Gather 'Round the Table: Tomato Glut

Here it is again, that situation we thought (back in February) would not happen again this year, but we did it again anyway, didn’t we?  You and I promised ourselves that we’d be more prudent, and we would not plant quite so many tomatoes.  But there we were, staring at the seed catalogs last spring, salivating over the wondrous varieties of heirloom tomatoes in a seemingly endless array of colors and saying to ourselves, “well, I have to try that one,” and “one more won’t hurt.”

Now August is here and the glut has descended upon us.  We tried to console ourselves during that dry early summer that the yields would be low, but as always we are inundated with more of the lycopersicon esculentum than we can ever use.  Our neighbors are begging us not to dump any more on them, either.

 So what to do?  This is a great time to call all your gardening friends together for a big group tomato preserving party.  The quantities may seem daunting, but with several people, a little music and some good wine you’ll have a great Saturday afternoon and everyone will go home happy.

Plan for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in late August or early September.  Talk to all the people you know who grow tomatoes, and tell them to plan for a big harvest that morning.  Be sure to check with each of them about what kinds of tomatoes they have and roughly how much they can bring.

The most important thing you are going to need is counter space so the night before, put away any clutter in your kitchen and dining room, and consider setting up a card table or two.  Get out your canning equipment (or buy new) and wash it all – you may want to buy extra jars or ask your friends to bring them.  Pick up a food dryer – a simple Ronco type works fine.

Depending on what you want to make, you may wish to have some other ingredients on hand.  Kosher salt and a fully-loaded pepper grinder to be sure, but perhaps you’ll also want fresh garlic bulbs, herbs like basil or rosemary, lemon juice (for a preservative when canning) and plenty of good olive oil.

Follow the instructions that came with your canning equipment to the letter – nothing spoils those January memories of this wonderful canning party like botulism.  If you can’t find those instructions, there is lots of good advice in the indispensable Joy of Cooking.

Most preserving techniques call for peeling, and sometimes seeding your tomatoes.  Here’s how:  bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and beside it set up an ice bath – plenty of water and plenty of ice in a large bowl.  Meanwhile, core each of your tomatoes a gadget called a “tomato shark” is handy here), and using a sharp knife slice an “x” through the skin at the base of each tomato.  Plunge the tomatoes, a few at a time into the boiling water for 45 seconds, or until the skin is slippery and loose, then remove them and shock them by plunging them into the ice water.  When they are cool enough to handle (30-60 seconds), remove them and peel off the skin using your thumb and a paring knife at the “x” you cut.

If you need to seed the tomatoes, cut them in half and gently squeeze over a bowl or the sink.  Save the seeds for next year.

 

		Kurt Michael Friese, Gather Food Correspondent
	Gather ‘Round the Table is a regular feature of Gather Essentials: Food. Chef Kurt Michael Friese is a freelance food and wine writer & photographer. He is also the co-owner - with his wife Kim - of Devotay, a restaurant in Iowa City, serves on the Slow Food USA Board of Governors, and is Editor-in-Chief of the local food magazine Edible Iowa River Valley. He lives in rural Johnson County, Iowa. Keep up with Kurt Michael's food series by joining his network, or subscribing to his content.