How to Care for Tomatoes and Make Them Last + Yummy Recipes

I walk in the garden and see bright beautiful tomatoes of all sides.

1. Do not grow too many tomatoes at once, otherwise you’ll be getting a whole crop of them and you’ll have too many tomatoes growing together. They’ll lean on each other and create white spots on the tomatoes, which is lack of oxygen in that area.
2. Don’t over water-this causes splits and molds
3. Dispose of ones with splits because they spread mold to others
4. Keep an eye out for fruit flies.
5. Harvest them everyday or they will die
6. While they are growing, keep them out of contact with each other because this causes damage to others and itself, including white spots, which is a lack of oxygen in that area.
7. Freeze them to reuse later for use in sauces or casseroles.
8. Keep them out of the refrigerator or it causes them to get soft and squishy fast.
9. Keep them in paper bags to keep tomatoes fresh and won’t sweat them like plastic bags.

Tomato Soup

A rich and creamy recipe for tomato soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds firm tomatoes - skinned and roughly chopped

1 onion – peeled and finely chopped

1 clove of garlic (I use more) – crushed

2 ounces butter

2 cups beef stock

Baking soda

Salt and black pepper

½ cup double cream

Preparation:

Melt the butter in a heavy based pan and fry onion and garlic until soft and transparent. Add 1 cup of stock together with chopped tomatoes and a generous pinch of baking soda. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly before liquidizing. Return to pan through sieve.

Re-heat-adding stock until reaching desired consistency and season with salt and pepper to desired taste. In a separate pan bring cream almost to a boil and then add to tomato mixture. Garnish with fresh chopped basil or parsley.

It is really delicious, and can be frozen, providing you don’t add the cream (do this just before serving. The baking soda is what makes the difference-without it, it just doesn’t taste right.

Tomato Poppers

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup thinly sliced onion

2 bell peppers, seeded and cut in thin strips

3 tomatoes, pealed and each cut into 8 wedges

1 teaspoon salt

Pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon sugar

Preparation:

In a heavy skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter; add onion and cook until it is slightly wilted. Add remaining tablespoon of butter and the green pepper strips and tomato wedges; sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes; stirring gently.

Serves 6

Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

22 cherry tomatoes

1 can (3 ½ or 3 ¾ oz.) solid white (albacore) low sodium tuna in water, drained

2 tbsp. mayonnaise

2 tbsp. finely minced onion

2 tsp. cider vinegar

¼ tsp. Tabasco pepper sauce

Cut a thin slice from top of cherry tomatoes. Scoop out center of tomatoes or squeeze lightly to remove all pulp and seeds.

In a small bowl flake tuna and mix with remaining ingredients. Fill each tomato with 1 teaspoon of filing. Yield: 22 tomatoes; 10 mg sodium per tomato.

Homemade Tomato Sauce I

Ready in: 4 Hours 30 Minutes Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 4 Hours

Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:

10 ripe tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 bay leaf

2 stalks celery

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Direction:

1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop 8 tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor. Chop remaining two tomatoes and set aside.

2. In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften, 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes. Stir in chopped tomato, basil and Italian seasoning. Place bay leaf and whole celery in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste and simmer an additional 2 hours. Discard bay leaf and celery and serve.

Recipe: Tomato Jam

Use this delicious tomato jam as a ketchup alternative in a meatloaf or on burgers, or serve it with cheese and crackers or as a dip for shrimp or fried seafood.

* 3 pounds plum tomatoes, peeled, cored, coarsely chopped

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 cup granulated

1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, more or less, as desired for heat

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Preparation:

Combine the tomatoes, spices, sugar, pepper flakes, and lemon juice in saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and reduce heat to low. Cook, uncovered, until very thick, about 1 ½ hours.

Use this jam as an appetizer spread with cream cheese, on burgers, as a dip, or use it to flavor and top meatloaf instead of ketchup.

* Drop the tomatoes in boiling water and boil for 2 to 3 minutes, or until skin begins to split, and then drop in ice water and let cool slightly. Skin should be easy to remove.