My garden has been in serious neglect lately, so last night, since it was relatively dry, I went out back to assess the situation and plan my pumpkin takeover. I thought the tomato plants were all goners, but much to my surprise, I managed to salvage about 15 pounds of green tomatoes. Since Mr. Crunchy is slated to come home tomorrow, I'll have some time to do something with them before they start rotting.
So, I've been searching online and wracking my brains with what to do with them. I've decided I didn't want to make the Green Tomato and Lemon Marmalade and am shooting for some sort of green tomato sauce for pasta or pizzas or something.
And, then I thought of you guys and your never-ending suggestions. Does anyone have a good recipe for a green tomato sauce that I can freeze?
22 Crunchy Thoughts:
one of marguerite's green chicks here, I have not met you before and am just stunned at what you are experiencing with your husband. I feel so sad and don't even know you.
I like to combine green tomato's with tomatillo's,sweet onion cilantro, garlic and shallot - some lime is good too - i puree the heck out of it all and freeze in glass jars. This is amazing on quesidilla's, baked chicken and even pasta with black beans
Mother Earth
www.bestwellnessconsultant.com
That's so neat that you found that many hidden tomatoes! (Also great that Mr. Crunchy is comin' home.) This Green Tomato Relish recipe looks similar to what I usually make. I've never tried canning or freezing it, though, so I can't tell you how it does. The flavor is great.
What do you think of chutney? This isn't my recipe, it's from Stonehead
=^.^=
We've tried the following green tomato recipes that my family loves: green tomato relish, dilled green tomatoes, green tomato ketchup and rummage relish. All can be found in the Ball Blue Book of canning and are relatively easy to make. For the relishes, you can speed your cutting time if you use a Vitamix or food processor.
So glad to hear that Mr. Crunchy is coming home soon! Your family is in my prayers!
It isn't a preservable item, but my family loves fried green tomatoes (seriously - its not just a movie!). A little flour and some time in a frying pan and you have a very tangy treat!
You could also substitute them in any pickle recipe you have.
I'm glad to hear that Mr. Crunchy is coming home - our hearts go out to you!
Ohh, Karen that sound wonderful. I'm going to run out to the garden and pick some ingredients right now.
I'm also glad the Mr. Crunchy should be home soon.
Thanks,
Kim
A little off the topic, but...
When I was a kid, we always let green tomatos sit on the window sill until they became red. If they are really green it can take close to a month, but that means fresh tomatos in November. My landlord swears that wrapping them in newspaper and keeping them in the basment makes them rippen quicker, I haven't tried it.
I've heard that green tomatos with a little lemon juice can be used as a substitute for tomatillos, also haven't tried that but if my tomatos don't ripen anymore I just might.
I'm in the same boat - I just pulled a huge sack of green tomatoes out of the garden and there are still TONS that I haven't got to yet. My plan it to let most of them ripen on their own and then try to preserve them. I'd be interested in seeing some recipes or suggestions on your food blog... hint, hint! ;)
Glad to hear things are going better for your family this week. We were all rooting for you!
There is a recipe in _Fresh From the Farmers Market_ for Sicilian Green Tomato Sauce that goes like this:
1 pound green tomatoes, chopped very fine
1/2 c olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t hot red pepper flakes
You mix it all together and let it stand for an hour or two. Then add salt, pepper, fresh basil, and cooked spaghetti, and top with toasted pine nuts. (I use walnuts.) I also recommend parmesan on top. Yumyum. Not sure if you could freeze it... the tomatoes would probably become mush upon thawing, but I think that would be OK. It is a sauce after all.
Hooray for Mr. Crunchy's homecoming! I second the idea of fried green tomatoes as a way to celebrate!
Danica, that recipe has me drooling! Too bad I only have very ripe red tomatoes on hand. :(
I have no tomato help but I'm so glad to hear that Mr. Crunchy will be able to come home tomorrow!
Don't have any tomato ideas, but I am so happy to see that Mr. Cruchy is coming home. Continued prayers and blessings to your family.
The WSU extension office has a publication about storing fruits and vegetables. It says you can store green tomatoes for 4-6 months as they ripen.
http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1326/eb1326.pdf
No good recipes here but boy would I love to have some of those tomatoes right now! Hope Mr. Crunchy gets home fine tomorrow and can start to feel comfortable being at home again.
Pickled green tomatoes are wonderful winter veggies, and also chow chow although I can't find any recipes online similar to what we do.
Pickled green tomatoes are awesome (if you like salty and sour!) I don't have a recipe,but you may be able to find one online. My mom cans them. I know there are cloves of garlic and some celery bits in it.
We simply quarter larger tomatoes, stuff them in jars, add some garlic cloves and a cayenne pepper. Other spices as wanted. And pickle by boiling half vinegar, half water and pouring into jars, pouring out, boiling, pouring in, pouring out, boiling, pouring in, adding 1/2 tsp salt per pint jar, sealing, turning upside down to cool. The pickles don't get cooked too much that way. Works great for mixed veggies (okra being especially good) too.
Hi i found your blog by reading a magazine article in the hotel i stayed in last night and thought I'd pop across and take a look. great read-i'll be back. can i ask - where did the name for the blog come from?
Hey Donna, a lot of times you can find out the "origin" of a blog by going back to the first few posts. In Crunchy's case, her very first post back in March explained the name. Read it here. :)
thanks chile i'll check it out right now :)
do you remember the "little house" books? in one of them, ma picks green tomatoes and makes an "apple" pie with them. pa wondered how she got apples from. i tried it with my end of season tomatoes by treating them as apples--just adding sugar, cinnamon, thickener and putting in a crust. my hubby thot it was apple, too.
by the way, i have done the newspaper wrap thing with green tomatoes. i think the ripening vs rotting ratio is a little better with the paper. maybe the paper holds the ethelene gas, or maybe it prevents sunburn.
blessings, emmer
Apologies for the delay, but while I read this post a few days ago, my workload has prevented me from replying.
Anyway, I've put a couple of green tomato recipes - including a sauce - on my blog specifically in response to your post and put links to a couple of others that I've published before.
I hope they help. Nice blog BTW.
Post a Comment