Eating Local for Urban Families. Gluten-free and Dairy-free, too!

Tuesday, August 28

Not-so-roasted tomatoes

So this wasn’t my most successful venture and I think I know why. After a little random poking at favorite blogs I happened to come across Alanna’s post at Kitchen Parade on slow roasted tomatoes. I didn’t put the tomatoes face DOWN! Aaaaaaggghhh. I wonder if that’s why the tomatoes, after 16 hours, were still mushy.




That’s what they looked like when I pulled them out of the oven at 2 AM. (Oh, well. Since I was up I got to see the lunar eclipse. Check out these supercool photos.)



And this is what they look like now, after 12 hours on the counter. I’m just gonna chop ‘em and freeze ‘em, which is what Alanna recommends. Maybe I’ll try another batch with the cut side down. Think I’ll make salsa instead, though, to get ready for the September Eat Local Challenge.

So I'm not even going to bother with my recipe. Go check out Alanna's recommendations. She has great photos, too.

3 comments:

LeLo said...

"Canning for the Modern Woman: Don't Let it Scare you Anymore!" Don't you think that sounds great? I'd totally take it, especially if it was offered at the community center through Parks and Rec. I totally want to can and preserve salsa, tomato sauce, peaches, but yep, canning scares me too. Ever since I read about the guy who died of botchulism in Southern Oregon after eating his grandfather's canned venison stew. Eeeewww. I won't make that though.

Good try on the tomatoes.

Alanna Kellogg said...

Hmmm. Two thoughts. First, from the looks of it, you maybe used the wrong kind of tomato. Yours looks perfect for a 'salad' -- sweet and juicy. Instead look for tomatoes that are more meaty, I use Cascades which are more similar to Romas. Second, by placing them directly on the rack, you are also getting closer to a 'drying effect' (even though they didn't dry). Maybe try a baking sheet which funnels and concentrates the heat (and thus 'roast' the flavor) into the cups of tomato.

But whatever you do, don't give up. Slow-roasted tomatoes are one of a handful of great discoveries in nearly 800 vegetable recipes on my food blog A Veggie Venture, where I first blogged about slow-roasted tomatoes.

Katherine Gray said...

Thank you, Alanna! I agree, these were pretty juicy tomatoes. I picked up some Romas from the farmers' market yesterday, to make salsa, and I may get more for roasting this weekend. Thanks again for all your help and advice. I feel like a I have a kitchen-fairy godmother now. And I need one!