For the relatively short period of time when I can get good local peaches I like to make caprese salad with peaches instead of tomatoes, using white balsamic vinegar and olive oil, yummy!
3 Likes
That sounds like a great idea. I love peaches and wait patiently every year for the crop at the orchard (mostly apples but peaches and other stone fruit) to ripen. This year there was a late frost and all the stone fruit was lost. So sad! The farm store at the orchard is selling peaches from an orchard in CT. (Iām in MA.) These are good, but not nearly as good as the local ones.
A friend dropped off peaches, corn and tomatoes from her lake house area in MI. It was quite the haul. Grilled the corn, cut off the cob then added to diced tomatoes and sliced peaches over burratta with a bit of balsamic glaze and some basil, served w/crostini. Delicious!
3 Likes
I love tomatoes with Dukeās mayonnaise , on a sandwich or in tomato pie. Also like tomato with olive oil, balsamic, caprese, etc. I even like a good Hanover tomato with just salt on it. Itās all good!
Iām having a bacon and egg sandwich tonight on 15 grain bread, with tomato, pickle, and, yes, Dukeās mayonnaise!
4 Likes
That sounds great!
Whatās a Hanover tomato? Is that a specific variety of tomato or style of preparation? I love tomatoes, but thatās not one Iāve heard of. I probably have tomatoes every day in the summer.
1 Like
All these ideasā¦.I want to try them all! I often do a Caprese type salad with half tomatoes and half peaches or nectarines.
@Sweetgum
Hanover tomatoes are from Virginia.
They are delicious!
3 Likes
Cool. Iāll look for them. Iām in NC, but not sure if we get them here or not. Sounds like a Vidalia Onion type situation.
We grow lots of our own in NC, too. (Well, not me personally on the lots of, too shady, but the farmers around here do.) I think sungolds are my favorite, but for a slicer Iāll take pretty much anything thatās fresh and local. Brandywines are great, Cherokee Purple, German Johnson, etc.
1 Like
Iām a huge fan of Altai tomato! I bought the seeds off the internet and saved some for this year. The fruits are perfectly shaped and golden orange. Tasteā¦ heavenly! 
1 Like
We are drowning in garden produce, especially a variety of tomatoes
Dh keeps making salsa with our garden jalapeƱos and tomatoes. Not sure what he does but ai know he grills them before combining with other stuff in our food processor.
Iāve been eating a lot of BLT sandwiches. And probably every other night we have caprese salad.
Iāve found a really easy and less time consuming way to make sauce from our tomatoes. I simply cut the plum and Early Girl tomatoes in half then spread on a cookie sheet with grape and Sun Gold tomatoes. Throw in some peeled, whole garlic cloves. Toss them with olive oil and a wee bit of balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Roast at 400 degrees for about an hour. Cool them puree in food processor until smooth. Heat tomatoes in sauce pan and season with fresh basil and oregano. Serve with fresh pasta (and warm bread and side salad).
I also have a tomato press to peel/seed fresh tomatoes, but the above recipe is perfect for making a quick sauce without having to go to trouble of pulling out the tomato press, etc.
Also been doing charcuterie Friday night dinners with grilled eggplant ans zucchini from our garden, among other things.
5 Likes
My H bought an electric tomato pressāI thought it was stupid. After we got it, I totally changed my mind. The process of making sauce and paste from your tomatoes goes so much faster!!
2 Likes
This is my favorite new tomato recipe; itās from Allison Romanās Newsletter. Thereās a fee to get the newsletter, but I think this link might work. Itās amazingly good.
2 Likes
Iām trying this!
@Bromfield2 for me, itās the process of having to cut an X on each tomato, then do a quick parboil, then running thru the press and finally having to clean all the parts of my tomato press. Itās a long process and fine for when Iāve got a huge batch of tomatoes and a free afternoon. But for a quick sauce for dinner, so much easier to roast and then puree in my food processor. No need to skin/seed them. I just wash, cut in half, toss with olive oil and place on a cookie sheet and then leave alone in the oven for an hour. Pureeing in my food processor takes less than a minute! The roasting gives them great flavor.
I now only pull out the tomato press when I am going to can or freeze a large bounty.
3 Likes
Perfect! Just need to wait for the heat wave to pass.
2 Likes
I actually like the rhythm of the Xās, parboil, peel, then I cut them into halves or quarters and just push out seed clumps with my fingers, over a strainer over a bowl, to catch the juice. Then I use a small electric chopper to mince the tomato chunks. Iāve done it so many times I can do it in my sleep.
Last year, and old friend Iāve remet on FB recommended the tomato press she loves. I tried it and found it way more work and trouble than my method; it seemed wonky and tomato came out all over. I returned it.
When the tomatoes are processed, I saute onions and garlic, minced, then throw in the tomatoes and some chopped up basil, some salt, and let it do its thing for about half an hour.
Heaven on earth!
2 Likes
@garland Iāve made sauce so many different ways with fresh tomatoes. It really just comes down to how much time I have as the end result is typically the same. Today I didnāt have the time as my sons were leaving on 8 hr road trip to take the younger one back to college. Roasting the tomatoes without peeling was easiest.
No matter how they are prepared, fresh is so much more delicious than using storebought canned tomatoes or (gasp) jarred sauce!
4 Likes
DH has a family recipe called āsummer spaghettiā that is delicious. Pour 1/4 cup olive oil into a large dutch oven. Toss in enough whole peeled garlic cloves to fill the entire bottom of the oven in a single layer. Sprinkle with a cup or more chopped basil. Core out the stems and slash an āXā on the top of enough fresh garden tomatoes to fill the oven in a single but packed layer, placed āXā side down. Add a can of tomato paste. Cover and cook on low for an hour or two until tomatoes reduce and melt into the garlic and basil. Stir into a sauce and serve over rigatoni. Unbelievably good.
1 Like
Chopped tomatoes and cucumbers in cottage cheese. Salt and Pepper.
Zucchini pancakes.
1 Like