I've made some green tomato salsa (rather good, btw), green tomato soup (also good), green tomato gratin (not too bad) and green tomato cake (downright awful) and am running out of ideas. (I've never really liked fried green tomatoes.) So - do any of you have any tried and true recipes for green tomatoes that you recommend?
Well, summer is almost over and I still have loads of green tomatoes. Green as in unripe, not the variety. I don't think the few sunny days we might still see will help. So - what to do with them, other than compost?
How about Chutney?
The ripening process of tomatoes can also be sped up by removing leaves.
In a single runner plant grown Hydroponically, the average number of leaves is 17-19.
When you reduce the number of leaves to 15 the ripening speeds up, but there is a significant reduction in the size potential of the fruit.
You still have a few good weeks to fill out some more tomatoes, so I would hack off heaps of leaves and try to focus any fertiliser from here without any nitrate forms (potassium and magnesium sulphates if possible).
From fruit set to harvest an average tomato should take 6 weeks, so you should have enough time to finish of the tomatoes that are approx 25mm in diameter (guessing).
Also pull off the growing tips this also helps throw more energy into filling fruit.
Ahhh....... I don't often get to to offer agronomic advice anymore, but I hope this helps.
If you pick them and leave them in a warm place they should ripen. I picked the last of my tomatoes, which were still green, a couple of weeks ago just before I went away for a week, and by the time I got back they had turned red and were ready to eat.
This is true, but you sacrifice size, and often if they are a bit small, they can taste a little more acidic.
Another way to help speed up ripening of fruit is with Banana skins.
Banana skins are really high in Ethelyne so placing some banana skins "Near" fruit (never touching) will also help speed up post harvest ripening.
HOT TIP: this is also why banana's should never be kept in a fruit bowl with other fruit.
They make lovely soup... chicken broth, onions, garlic, your favorite smoked meat... swirl a bit of yogurt/sour cream on top before serving to cut the acidity.
Green tomato jam is nice, if your lot will eat it - the color fascinates some kids, repulses others. Add sliced ginger or a stick of cinnamon while cooking and remove afterward.
I've seen recipes for green-tomato pie (like an apple pie) but never been brave enough to try it. i'd think the tomatoes would go mushy to be honest.
EDIT: just reread your post and you've already done the soup thing. Fair enough.
I second the chutney idea but also you can just pickle some slices (either alone or together with onions and beets-- yum!). I would even venture it would then make a nifty accompaniment to raclette, but I'm no expert.
I've used them to make my bottled chilli sauce. Mixed with fresh Peruvian yellow chillies, mango and habanero. Phenomenal.
I second that. Here is a recipe:
In Italy when tomato season is almost over and we still had loads of ripe or green tomatoes we made Tomato Sauce by the liters, put it in a glass jar (like the ones used for Jam or Pickels), cooked it in boiling water for a few hours (to sterilize it) and after that we just stored it in the coupboard and had a nice stock of home made tomato sauce for the winter ....
just an idea,
ValeC
Thanks for all the good ideas, everyone - y'all are far more creative than I am.
Lots of good things to try...
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Bill, I think I need to re-think my tomato garden; I have them growing under a tomato Hüsli, but even so they seem to get too much water, and I lose a few plants to some kind of rot each season. Coming from the US midwest, where drought is a problem, not excess water, this is all new to me. Any tips for growing tomatoes - or peppers - or fruit trees - in Switzerland's wet climate would be much appreciated.
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Thanks again, everyone.
Off topic, but can one get heirloom tomatoes in Switzerland or do I need to grow them myself? Seeds available at least?
Thanks
Hi, ZufiMufi: not sure whether your location is still CA, but if you are in CH, and in Zurich in particular, your best bet is one of the farmer's markets. The one in Oerlikon, on Saturdays between early and noon, have a lot of nice tomato varieties (many come up from Italy). You really have to get them at the height of the season (I tried getting some varieties I knew from CA early on in May and was disappointed by the lack of flavor-- but could have just been an off day/bad stand).
Have you tried putting some chopped green tomatoes in green curry? Lessen the usual water content and you'll get a thicker sauce.
Its brilliant in lentils as a dal- a classic south indian dish called takali kai kootu (unripe tomato dal)
(As in so brilliant that my husband offered to take any unwanted tomatoes you need to find a home for
Thanks for the hint. Still in CA and I am as little worried about the flavors of the fruits and veggies. I used to live in CH and was pretty impressed with CA fruits and veggies.
Drought....... An Australian specialty.
I don't know what a "Tomato Huesli" is unfortunately, but I'll try.
Here are some Tips for keeping the roots dry:
Growing in pots
1. Choose a courser media. This allows water to 'percolate' better.
2. This also increases 'blossom end rot'** (where the end of the tomato turns black), so you need to manage the calcium with a teaspoon of (*Gypsum, Lime, or best is actually cement powder) each month. Best to make a solution and pour it in.
3. Some large rocks at the base prior to putting in the media also helps.
Growing in the ground
1. Mound up the soil at least 20cm prior to planting.
This will help at least keep the top roots (most of the activity) dry.
2. If the ground is holding water, prepare the soil a lot deeper prior to planting. Perhaps adding some course mix potting mix to the soil as well.
Both ways
1. Try to source some "PhosPHONIC acid" products (not PhosPHORIC - this is for cleaning aluminium), or some other fungicide.
2. The root rots are typically a pythium sp. fungus, or Ryzoctinia sp. so both are managed by soil moisture mostly ( prevention is the best cure ).
*Gypsum is pH neutral
*Lime is pH positive (alkaline, great for combating acid soils)
*Cement powder is also pH positive like lime, but more agressive. It also has silicon which helps with Phosphorous availability.
None of this helps you with your current situation, but hopefully for next season this info will help.
These are tips that apply to all plants (except trees because you can't move the soil).
With trees, just try to pay attention to:
a. How much water you are applying (work out how to measure it), and
b. The frequency
It's the only way without using more technical ways to measure soil moisture.
**Blossom End Rot= Note that this is occurs when the tomatoes are less than 10mm in diameter, so you only have a few days from flowering to control this.
Coop sometimes have heirloom labelled as pro specia rara.
I had some rather good local tomatoes from the Sihlcity shop a couple of weeks ago.
Would this work for chillies: my second crop of ultra hot italian ones are still green as i planted seeds fat too late
I had a tagliata a couple of weeks ago (big Italian Steak) and it was serves with green tomatoes that had been in the mouli with olive oil and salt. it was truly delicious and novel as well
If you were in Basel I would swap chillies for green tomatoes and we could both make chilli jam