One of my rules is: no tomatoes between October and June. There are enough dissappointments going around to add mushy, mealy, pale, tastless toms to the list.
And yet. Sometimes, I really, really want a tomato. Or big bags of them are on sale, and, well, I´m not made of iron. The rule that ammends the broken rule is: cook them. Slow roasting makes up for their sins pretty well, but it takes forever. My new favourite thing is to achieve a similar result within minutes.
All you need is a handful of those accomodating little things, cherry tomatoes, and a bit of balsamic vinegar.
Sauteeing the cherries at high heat brings out all the things you want in a tomato: juiciness, flavour, tartness, sweetness. A drizzle of vinegar at the end makes them caramelize, or look caramelized, dark and long cooked. And it all happens while you get a sandwich ready!
Over the past week I´ve used these in a salad with fresh mozzarella and anchovies, as a side vegetable, and as a garnish to perk up a bland sqash soup from a carton.
Brilliant.
"mushy, mealy, pale"...
ResponderEliminarThose are all the reasons I hated tomatoes growing up- that and ice COLD tomatoes on the side of a salad (yuck!) I never realized how delicious a tomato could be until I "grew" up and ate some in the heat of the summer, so I couldn't agree more with your rule of eating them in only warm months.
Your roasting idea sounds great. Nothing is better than a little fresh mozzarella with good tomatoes. I'll have to try it!
This is the most difficult time of year, because we have gone for six months without garden-fresh tomatoes and we are desperate for anything that even looks like a ripe tomato. In the fall, I slow roast many pounds of tomatoes, and store them in the freezer. I still have one or two little containers left, which will just about see me through until July.
ResponderEliminarWhat kind of balsamic vinegar do you use? Here in the UK we seem to have 2 kinds - eye-wateringly expensive or quite cheap. I have heard that the quite cheap one is OK for heating up. Any advice appreciated :)
ResponderEliminarRoasting is what I do with my cherry tomatoes during winter as well - a quick heat-treatment on a hot pan, and a sprinkling of salt and sugar. Works wonders.
ResponderEliminarBut adding balsamico sounds great, too. Will try it next time!
Siri: it really annoys me when people say, ugh, tomatoes aren´t what they used to be, and then go and make tomato salad in December. Silly silly people.
ResponderEliminarLydia: I know. I ate my last bag last week, you see, so now it has to be this or nothing.
Elegant sniff: I use the cheap stuff, which I think is basically caramel, because I´ve never seen the other thing. But I guess that´s best reserved for room temperature.
Pille: you´ll be doing that with your very own tomatoes soon, I shouldn´t wonder!