After chutney day, I realized that I had an abundance of tomatoes and decided to do crushed tomatoes next. I use a ton of crushed tomatoes (in chili, "Mexican" rice, vegetable stews, toppings for couscous, pizza, and so much more) so I thought that tomatoes would be a logical next thing to try. I remember my mom canning jar after jar of tomatoes and how messy the kitchen would be. The thing is, I know this is a false memory. My mother is a fastidious person and would not tolerate a mess on the part of the tomatoes. They simply wouldn't dare to be anything less than tidy. In my kitchen, though, all bets were off and there were tomatoes everywhere.
I had a bunch to process because, in addition to joining a CSA this year, we planted six tomato plants which have proven to be a study in victory over neglect. We seriously have not done a single good think to these planst except for maybe watering now and again and we have dozens and dozens of tomatoes. The CSA has sent home probably about another dozen or so. Since we simply could not eat them all the way I really prefer (just sliced and topped with a little parmesan), they had to be canned. Strictly speaking, they're not the "right" kind of tomatoes for canning. These are regular slicing tomatoes and all of the books specifically say to get the plum type since they are meatier and have fewer seeds. Well, bully for them. I don't have plum tomatoes, I have slicing tomatoes so that's what I'm going to use. So far, I've done the following:
1) Dip tomatoes into boiling water for 30-60 seconds, or until the skins split.
2) Dip hot tomatoes into cold water and slip the skins off (you know, I never knew what that meant until the other day. The skins really do slip right off as if the tomato had just been trying on a sweater. Strange.)
3) Put all of the peeled tomatoes into a big pot and smash, smash, smash them.
4) Refrigerate pot of tomatoes until after Wednesday night's Linear Programming class, when you can process them.
So this is where I am in the whole tomato experiment. I figure a little lemon juice and kosher salt, along with about an hour on Wednesday night should get me a couple of pints of crushed tomatoes. Once I figure out how I'm going to finish the whole business I'll let you know.
The CSA, in addition to providing such wonderful slicing/canning tomatoes, has also sent home a few dozen cherry and grape tomatoes in yellow and red. These, I'm not ashamed to say, I did not share with anyone else in the house. I sliced them, drizzled them with a bit of Chaivetta's Italian Dressing (which, although not available in most of the country, is worth ordering - it is hands down the best herby/spicy "Italian" dressing I have ever had - plus, if you buy it you'll be supporting a small business in the face of increased standardization in our food supply). A sprinkle of pepper feta and a few pine nuts later and I was in tomato heaven.