This isn't really a British recipe, but have a question. We have a super crop of tomatoes coming in. (First time growers!)but I don't know if I can freeze them, if so do they need to be blanched with hot water first?
Thought if we cannot eat them fast enough, would like to freeze them to use later in chili etc.
Any info appreciated... smile
My dad always used to just freeze them straight off the vine. Then, when you come to use them, just get a few out of the freezer, pour boiling water over them, and the skins pop off straight away. whip them out of the water, chop them up and chuck them in whatever you're cooking.
Lovely grin
Think you would do better just to send them to me.
I love fresh tomatoes!
grin
I've frozen them almost the same way as Jim's Dad. The difference being I've quartered them & deseeded them (you get more in a freezer bag that way)& popped them straight in the freezer. It's great for adding a few to stews etc.
I've also got a dehydrator & dried a bunch last year. We've eaten them dried as snacks as the flavour was intensified. If you grind them & add water to them you can have your own tomato paste or sauce & it has a fresh tomato taste to it. It's good.
Janet
Yes you can.
Ditto Jim's way...
Or ditto Jim's dad's way..
Lorenza does it that way too..
Andrew smile
I'm going to have to disagree here with the freezing from the vine method - in my experience, a tomato frozen straight from the vine has a really funky texture to it. It's almost like...gosh, it's hard to explain...it's grainy inside and mushy, and you really lose a lot of the flavor that way. The best way to freeze tomatoes is to stew them first - a big advantage to this is that you can cut them into proper size for your chili and season them straight in the bag but be sure to always underseason something that's going to be frozen.
Stewing them will retain some of that great texture and the coloring, which can be lost by simply throwing them in the freezer. I'm going to put a disclaimer on this and say I've never frozen cherry tomatoes; maybe they'll work if they're frozen straight off the vine.
You should go to the market and buy a few tomatoes and freeze them each in different ways to get a feel for what the end result would be. It would break my heart if you froze a bunch of your home-grown tomatoes and weren't happy with how they ended up.
And don't overlook tomato juice! Easy as pie, just cut up and simmer for about ten minutes and push through a sieve. It makes a great base for stews and soups.
And congrats on the crop front - my plants are being fussy with me and aren't showing any signs of sprouting out tomatoes any time soon. I think they're offended that I spend so much time lavishing praise on my peas. razz
Thanks all for your advice, I do appreciate it, and will use it. Stelesque, if I thought they'd stay fresh from FL to NJ I'd pack some up and send you, but am afraid the heat would get to them.
nataliey - this is the first time hubby has done this gardening thingy, and we've had a bumper crop of all types of peppers, am stuffing and cooking them.
We tried one eggplant plant, using 5 gallon buckets for everything, because we have so many bugs in our soil here in FL. and to our surprise this plant has produced 5 beautiful eggplants.
So next year, I know my yard will be filled with 5 gallon buckets. Our son planted 98 tomatoe plants, but he's got a visiting raccoon, that keeps eating them at night. lol
Ginger, we have planted tomatoes and peppers too. I have done tomatoes before and I just love the smell of the leaves.
This is the first year I have grown peppers and I have got over a dozen coming now and more on the way. The first one is nearly big enough to harvest. grin
We have loads of tomatoes too. this is the first year I have done cherry tomatoes and I am really pleased with them.
A friend of mine back home grows cherry tomatoes and puts them in hanging baskets. She hangs them outside her kitchen door, so when she wants any for a salad they are just there. I am going to try this next year.
I buy the punnets of cherry tomatoes when they are cheap and cook them for sauce. Once they are done, (I include the skins and pips) I put them into those plastic chinese soup containers and freeze them. They are just the best.
If I have any tomatoes that we haven't eaten this is what I am going to do with mine.
I do have one question for anyone who can help. Does anyone have a really good recipe for green tomato chutney.