It is tomato sauce time

[rareboy]

This year we have a variety of yellow, Oxheart and a few other heritage varieties and I am reducing about the last of them for the final batch of tomato sauce.

And my God, this is without doubt the best tomato sauce season ever! Perfectly balanced with sweetness and acidity and just a great consistency.

Not sure as to how many here are harvesting and processing, but what a year it has been for beets, potatoes, Chard and Tomatoes. Beans sucked, but I am willing to overlook.

 

[me203]

I used to sometimes grow a few vegetables. Never enough to actually have any practical value--but it was fun having a few tomatoes and I'd grown myself. I half thought of doing it this year, but never got around to it. I now wish I had--I think it might have been a decent year. Oh, well. There is next year. (At which time, I might remember the regret from this year. Do that light gardening. And thus tempt the weather gods to give us a terrible summer. )

My father had a garden when I was growing up. It was big enough that it did have some practical value. I remember my mother telling me that when he grew tomatoes (when I was very young, and we lived somepalce they did well), there would be a good crop each year. She'd make some sort of tomato freezer sauce. If I ever have more freezer space, I'd be tempted to try making some (even if I have to buy tomatoes for it).

 

[rareboy]

There really is nothing to compare with garden grown tomatoes...and not those bland tasteless things in the store or out of the greenhouse, but sun-ripened on the vine classic tomatoes.

I would say that the beefsteak tomatoes from our local nursery were terrible, but the others more than made up for them.

We are now down to the green tomatoes that I will let ripen as much as possible in the garden and then bring in to finish is the solarium...never as good, but still better than store bought.

And we will have one feed of fried green tomatoes at least.

 

[Peloso]

Tomatoes are arguably my favorite vegetable (fruit?) solely because they are made into tomato sauce.

I don't make my own because previous attempts have left me with something between salsa and ketchup.

My mother made the best. Or maybe I think it's the best because it's what I grew up eating. I miss her sauce, but it's a small price to pay for not having her around anymore.

Nowadays I get my sauce from https://www.pastosa.com/. Their flagship store is within walking distance. Just a few hours ago I was there and got 2 quarts of sauce, a pound of roasted vegetables and some pasta salad.

 

[me203]

There really is nothing to compare with garden grown tomatoes...and not those bland tasteless things in the store or out of the greenhouse, but sun-ripened on the vine classic tomatoes.

There was a time when I'd refuse to buy tomatoes in the grocery store produce department. It seemed pointless--no taste, and often sour. I don't think it's quite as bad now--but the tomatoes aren't great. I only buy in summer.

I'd like to have a setup where I could grow a good crop of tomatoes, myself. Partly for summer eating. But also finding ways of saving for winter use (e.g., freezer tomato sauce). I use tomatoes heavily in cooking--and I'd like to get away from using canned goods. I'm concerned about can linings like BPA. (BPA seems to be getting phased out--but I've heard some suggest the replacement likely isn't much better.)

We are now down to the green tomatoes that I will let ripen as much as possible in the garden and then bring in to finish is the solarium...never as good, but still better than store bought.

Another thing my mother told me was that we'd bring in the end of season green tomatoes and let them "ripen." They won't really ripen, but I'd guess they were at least as good as grocrey store tomatoes. Thsoe, I imagine, are probably picked too early so they can survive shipping.

And there are things one can do with green tomatoes. Past fried, I've heard of using green tomatoes for jam.

 

[me203]

Tomatoes are arguably my favorite vegetable (fruit?) solely because they are made into tomato sauce.

Fruit.

As the saying goes, "Knowledge is knowing that tomatoes are a fruit. Wisdom is not using them in fruit salad."

My high school biology teacher said a lot of what we call vegetables are actually technically fruit, since they are or contain seeds.

 

[NotHardUp1]

The only tomatoes I find at the grocery that taste like tomatoes much are the grape variety. The rest are almost pointless.

As to the designation, anything that is born of a flower's ovary is a fruit, but that isn't relevant in cooking and cuisine. Fruit in cuisine is a sweet fruit of a plant served as either a salad or dessert. Tomatoes do wind up in salads, but not the sweet kind.

So, tomatoes (like squash, okra, beans, and corn) are botanical fruits served in vegetable dishes in a meal. Even a tomato aspic is a vegetable dish.

 

[NotHardUp1]

The only tomatoes I find at the grocery that taste like tomatoes much are the grape variety. The rest are almost pointless.

As to the designation, anything that is born of a flower's ovary is a fruit, but that isn't relevant in cooking and cuisine. Fruit in cuisine is a sweet fruit of a plant served as either a salad or dessert. Tomatoes do wind up in salads, but not the sweet kind.

So, tomatoes (like squash, okra, beans, and corn) are botanical fruits served in vegetable dishes in a meal. Even a tomato aspic is a vegetable dish.

Notable exceptions to fruits in the vegetable course are asparagus, brussel sprouts, onions, potatoes, cabbages, beets, turninps, carrots, parsnips, celery, greens, and endive.

 

[me203]

Cherry tomatoes are often the best grocery store bet for me. And being a lazy sloth, I appreciate the fact they don't need to be chopped before use.

Past culinary designations of what's a fruit and what's a vegetable, there would probably be nutritional considerations that would make a tomato a vegetable.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Nutritionally, there is no strict definition of a vegetable. It's usually just a plant course that is not a starch and not a sweet fruit.

 

[me203]

And a tomato should fit into the "not starch" and "not sweet fruit" model.

 

[NotHardUp1]

I took photos of a tomato I had sitting near the sink, ripening, from the store.

I noticed it had acne.

One of the bumps had broken the surface.

Then I looked closely, and it was the stem of a seed sprouting.

It is kinda weird. I didn't know seeds sprouted before the fruit rotted. I wonder if their selection has caused some weird reactions in the fruit.

 

[NotHardUp1]

 

[Ludlow]

My home-grown tomatoes have been used to make a tomato and goat's cheese salad tossed in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, black pepper and basil; and a rich sauce that I use to make a chorizo and vegetable stew loaded with courgettes, peppers, onions, beans, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce and beef stock (which I eat with hunks of focaccia. Delicious.

 

[pornoboy]

Love it..! esp. sugo stile​