By Michael Donahue
Scripps Howard News Service
Tomato time means produce departments and roadside stands full of summer's favorite red fruit (next to watermelon). And, if you're lucky, ambitious neighbors who grew more plants than they needed will soon bring over numerous bags of the rosy orbs.
So, what are you going to do with all those tomatoes? Here are a few ideas. (And we didn't dare come up with a definitive way of concocting a BLT.)
Enjoy.
Dried Tomatoes
Choose tomato-paste-type varieties like San Marzano or Roma. Wash; dip in boiling water for 30 seconds, then cold water to remove skins. Core. Cut into slices 1/4-inch thick. Dry at 145 degrees until crisp. Use in soups, sauces or combined with other vegetables for flavor. Can be powdered and used in making tomato sauces, paste or ketchup. Water content 94 percent.
- Shelby County, Tenn., Agricultural Extension Service
Tomato Jellied Canapes
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cold water
1 envelope Knox Sparkling Gelatine
2 cups canned or fresh tomatoes
1 tablespoon horseradish
1 tablespoon onion juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
Preparation:
Put tomatoes through strainer, add horseradish, salt and onion juice (extracted by grating onion). Pour cold water in bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top of water. Place bowl over boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add to tomatoes and mix thoroughly. Cool, and when mixture begins to thicken, add cucumbers and celery chopped very fine. Pour into flat pan that has been rinsed in cold water, and chill. When firm, unmold and cut in rounds. Serve on crackers.
- From a 1933 Knox Gelatine recipe booklet.
Tomato Soup
One pint canned tomatoes or 4 large raw ones, cut fine. Add 1 quart of boiling water and let boil; add 1 small teaspoon of soda, while foaming add 1 pint of sweet milk, salt, pepper and plenty of butter; when this begins to simmer add 8 small crackers rolled fine.
- From a vintage Calumet Baking Powder recipe booklet.
Eggs in Tomatoes
Select tomatoes that are ripe but firm. Plunge them in boiling water for a moment and remove skins. Cut out hard stem ends, making in each tomato a hollow large enough to hold a broken egg. Into each of the hollows drop a fresh egg without breaking the yolk, season with butter, pepper and salt and bake in a moderate oven until tomatoes are tender and eggs are set. Serve on rounds of buttered toast with a cream sauce.
- From a vintage Calumet Baking Soda recipe booklet.
Tomatoes Stuffed with Celery and Ham
Ingredients:
5 ripe tomatoes
4 tablespoons diced celery
1/2 cup cold "Star" (any brand can be used) ham
1/2 cup salad dressing
Preparation:
Peel tomatoes, discard stem ends, remove center pulp and mix with celery, ham and salad dressing. Refill tomatoes and serve on lettuce leaf.
- From "60 Ways to Serve Ham," a vintage Armour and Company recipe booklet.
Spaghetti and Tomatoes
Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water until tender. Drain and rinse. Put a layer of the spaghetti in a buttered baking dish. Cover it with a layer of stewed or canned tomatoes well-seasoned with salt and paprika. Dot with butter, 1/4-inch cubes of bacon and onion chopped fine. Repeat layers until dish is full. Cover with buttered crumbs and put in an oven and bake until hot throughout. A little grated cheese may be sprinkled on each layer of tomatoes if desired.
- From a 1927 Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. recipe booklet
Escalloped Tomatoes
Ingredients:
1 pint peeled and cut tomatoes
2 cups grated bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
a suggestion of pepper
Preparation:
Reserve 3 tablespoons of bread crumbs and spread the remainder on a pan. Brown in the oven, being careful not to burn them. Mix the tomato, browned crumbs, salt, pepper and half the butter together, and put in a shallow baking dish. Spread the unbrowned crumbs on top, and dot with the remainder of the butter cut into bits. Bake in a moderately hot oven for half an hour. The top of this dish should be brown and crisp.
- From a 1927 Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. recipe booklet
Frozen Tomato Salad
Ingredients:
24 ounces tomato juice
24 ounces crushed pineapple
8 ounces cottage cheese
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
Tabasco to taste
Lee & Perrins to taste
ginger, dry, to taste
Preparation:
Blend together with hand mixer until very smooth, pour into container and freeze.
- Robert Bell, formerly with The Memphis Country Club, now certified executive chef, Doublegate Country Club in Albany, Ga.
Tomato Dumplings
Ingredients:
7 fresh tomatoes
2-1/3 tablespoons of butter (1/3 stick)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2-1/2 cups water
sprinkling of pepper
Dumplings:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
enough water to make the mixture like biscuit dough
Preparation:
Combine the first six ingredients in a two-quart saucepan. Let simmer while you fix the dumplings.
Combine flour, salt, oil and enough water to make the batter to give it a doughy-consistency. Roll it out as thin as you can on floured aluminum foil. Using a flour knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1-1/2-by-3-inch strips. Increase the heat under your tomato mixture and bring it to boil. Drop the dumplings into it one at a time. Stir to prevent sticking. Cook 10 minutes until the dumplings are done.
- Ethelene Hulsey, Holly Springs, Miss.
Sliced or Whole Tomatoes
Pluck tomato off the vine. Eat. Salt optional.
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