AH, THE JUICY JOY OF A RIPE TOMATO—IF YOU CAN NURTURE ONE unscathed to that perfect shade of orangey-red, that is. This hot, dry summer the chipmunks (who demonically began taste-testing at about half-ripe) drove me to picking early and ripening every fruit indoors—which might not be such a bad thing, it turns out. To mark Week 5 of Summer Fest—Tomato Week—what better topic than how to turn a tomato red? Well, perhaps a recipe for green tomato “mincemeat,” too, just in case our magic fails? That, plus a buffet of delicious links from my Summer Fest recipe swap co-conspirators:
What Is Ripening, Anyhow?
RIPENING SOUNDS A LOT LIKE A MIDLIFE CRISIS in retired professor Brian Capon’s little masterpiece, “Botany for Gardeners.” His section on the topic, called “Hormones and the Aging Process” (!!!), outlines the biochemical events involved in what we hungry gardeners and cooks regard as a fruit reaching perfection. It’s actually the beginning of the end.
It’s all part of a bigger plan: Green chlorophyll breaks down and other pigments surface—which along with increasing softness and rising sugar content serve to attract animals (who will in turn serve to disperse the seeds inside). And the beat goes on.
The flavor change comes from the decline of tannins (whose pucker-up taste cleverly staved off those same beasts until the seed was ready). Chalk the softening up to ethylene gas (present in increasing amounts in aging fruit), which helps break down cell walls and membranes.
How to Hasten Ripening in the Garden
IF YOU’RE WORRIED FROST MAY BEAT YOUR CROP to the finish line, a few tactics can induce hurry-up mode. One is called root-pruning, and couldn’t be simpler. Simply insert a spade just 6 inches or so into the soil in a circular pattern, circumnavigating the plant 1 foot away from its main stem.
Should cold nights threaten, be ready with fabric or plastic to keep frost off the vines. Even in cold zones, first frosts are often followed by another warm spell, and you’ll eke out more vine-ripe fruit.
What Color Is Your Tomato?
OK, SO MAYBE THEY’LL NEVER BE MARTHA PAINT-CHIP NAMES, but tomato colors have official designations, thanks to the USDA Tomato Ripeness Color Chart (1975 edition, above).
Is your fruit simply a stubborn Green (self-explanatory) or is it Breakers (a break in the color from green is starting to be evident), or are you already at Turning (10 to 30 percent red showing) or Pink (30-60) or Light Red (60-90) or Red (more than 90 percent)?
When to Give Up and Go Indoors
I ALREADY SUGGESTED TWO INSTANCES: Do your ripening indoors whenever animals, or prolonged cold, threaten to get to the crop before you do. But intense heat can take its toll, too, says the Illinois Urban Extension, which recommends picking “pink” fruit when temperatures are over 90.
Alice Waters (in “Chez Panisse Vegetables”) isn’t alone in suggesting ripening indoors as a regular practice, picking when the shift from orange to red begins, reportedly to maximize sugar and acid content.
But what to do with the unripe tomatoes once inside? Here’s where it gets interesting—as in mixed advice. I confess to being a windowsill ripener, which apparently isn’t so bright (tee hee).
Most extension services recommend some kind of darkened space instead, achieved by tactics including:
- sorting the haul into categories: those showing some red, full-size green fruit (called “mature green”) and other green, and then…
- wrapping each fruit in newsprint to place in trays with others like it, or…
- placing similar-condition fruits in brown paper bags closed loosely, not stacking fruit upon fruit but in single layers, and…
- sometimes putting a bit of apple peel inside to up the ethylene, or…
- (if there’s no getting past oncoming weather) getting drastic by cutting down entire plants at the base and hanging them, fruits attached, in the cellar or garage…
- with all of this ideally happening in a cool, dry spot at 65-70 degrees.
Sorting by ripeness stage allows you to check on each batch, by opening just a few test wrappers. Mature green fruit should reach ripeness in about two weeks.
Everyone agrees: No refrigeration (unless you simply must keep fruits you plan to cook in a day or so from decaying). Rather than use the fridge, I prefer to freeze fruits whole in bags at peak ripeness, if I can’t use them now.
Some Will Never Ripen, No-How, Nowhere, No Way
THERE ARE ALWAYS HOLDOUTS, those who won’t cooperate even if given the TLC above. Immature green fruit, for instance, can’t turn red—no matter how your coddle it. How to tell which can and cannot?
Get out your knife. A tomato must be at least “mature green” to ripen off the vine, and if you’re not sure if yours are at that stage yet, sacrifice a representative fruit.
Slice it open, and look inside: If it’s gelatinous, it has a chance of ripening after harvest. You may also notice some color change on the interior, perhaps a yellowish tone—another optimistic sign that similar sized fruits will get there in time. If not: Skip to the green-tomato mincemeat recipe, below.
Recipes for All Shades of Tomatoes
FIRST, A LITTLE TOMATO MEASURING TIP:
- In a recipe, 1 pound equals about 2 cups of chopped fruit (or roughly 3 medium tomatoes).
With that knowledge, you could make:
- My quick tomato sauce (great for freezing)
- Tomato Junk (how I use up the last of everything in the garden)
- Green Tomato and Apple Mincemeat (great in pies, and also as a chutney–and meat-free)
The Tomato Week Recipe Links
- Nicole at Pinch My Salt: What to do with slow-roasted tomatoes
- Alison at Food2: Heirloom tomatoes
- The FN Dish: Tyler’s Ultimate Tomato Salads
- The Gilded Fork: Celebrating summer lusciousness with a tomato dossier and recipes
- Diane and Todd at White on Rice Couple: Sun-dried tomatoes (actually made in the sun!)
- Paige at The Sister Project: 3 substantial, healthy, vegetarian tomatoey main dishes
- Liz at the Cooking Channel: Easy Tomato Tart
- Kelly at Just a Taste: Tomato Jam
- Alexis at Food Network UK: The seven deadly tomato sins
- Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: Heirloom Tomato Tart with Parmesan Crust
- Michelle at Healthy Eats: Top 10 Things to Do With Tomatoes
- Marilyn at Simmer Till Done: Cherry Tomato & Maytag Blue Beignets
- Alana at Eating From the Ground Up: Roasted Green Salsa (green zebras and tomatillos), and how late August makes her hurt for New Mexico
- Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Chunky Garden Gazpacho with Flowered Corn Tortillas and Melissa Clark’s Tomato Tarte Tatin
- Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Savory Tomato Crumble
- Judy of Divina Cucina: Tomatoes the Italian way
- Tigress in a Pickle: Over 50 ways to preserve tomatoes in jars
- Cate at Sweetnicks: A Loaded Bowl (filled with brown rice, Jersey fresh tomatoes, buttery avocados and more deliciousness)
Everything I Know About Tomatoes
THAT WOULD AMOUNT to this, from seed-sowing to favorite varieties to every manner of what ails them—and even how to graft one. Seriously.
How You Can Join in Summer Fest:
So now it’s your turn: Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? Starting with our posts of Wednesday, July 28, for five Wednesdays, you can contribute in various ways, big or small.
Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. The possibilities:
Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.
The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. Yes, copy and paste them everywhere! That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and some pretty great dialog starts simmering.
Or think bigger: Publish entire posts of your own, if you wish, and grab the juicy Summer Fest 2010 tomato badge (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites.com).
The 2010 Schedule:
- Wednesday, July 28: CUKES AND ZUKES. Read it here.
- Wednesday, August 4: CORN. The story.
- Wednesday, August 11: HERBS-BEANS-AND-GREENS WEEK (any one or both/all, your choice).
- Wednesday, August 18: STONE FRUIT. Did you know they’re all really roses?
- Wednesday, August 25: TOMATO WEEK. How do you like them love apples?
- And then…more, more, more if you want it (potatoes? sweet potatoes? root veggies? winter squash?). You name it.
And in case I forget what week it is, won’t somebody remind me on Twitter? Thanks. We’ll be talking it up there, too.
That’s how a Summer Fest works.
Hi Margaret,
Summer Fest 2010 has been a great foodie/online experience for me. For this week
I have decided to share my Cornwallville Fried Green Tomato recipe.
I have a plethora of them now and we are enjoying them fried up and dipped in our dill-basil mayo.
http://cornwallvillegardens.blogspot.com/2010/08/fried-green-tomatoes-for-summer-fest.html
This is a wonderful read…about one of our favourites…Tomatoes!! Thank you.
PS Also should let you know that the recipe for heirloom tomato tart with parmesan
crust is ‘no longer available’ at the Gluten-free Girl website. boo hoo. It sounds
delicious, though.
Thanks for the tomato ripening tip! We’ve been picking tomatoes as they start to get ripe, and have been ripening them indoors. With all the bugs and other critters, it works for us.
ahh…tomato week…my favorite of the summer fest options. i posted two recipes…one for my slow roasted tomato sauce…and the “secret” gazpacho recipe from gott’s roadside restaurant in the napa valley…their tag line “tray gourmet” http://bit.ly/9Re3iY
we napa valley girls ate our body weight in tomatoes monday night in order to honor this most sacred week of summerfest. many thanks to gott’s roadside in st. helena for growing and dishing up such fabulosity! in my post, i raved about my favorite dish of the night, the classic catalan “pa amb tomaquet,” aka pan con tomate. http://hedonismink.blogspot.com/2010/08/gott-tomatoes.html
I love tomatoes, their a labor of love to grow, but they are the most rewarding. Here’s a little article and some favorite tomato recipes, my addition to summer fest.
http://www.gastronomersguide.com/2010/08/tomatoes-fruits-and-labors-of-my-love.html
Welcome, Dierdre. How much did you eat? :) Your dish is a new one on me, so thank you for the education! See you soon.
Margaret, thanks for including us all in Summer Fest. It has been quite the journey of self discovery and wonderful to meet so many new friends.
This is a great post on ripening our juicy summer tomatoes….it is fun to learn from you. Love that color chart!
Here is my contribution to this weeks Summer Fest:
Bacon Guacamole Salsa
http://su.pr/1kaInH
How interesting all the different tomato colours specifications are and what a wonderful idea Summer Fest is. Great post and good reading!
Great information, and I have loved working on Summer Fest 2010 recipes.
My contribution this week is:
Fresh Tomatoes with Basil Drizzle
http://www.ingredientsinc.net/2010/08/easy-appetizer-or-salad-tomatoes-with-basil-drizzle/
Here I am, a farm girl, and I’d never heard of root pruning to speed a tomato along! (could be because I grew up in the feisty-hot California Central Valley) Anyway, I loved your post and am excited to take part in my first Summer Fest collaboration! Yes, why not start with the tomato?
I was with the Napa Valley bloggers above, napa farmhouse 1885 and Deirdre. Delightful! Here’s my take, plus a recipe for the surprisingly hearty Scalloped Tomatoes: http://bit.ly/c0RHfb
Glad to learn this information!!!
I’ve fallen in love with these Greek Tomato Fritters:
http://maitredemoda.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/greek-tomato-fritters-don’t-let-these-stay-greek-to-you/
Great tips – thanks! I had such fun with Summer Fest this year
My contribution this week is roasted tomato soup with smoked paprika:
http://4seasonsoffood.blogspot.com/2010/08/roasted-tomato-soup-with-smoked-paprika.html
Wonderful and helpful tips for ripening. Thank you Margaret! And I love the book, Botany for Gardeners – wonderful resource for real-world application.
Thanks to all for the wonderful recipes here, I can’t wait to dig in. I have a spin on the traditional gazpacho recipe to share. I like to make mine with golden tomatoes, hence the name I gave it… “Golden Days of Summer Gazpacho”: http://www.thegardenerseden.com/?p=12865
Happy Harvesting!
Michaela
That tomato junk sounds like just what I need as I’m cleaning out my summer garden and making way for fall. Thank you!
My contribution this week is two sauces for snacking and the pantry. First, a Charleston Creole Sauce that I’ve canned for winter eating:
http://heartlandrenaissance.com/2010/08/creole-sauce/
And second, a fire-roasted pico de gallo that I can’t keep stocked in the house! I make a batch at least once a week each summer . . . I make mine lacto-fermented just by adding a little whey and it lasts (fresh! uncooked salsa!) in the fridge for months. If it doesn’t get eaten first!
http://heartlandrenaissance.com/2008/06/fire-roasted-pico-de-gallo-2/
Thank you for hosting! I can’t wait to read all the other contributors!
Best,
Sarah
For simple recipes like Roasted Tomato Soup, Brown Butter Tomato Vinaigrette, and an unusual and delicious Tomato Pudding check out my blog today http://thepolymathchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/08/summerfest-repost-tomato-time.html
WOO HOO!!! This has been so much fun!!! I enjoyed reading your tips on ripening tomatoes … who knows, maybe one day I will find a hidden gardening gene!!! Everyone’s recipes sound wonderful and I can’t wait to go exploring! For this week, I am keeping it simple – Tomatoes with Feta Mousse
Already thinking about fallfood!!
What a nice post!
This was my first time participating in the summer-fest n I enjoyed it so much. Here’s something Indian I did with my tomatoes.
http://www.indiansimmer.com/2010/08/tadka-tomato-dal-and-green-tomato.html
Hi Margaret,
As always, your post is incredibly informative. I plan to go read your other tomato links, as well. I had a very decent year for heirloom tomatoes in my garden and I made a lot of recipes with them- today I posted about a delicious tomato ginger jam I made, and I also did a little recap of the other tomato recipes, in photos…
http://blog.healthy-green-lifestyle.com/tomato-ginger-jam.html
Love coming here and getting all the tips Summer Fest 2010 has been great fun!
You’ll find an Heirloom Tomato Salad with Asparagus and Herb Creme Fraiche at It’s The Way She…
http://itsthewayshe.blogspot.com/2010/08/cant-resist-heirloom-summer-fest-2010.html
Here is my contribution to this week’s Summer Fest!
http://mysteriesinternal.blogspot.com/2010/08/red-for-journey.html
Living in Italy for the past two years, I really gained a new appreciation of perfectly ripe tomatoes. Here are a few of my favorite ways to eat them—straight from my blog, Flexitarian Foodie!
Avocado-Tomato-Peach salad
http://www.flexitarianfoodie.com/2010/07/savory-summer-fruit-salad.html
Basic Bruschetta
http://www.flexitarianfoodie.com/2010/06/bruschetta-say-it-right-eat-it-often.html
Tomato and Cream Cheese Foccacia
http://www.flexitarianfoodie.com/2010/04/focaccia-done-right.html
There are plenty more tomato recipes on Flexitarian Foodie, come take a look!
Margaret,
Thanks for the welcome and I’m delighted to be the one to introduce pa amb tomaquet to you! It’s so simple, and miraculously delicous.
We had six courses of tomato & bread based dishes that night, so I’m guessing we put away about 4 pounds of tomatoes each. Then of course I ate some more the next day (as pa amb tomaquet of course) while writing my post… there’s no finer inspiration. Thanks for hosting this tomato celebration!
From the Napa gang, here’s a new tilt on tomatoes:
http://www.napanest.typepad.com/flourish/
It never occurred to me to ripen them off the vine (Doh!). They have been ripening sooo sloowwly. Here is a baked orzo, tomato and zucchini recipe from The NY Times. I have been eating it all week. Super easy and you gotta love orzo.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/health/nutrition/13recipehealth.html
Here’s another post from the Napa contingent with a literary twist. We had a wonderful tomato feast on Monday night, which inspired me to find a great quote from cookbook author Marcella Hazan:
http://literarylegacies.wordpress.com/the-literary-tomato/
Yay! It’s finally Tomato Week! I’m celebrating all week by posting some new tomato recipe discoveries as well as some old family faves. Yesterday, I began with Neely’s Chicken Salad in Tomato Cups:
http://www.wineimbiber.com/index.php/2010/08/need-recipes-for-tomatoes/
In the upcoming days I’ll have Ina Garten’s Scalloped Tomatoes, Paula Deen’s Tomato Pie and my own take on Caprese Salad. I sure have enjoyed playing along with all the Summer Fest 2010 participants. I also learned a lot of useful info for my garden next summer. Thank you Margaret for creating this event!
Great information, Margaret! I really didn’t even know that you could ripen a mature green tomato indoors. And I love the tomato measuring tip!
Welcome, Julie, all the way from Napa. :) Sounds like that was some feast…life is good at harvest time, no? See you soon again, I hope.
Margaret, you never cease to amaze me. You just – know so many things! I want to follow you around the garden and talk tomatoes. Thanks for another stellar year of Summer Fest, as always terrific reading (and eating)! xo
omigosh – so much helpful information. We have been fighting an epic battle with the squirrels (they stripped my nectarine tree clean – I still haven’t recovered). Not only do they like to eat tomatoes, they are apparently quite particular about the peel and will often leave it behind. Cheeky little buggers. I think I will try the ripening indoors approach so I don’t lose everything! We have been lucky enough to have enough for us as well, along with our fabulous CSA share. Our favorite tomato recipe lately is this salad:
http://guinnah.blogspot.com/2010/08/tomato-goat-cheese-and-basil-salad.html
I have been wondering about green tomato chutney — Thank you for this recipe!
My contribution to Summer Fest this week is a cheesy tomato and zucchini gratin, bubbling out of the oven, just waiting to be eaten for dinner . . .
http://www.dollopofcream.com/2010/08/summer-fest-tomato-zucchini-gratin_25.html
Hi Margaret!
While I am certainly a garden and cooking novice, I thought I would include one of my favorite quick, easy and delicious tomato recipes!
Tomato Cucumber & Avocado Salsa
http://www.twoandthezoo.com/2010/08/tomato-cucumber-avocado-salsa/
Oh dear, I meant “mincemeat”, not “chutney”! I already know about chutney, but I am really looking forward to your mincemeat. (:
Welcome, Nancy. Yes, the squirrels and the chipmunks can really undermine the harvest, can’t they? Nasty creatures that way. Hence my indoor ripening strategy!
Welcome, April. I am so glad to see you here — and to have the salsa combination. I have never put cukes in it but what a good way to use them. Anything with avocado is good with me, by the way — love the stuff. And you know I also love the name of your blog: Two and the Zoo. When I talk to Brad I am always hearing one of the Zoo in the background wanting something. :)
first, this is a great, informative post, that i just sent to a friend.
also, i did something this week, first time, in part b/c of this post.
Summer tomato salsas:
http://feedingmaybelle.blogspot.com/2010/08/blt-tacos-and-summer-salsas.html
Love tomatoes and all the incredible varieties. The heat ended my tomato crop mid August but I still have a few sun gold and cherry toms.
Green tomato pie for summerfest:
http://sweetsavoryplanet.blogspot.com/2010/08/green-tomato-pie.html
Italians adore green tomatoes in salads! and most tomatoes are not for sauce– even if red!
thanks for all the tips- and having me participate in the Summer Food Fest!
Mille Grazie
Welcome, Maybelles Mom. Funny you mention salsas, as I was just thinking of organizing some — I use a lot, but from a jar. Maybe time to whip some up? :)
Welcome, Laura. There are always green tomatoes, so green tomato pie sounds tempting, and I am off to find out the details…
See you both soon again, I hope.
I too have had problems with chipmunks. You wait all summer for the big heirlooms, only to find chipmunks have had their fill before you had an opportunity to get in the garden for the day. So frustrating! I’ve found that mothballs in the garden are a huge deterrent – the chipmunks dislike the smell and stay away. I’ve done this the past two years with much success! I’ve also started planting a cherry tomato plant near my heirlooms. They produce so many more fruits than the heirlooms that I don’t mind if a chipmunk has a bite or two…
Here’s my contribution – Greek Panzanella Salad with an array of tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, kalamata olives, and garlic ciabatta croutons.
http://pourhouse.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/greek-panzanella-salad/
Your tomato information is invaluable to me, as I wait to take that first bite from a freshly-picked heirloom….
This year I ventured out and planted a Greek variety tomato, the Thessaloniki, bright red, and juicy, which I purchaed at Quail gardens in Enicinitas duirng their annual, “TomatoMania” festival.
My recipe is a Greek family egg scramble recipe my mother would makes us in the summertimewith her garden toamtoes.
http://www.californiagreekgirl.com/?p=242
Even with all this heat, my tomatoes are only beginning to ripen here on mid coast Maine. Just wanted to pass along that I always freeze some of my roasted toms, just tossing them in a zip lock and they are great during the winter when that gooey chewiness from summers end is only a vague memory! Enjoy!
dd
We are over our heads in tomatoes at our house so I am excited to try some of the recipes here! I finally made a batch of catsup, and having boiled down about 50 lbs of tomatoes to two quarts, I no longer can scoff at the (Reagan-era) government assertion that “catsup is a vegetable”! Now if only my melons would get ripe. I have to leave those on the vine until they’re ready, don’t I?
Welcome, Mary. There are always ingredients for Greek-style dishes in my refrigerator — love the flavors — so this has caught my eye, thank you.
Oh, I love this! I always ripen slightly pink tomatoes in paper bags at the end of the season, but this is great information for when I need to “save” some from blight, animals, etc. So helpful about how to tell which green ones might turn, too- thanks!
Here’s my favorite, easy, just-cut -’em-in-half recipe for a roasted tomato sauce:
http://www.anoregoncottage.com/2009/08/roasted-tomato-and-vegetable-sauce.html
Margaret, I am as guilty as you for ripening the tomatoes on the window sill! It just seems right!
Thank you for being so meticulous in details and explanations. I write about my garden that was, and hope for another one in California, pretty soon.
My contribution to the Summer Fest is a Serbian Sautee of Onions, Peppers, and Tomatoes.
http://bibberche.com/2010/08/onion-peppers-tomato-sautee-sataras/
Green Tomato Chutney! Worth keeping those ‘maters green.
I just realized i had over ripe tomatoes hanging out on the vine…. I forgot to pick last week!
Sorry to hear about Alvin and the gang in your garden – it sure has been a weird summer. Love your post!! I just started a blog at the same time as the tomatoes started to ripen. First posting – Gott’s Garden.
http://healthynapa.blogspot.com/2010/08/gotts-garden_4458.html
Welcome, Jami; I keep meaning to try a roasted tomato sauce, so maybe this is the one! Thank you.
Welcome, Laura. Congratulations on the new blog…on my way over to see and say hello!
Hope to see you both again soon.