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Old August 14, 2017   #16
SueCT
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Lots of good ideas here. I am a little concerned about not getting enough sauce for the freezer this year. So I will probably either try my hand at fresh tomato soup or just get them processed to the pureed stage with the food mill and then freeze to be made into sauce later, like Tom suggested. But keep the suggestions coming, I am certainly going to keep them and reference them again! Thanks everyone!
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Old August 15, 2017   #17
zeuspaul
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Inspired by this thread I removed the skin of about three pounds of tomatoes with a serrated peeler. Then sliced and removed the seeds and liquid. Then simmered for a couple of hours. Then blended with my favorite store bought pasta sauce and made pizza for diner. Delicious
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Old August 15, 2017   #18
Rockporter
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SueCT View Post
Thanks, Bill. I do want to make sauce, I just don't have enough for that yet. I suppose I could try making a small batch. Soup is a good idea. That tomato tart sounds awesome, lol, although sinful. Love puff pastry, but it is more than 50% butter by weight. No wonder its so good! That sounds like a particularly good recipe. We need a smile imoji that licks it's lips, lol.
I make small batches all the time and freeze them. They are perfect when I just need 12 oz of tomato sauce for a recipe.
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Old August 15, 2017   #19
Worth1
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Have a whole tomato swallowing contest.
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Old August 15, 2017   #20
oakley
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You could cruise the ten yrs of tomato recipes...lots of good ones.
http://www.tomatoville.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62

I just posted a ketchup recipe. Basically a slow roasted sauce that can be processed
chunky in a food processor, take half out and process in a blender.
Chunky mixed with fresh toms and herbs, cilantro or what ever for a salsa...
process some in a blender for a paste....I made ketchup, two types, one adult/spicy,
the other with maple syrup, no hot pepper, for the kids...

I froze 3 half pints to use as a paste. In a zip-lock flat packed with the air out, you can
just break off a chunk later and use what you need.

This is from March 3rd of this year....last summers harvest. I freeze slices, whole
cherries, roast on the far end of the grill if the kitchen is too hot.
Slow roasting in the oven will have a different, less smoky, flavor. No rules as to how
far you want to reduce and concentrate the flavor.
The 20 pictures following, in my file, shows five meals. Pasta sauce with grilled salmon,
left-overs for lunch, tomato soup/grilled cheese, corn chowder, and roasted adobo
chicken thighs.
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File Type: jpg Screen Shot 2017-08-14 at 7.37.07 PM.jpg (275.5 KB, 103 views)
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Old August 15, 2017   #21
oakley
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And the ketchup/paste sauce pics....
This is the second slow roast batch this season and I hardly have a harvest yet.

(I added lots of softened dried Mexican peppers) leave them out for a regular sauce,
or bag it once cool and freeze. Or chop for a summer cold pasta salad...add corn off
the cob, fresh basil....
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Old August 15, 2017   #22
oakley
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Another pic. The bottom is the first batch I slow roasted a couple weeks ago. A
multi-flora branch broke so I had some unripe cherries, and a real stinker, a bland
mealy one...roasting/the heat changes all that and makes a great sauce.
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File Type: jpg Screen Shot 2017-08-15 at 10.42.44 AM.jpg (475.3 KB, 103 views)
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Old August 15, 2017   #23
Labradors2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Worth1 View Post
Have a whole tomato swallowing contest.
Ha ha! That reminds me of the time I spotted Sarah Pooch (black Lab) with a large tomato in her mouth. I went to get the camera for a cute shot, and just as I pressed the button, she threw her head back to swallow it whole. It WAS a cute shot, but my heart was in my stomach at the thought of her choking. Fortunately, she survived to eat more tomatoes

Oh here's another submission. Feed them to the dogs AND the chickens

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Old August 15, 2017   #24
Redbaron
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Well I am with worth, more salsa. But since you are salsa'd out, maybe mix 50%/50% with Zucchini and add rosemary and basil and tarragon from the garden and a few onions and/or garlic salt to taste and stew it down for stewed tomatoes w/zucchini?

Or a big pot of awesome homemade chili from scratch?

Or just cook those down until almost a paste and make homemade catsup/ketchup? I posted a yellow catsup/chili sauce recipe a couple years ago here at Tomatoville:
2 parts sweet yellow banana peppers
2 parts sweet yellow tomatoes or sweet ripe tomitillos
1 part crushed Pineapple
1 part mandarin oranges
1/2 part sweet onion
1/4 part sugar/honey or to taste
1 single green cayenne pepper per quart or to taste
fresh Tarragon to taste
fresh mint to taste
dash of cinnamon to taste

Use a blender on high to blend it smoothy consistency.
Slow cook the mixture several hours and reduce until it resembles a thick apple sauce.
Use a funnel to fill a catsup type bottle. (use a straw to release air when filling)
Cap and refrigerate.

That's for yellow catsup but you can make minor adjustments and make any kind you want. I had made up the whole recipe off the top of my head first time I made it, and you can make it pretty much any way you want too. Surprisingly good with fresh heirloom tomatoes no matter how you prefer your catsup.
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Old August 15, 2017   #25
Dewayne mater
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This year, I had to pick a bunch just before going on a vacation for a week. They would have lasted on the vine but for the varmints that require me to pick them at first blush. I washed them well and stuck as many as would fit into gallon freezer bags and threw them in the freezer.

I'm happy to report that Gazpacho does not lose any flavor or texture by the fact that they have been frozen. I pulled out a bag, rinsed them under hot running water. The skins came off fairly easily after about 30 seconds. Cut off the stems and boom, ready for the blender.

I'm not sure what all uses don't suffer after being frozen in this way, but there is one! Good luck and happy problem to have!

Dewayne
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Old August 15, 2017   #26
oakley
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Ditto, Gazpacho always good. You can freeze your salsa. Wizz it in the blender just
partially thawed, or ...

saute onion and zucchini, add fresh corn off the cob, your salsa or fresh tom slices,
basil and any herbs you have for a Succotash. (eastern shore summer regular)...
usually a bean like lima or fresh shelling pea)

^ similar to RedBarrons.

Tomato Fritta.

(some salsa does not freeze well if it had too much onion but can be used in soups)
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Old August 16, 2017   #27
zipcode
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I just throw them in the freezer until I have enough for juice. Since I don't have a big freezer I put them everywhere is a bit of space, so not in bags. Due to the fairly thick skin of tomatoes, they have natural bags already. They're like couloured pebbles after freezing, perfectly preserved. Of course, that changes when they defreeze and deflate...
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Old August 16, 2017   #28
Labradors2
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Should be fun if you ever have a power outage zipcode

Linda
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Old August 16, 2017   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SueCT View Post
If I have one or two ripe tomatoes, I have a tomato sandwich. If I have 3 or 4 I a make fresh salsa or a pizza with fresh tomato slices. If I have 10-15 pounds or so, I make sauce for the freezer. I now am at that awkward place of have maybe 4-5 lbs ripe tomatoes. I need ideas so I don't waste any of them. I can keep a couple another day or two without them becoming over ripe for sandwiches, but not the rest. They are a rag tag lot of Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Purple Heart, Sophie's Choice, 1 Opalka, a Mortgage lifter, etc, lol. I have a bowl of fresh salsa in the fridge already that I made last night. This happens every year after they start ripening but before the full onslaught of tomatoes happens that gives me enough to start making sauce.
I used to have exactly this problem. As some have mentioned, roasting turned out to be the solution. I roast in flat pyrex baking dishes with a little extra virgin olive oil and a little canning salt or kosher salt -- using anything from an 8 x 8 to all the oven will hold -- so I don't waste any when I have those intermediate amounts that need *something* done to them immediately.

I don't make sauce, just scald/peel, roast, and package in nice flat stackable packages, sometimes labeled as to variety, sometimes not. Flavor is enhanced, necessary freezer space is reduced, and they can be used in countless ways.

I wrote this all up with pics at some time so no one would have to chase links, but can't find it -- perhaps it was at idig -- but below are the links where I got the idea.

Hope that helps you as much as it did me! A wasted ripe home grown tomato is a HORRIBLE catastrophe!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Roasted-Tomatoes/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Free...sted-Tomatoes/
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Old August 16, 2017   #30
Gardeneer
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Last night I had about 4 lbs of tomatoes.
What I did ( after washing, coring ) smashed them , boil them, screened the juice for some drinking and made sauce. The sauce was then immediately used for making lasagnea. I am about to make a Lasagne sandwich.
I have already made ten gallons of sauce for off season. And no longer interested in canning.
Tomato is a versatile fruit/vegetable. You can use it is 101 ways.
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