Category: Tomato Recipes

Recipes for cooking with tomatoes

Smoked Tomato Martini Recipe from Farm to Jar

This post has been moved to my other blog farmtojar.com so as not to get dinged for putting duplicate posts up.  It’s a great recipe and it’s from me, but I decided to have its home over at the more general blog.  Here’s a photo if you’re interested.

smoked tomato martini rimmed with tomato salt

A Few Easy Recipe Ideas to Satisfy Those Tomato Cravings in the Middle of Winter

By Cyndy  Crist    

For those of us who love good tomatoes, not the kind that look pretty but have no taste, winters can be pretty frustrating.  Although canned or frozen tomatoes can be used in pretty much any cooked dish, they don’t give you that great, earthy taste of summer.  I have found a few ways to get pretty good tomato flavor, even on the coldest, snowiest day, using fresh cherry tomatoes, preferably organic.  Perhaps because of the smaller size, they simply don’t seem to be as lacking in either flavor or texture as their “full-sized” cousins.  And it may just be my imagination, but it seems to me that grape tomatoes are the best choice of those available in the winter.

Here are three of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh cherry tomatoes in the dead of winter (or any time of year when good, fresh, local tomatoes aren’t an option).

Oven-roasted cherry tomatoes. 

Roasting is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to prepare tomatoes with great, deep flavor, and there are lots of variations to try.  Start with a pint or two of tomatoes, some decent olive oil, some good salt (I like Maldon for a little crunch), and pepper tossed together in a roasting pan or tray.  Then choose an oven temperature and use a little creativity to get the results you want.  Here are a few options:

  • For something similar to sun-dried tomatoes, slow-roast them at 225 degrees for up to 3 hours.   You’ll find a great description of this approach and ideas about how to use slow-roasted tomatoes in Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan, one of my favorite recent cookbooks.  Although many know Greenspan primarily for her baking cookbooks, this volume leaves no doubt that her skills aren’t limited to the oven.
  • For tomatoes that retain more shape and moisture, roast them at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time.  Roasting at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes will give you lots of deep flavor, while roasting at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or more will yield a “gentler” but still tasty result.
  • Vary the flavor with your choice of herbs or seasoning. Whole sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme work well, while dried oregano or torn or shredded leaves of basil tossed with the tomatoes will give you a more traditional Italian flavor.  Garlic can add great flavor, but you’ll need to take care that it doesn’t burn.  To enhance caramelization, toss in a little sugar.

Tomatoes roasted at a higher temperature for a shorter time are great as a side dish, while any variation is great with eggs (stirred into a scramble or folded into an omelet or frittata) or served with roasted meat or chicken.

Cook’s Note: Don’t waste your best extra virgin olive oil in this recipe.  The high heat will diminish the great flavor for which you’ve paid a premium, so use your best EVOO in salad dressings and to drizzle on finished dishes and keep a less expensive one on hand for roasting.  

Tomato-basil salad   

This one is as easy as it comes.   Toss the tomatoes, whole or halved, with thin strips (chiffonade) of fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. If you want, you can add a splash of good vinegar (preferably red wine or balsamic) or some fresh lemon zest for a little brightness.  If basil is too pricey this time of year or unavailable, many other green herbs are fine substitutes.   Another option is to toss the tomatoes with pesto and/or with some fresh mozzarella.

For best flavor, let your tomatoes sit on the counter for an hour or so before eating.  These are great as a snack or side dish or tossed in a salad.

Cook’s Note: Because refrigerating tomatoes destroys their flavor and texture, make only enough of this salad to consume the day it is made.  Also, make a mental note now to take advantage of the glut of late summer basil at farmers’ market to turn into pesto to freeze for cold, winter days when a sunny taste of summer is especially welcome.  My favorite recipe is in Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking; she tells you specifically how to get the best results if you’re going to freeze your pesto

Sauteed tomatoes 

While roasting cherry tomatoes deepens their flavor, sautéeing them in a pan is quick and easy and retains fresh taste.  You can use butter or olive oil for this one, or a combination of the two.  Any number of herbs work well in this dish.  Oregano and basil are most traditional, but dill, l’herbes de Provence, savory, or marjoram are also good.  For a “south of the border” flavor try adding a little chile and cumin.

For more complexity of  flavor, sauté chopped onions, shallots, and/or garlic in the oil before adding the tomatoes, or stir in a little cream at the end of the cooking time for richness.  These are great spooned on top of chicken, steaks, pork chops, or fish, tossed with pasta, or used in just about any dish that calls for canned tomatoes.

Cook’s Note:  The last time I made these, I used smoked olive oil, a product I’d never tried before, and I was blown away by the flavor it added.  I bought mine at Williams-Sonoma and have seen it offered by Amazon and Open Sky, but it’s also available on-line directly from the producers, The Smoked Olive.

Using Sun-Dried and Smoked Heirloom Tomatoes in Winter Recipes: Skillet Pizza

Last year I grew a lot of Principe Borghese tomatoes for drying and they are the best, bar none, for making sun-dried tomatoes (or oven-dried).  I sold most of them at the St. Paul Farmers’ market in the fall, but I managed to keep enough for me to cook with this winter.  They add the most intense tomato flavor to any tomato-based dish you may be making, and they are really easy to use.  Just soak them for about 20 minutes in warm water, drain, dry and they’re ready for cooking (and keep the drained tomato water for other uses, like tomato martinis).

The reason the Principe Borghese variety of heirloom tomato is so wonderful for drying is two-fold:

  • the flavor is an intense classic acid tomato flavor that you get with larger globe tomatoes.  It is not the sweet or mild cherry tomato flavor, which is wonderful for eating out of hand and in salads but not intense enough for cooking with in my opinion.
  • they are the perfect size for drying, and they are meaty rather than juicy.  You can just cut them in half, place them on the drying rack and they dry quickly, keeping their bright color.

If you want step by step on how to dry your own, see this post at thefarmtojar blog.

I also tried smoking tomatoes last fall and have been using them together with the dried tomatoes for some really outstanding flavorable dishes.  I haven’t got the whole smoking thing down yet, but I’ll be concentrating on that process with this year’s crop.  Last August I used all different varieties of heirlooms and smoked them with an outdoor smoker on my deck.  While the flavor of these smoked tomatoes is great, they were more much more difficult than the Principe Borghese to store, due to the juiciness of the fruit making them pretty soft after smoking.   I ended up putting them in a ziplock and freezing them.  After talking to some farmers at the Ferry Building Farmers’ market in San Francisco this January, I realize that next year  I am going to have to dry them in the food drier, as well as giving them time in the smoker.  Now the debatable question seems to be:  Should I dry them slightly BEFORE smoking, or should I smoke them first and then finish them by drying them off?

I’m going to write to my favorite guru on all things regarding science and cooking, Dave Arnold at Cookingissues.com.  He has a really interesting podcast every Tuesday on Heritage Radio that I listen to without fail.  He’s kind of the irreverent Harold McGee of the podcast world.  I love so many of the food podcasts and have learned so much from these people that are sharing their expertise for free on itunes. I’ll let you know what he says regarding smoking tomatoes.

One of the first things I tried this winter with the smoked and dried tomatoes is a pizza.

 

I used the pizza dough recipe from Cooks Illustrated because a) it was quick, b) I like the idea of using a little beer to get the yeast taste, and c) there is nothing wrong with having a half bottle of brown ale left over to drink with the pizza.  It made a really nice crisp, tasty dough…almost like a flatbread.  I can’t post the dough recipe, as Cooks Illustrated does not appreciate sharing their recipes online, but it is from this issue:  Cooks Country, August/September, 2008.  You can find several renditions of skillet pizza dough online. Basically this dough requires some flour, a little sugar, a little salt, and some baking powder in a food processor, with some NewCastle Brown Ale added while the processor is on.

 

My recipe for the Sun-Dried Skillet Pizza:

9″ round of thin pizza dough (see above)

1  cup sun-dried tomatoes

1/2 cup smoked tomatoes

3 Tbsp. olive oil

4 oz. buffalo mozzarella cheese, torn into 1″ pieces

2 cloves garlic, finley minced

1/4 cup green scallions, chopped

 

Directions:

  1. Soak the tomatoes in warm water to cover for about 20 minutes while you are making the dough.  Drain the tomatoes, reserving the tomato water for later uses.  Dry the tomatoes a little with a paper towel.
  2. Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large cast iron skillet until just smoking
  3. Place the rolled-out dough round in the skillet and cook over med heat for about 3 minutes.  While it is cooking, poke the bubbles that form with the tines of a fork to release the air and keep the dough flat.
  4. When the bottom of the dough begins to crisp and brown (about 3 min.), use a pair of tongs to turn the dough over in the skillet
  5. Place the tomatoes on top of the dough and the mozzarella on top of the tomatoes.  Sprinkle with the garlic and the scallions.
  6. Cover the skillet and turn the heat to med-low.  Cook covered about 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

 

I loved the intensity of the tomatoes on this pizza.  I plan on trying it with other dough recipes also, but it was just right with this thin, crispy crust.

Cheers,

Dorothy