1. When You Think Tomato Sauce.....You Think Italian, Right?

Tomatoes are the third most widely consumed vegetable in the United States, lagging only behind potatoes and lettuce....and the eastern hemisphere gets the credit! It is estimated that more than 85 percent of home gardeners plant tomatoes.

Tomatoes originated in the coastal highlands of western South America and then appeared later in Central America where Mayan Indians used them as food. With the conquest of Mexico in 1519, tomatoes were carried eastward to Europe. Most Europeans were convinced that tomatoes were a lethal poison and/or an aphrodisiac, rendering them a danger both to spiritual and physical health. Their acceptance by Europeans as food was very slow, lasting more than a hundred years in much of Europe. Tomatoes were recognized as members of Solanaceae, whose only European relatives were the poisonous mandrake and nightshades, hence the strong aversion to eating them.

The wild forms may have originated in either area, but it was the indigenous peoples of Mexico that first cultivated them. In fact, the common name tomato comes from "tomatl", the word for this plant in the Nahuatl language of Mexico (Heiser 1969).

Many believe that an Italian brought it to Italy where it was called Moor's apple, pomo dei mori, and a name with a similar sound, poma amoris, but a different meaning: love apple. Similarly, the French referred to it as love apple, pomme d'amour.

It is likely that Italians preceded other non-Americans in cooking with tomatoes. Jack Weatherford (1988) suggests that the Italian diet was quite dull before they began using tomatoes and sweet peppers from the Americas: they had a lot of variety to their pastas, but only a few sauces. They liked the chili peppers from the New World, but these lost much of their flavor in sauces based in cream, butter or oil. Once they began to use tomatoes with sweet and chili peppers, they quickly developed hundreds of sauces from pickled, sliced, chipped, diced, dried and pureed tomatoes.

In the United States, tomatoes are being grown on a very large scale and most of this crop is produced for processing. The large scale crop is mechanically harvested, a system that began in the 1960s, which greatly increased production. Continued advancement in machinery provides a modern version which replaces the visual inspection of the harvest: the machine has four photosensors which read the color of the fruit and expel green ones.

***Home-grown tomatoes are usually the best, but if you have to buy them, look for firm ones and pay attention to the fragrance. White specks mean they have been forced to ripen with gas. If you have an abundance of good fresh tomatoes, freeze them whole. Just wash, dry, and pop them in freezer bags. They'll retain their flavor, and once thawed the peel will slip off easily. Use them in any recipes calling for fresh tomatoes except salads.****

Today, you can get tomatoes in red, white, pink, yellow, green, black a more.

Where to get seeds:

And if you are in the area, you can join in on the fun at:

2. It Took My Mother All Day to do This!

I grew up with a mother that could cook. Didn't matter what it was....it was all great. The only draw back was that she had a tendency to feed us the same thing for several nights in a row until she thought she had it right. This was typical when she made things such as cheese souffle. Once she got it, it was the last time we saw it! However, there were two things that were a constant in my childhood: One was chocolate chip cookies and the other was Tomato Sauce.

It took her forever! She always said it needed to cook for a long time so the flavors would blend and the acid in the tomatoes would mellow. Turns out that Mom didn't know everything about tomato sauce.

Part of my training as a chef was with a chef that came from a long line of Italian chefs. His saying was, "tomato sauce isn't red, it's orange."

The color orange comes from carrot. He was right. I changed my style of making "gravy" while working with him and have continued to do so the rest of my life.

Making My Sauce
(notice: no sugar and no paste)
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves sliced garlic
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped carrots
3-29 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
1 T. salt
3 T. oregano, dried
1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried
3 T. basil, dried

Directions: Put onion, celery and carrots in a food processor and process until very fine and "mushy". Heat oil in the bottom of a heavy stock pot. Add garlic and sauté 1/2 minute. Add processed onion, celery and carrots and cook until soft and aroma is evident. Add crushed tomatoes and salt. Cook at a simmer for 30 minutes. Rub seasoning between your fingers and add to sauce. Cook another 15 minutes. Adjust salt and add pepper if you wish. Serve.

If this one doesn't float your boat, try some of these.

Pasta with Raw Tomato Sauce

Chipolte Orange Tomato Sauce

Tomato-Basil Sauce with Shrimp

Microwave Tomato Sauce

3. Handling Tomatoes

Most fresh tomatoes sold in supermarkets are firm, not yet ripe. This is because soft, ripe fruit is easily bruised, even under today's highly-controlled shipping conditions. But the fruit will ripen properly and develop good flavor and aroma if kept at room temperature, between 55° F and 70° F. Select tomatoes at various degrees of ripeness and keep them at room temperature.

Use the ripest fruit first, just as your do with bananas and avocados. Never refrigerate a tomato that is not fully red or ripe! Cold temperatures destroy flavor and stop the ripening process. Once fully ripe, a tomato can be refrigerated, but only for a few days; any longer results in flavor deterioration.

Test for Ripeness! To enjoy fresh tomatoes at their peak of flavor, use when fully ripe. Ripe tomatoes should be completely red or reddish-orange, depending on variety. They will have a sweet, subtle aroma and will give slightly to gentle palm pressure. To hasten ripening, place fresh tomatoes in a brown paper bag or in a fruit ripening bowl. As the fruit ripens, it emits a natural gas--ethylene. This gas speeds up the ripening process when confined around the fruit in a closed bag or fruit ripening bowl. This same ethylene gas can also be commercially applied to fresh tomatoes and other fresh fruits. This external application initiates the natural ripening process in such fruits as tomatoes, apples, bananas, and citrus. Numerous studies show that externally applied ethylene does not change flavor or nutritional potential.

Caring for tomatoes

Storing Tomatoes for Winter Use

Buying and Storing Tomatoes

4. Peeling & Seeding Tomatoes.
Had a student once that referred to the inside of tomatoes as guts. Yes, he hated tomatoes. Then I realized that it was just the guts he didn't like.

Then I introduced him to the peeling and seeding method when cooking with tomatoes. He hated that too. Of course, that was because it entails a little bit of work...but worth the trouble. He didn't love tomatoes after that, but he did tolerate them.

How to Peel & Seed Tomatoes

More Pictures of Peeling & Seeding

****Nutrition Facts: One medium tomato has 25 calories; it's a good source of Vitamin C (40% of Daily Value)and a source of Vitamin A (20% of Daily Value)and folacin.

However, for those of you watching your potassium, there are 360 mg in one medium tomato.***

5. Green Tomatoes

Yes, Southerners really do eat fried green tomatoes; and they eat fried red tomatoes too. If you haven't tried them, you're in for a treat!

There are plenty of ways to coat and fry your tomatoes; use bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, cornmeal, or flour. Some people dip them in beaten eggs before dredging, while some just dredge then fry. Salt and pepper them first, and use a little bacon grease for flavor if you have it.

Choosing and Storing Tomatoes Home-grown tomatoes are usually the best, but if you have to buy them, look for firm ones and pay attention to the fragrance. White specks mean they have been forced to ripen with gas. If you have an abundance of good fresh tomatoes, freeze them whole. Just wash, dry, and pop them in freezer bags. They'll retain their flavor, and once thawed the peel will slip off easily. Use them in any recipes calling for fresh tomatoes except salads.

Classic Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes II

Tomato Fritters

Green Tomato Relish

Oven Fried Green Tomatoes

Green Tomato Chutney

Green Tomato Cake

Green Tomato Pickles

6. Market Watch...Going Shopping?
Dairy:
Dairy conditions are favorble. Cheese output remains strong and inventories are building due to ample milk supplies. Cheese prices are lower. Butter production continues to outpace demand and appealing price levels are likely to persist

Seafood: Fresh:
Prices on local fish from the Northeast waters (cod, flounder, haddock) dropped at then end of last week because of increased supplies due to improved weather conditions. It's hard to predict this weeks pricing due to impending winter weather including extreme cold and more snow. Salmon fillet (farm-raised) prices are up due to lack of production. Cold temperatures continue to thwart salmon production in the Northeast and the whole salmon market is on the rise.

Seafood: Frozen:
The Bering Sea snow crab fishing season has ended, but small sizing and strong demand from Japan has limited its affect on U.S. market pricing. Snow crab prices are likely to remain high. Blount and Seawatch Companies are still cutting distributor's orders of breaded clams due to lack of raw product. From Virginia down to the Carolinas the poor harvesting season is causing the clam shortages.

Meats:
Beef:
The supply lines seem to be backing up. Beef prices are steady for the most part and it looks as though it could be the bottom of this market. Manufacturers are talking about cutting out saturday production.

Pork Steady market with boneless loin prices dropping substantially to a very good value!

Chicken Wing prices are trending down but slowly. Breast prices are also dropping, but faster.

Lamb Market is steady. Prices are still high.

Veal Steady market except for top rounds. Prices on top rounds are now a very good buy.

Produce:
Lettuce: The West Coast growing regions of Salinas, Oxnard and Yuma experienced heavy rains last week which damaged the crops. Growers will try and salvage some crops but expect tighter supplies andhigher prices this week.

Tomatoes: The markets continue to plummet. Good supplies and good quality out of Florida. Expect prices to spike in three to four weeks when a supply gap occurs due to damage caused by the deep freeze a couple of weeks ago.

Potatoes: February is Potato Lover's Month! New crops from Minnesota and Florida of red potatoes. Prices are very good on both Idaho and Washington varieties due to moderate supplies and weak demand.

Pineapples: Good values on "goldens" from Hawaii and "jets" and "regulars" from Costa Rica. Prices are steady and quality is excellent with large size, firm texture and good jucie and sugar content.

Eggplant: Quality has improved. Florida crop is coming in. They are large in size with firm texture and deep-purple coloring. Prices should be reasonable.

On the rise in Prices: Cauliflower, Onions, Celery, Citrus and Broccoli

Holding Steady in Price: Apples, Carrots, Avocados, Bananas & Mushrooms.

Fat Free Soup Mix
2 cups powdered skim milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup Vegetable Redi-Base
2 T. dried onion flakes
1 tsp. basil, dried
1 tsp. thyme leaves, dried
1/2 tsp. pepper, ground

Directions: Combine all ingredients, mixing well. Store in airtight container until ready to use. To substitute for one can of condensed soup, combine 1/3 cup of dry mix with 1 1/4 cups cold water in a saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened. Add to your casserole as you would canned products. You vary these by adding muchrooms, or minced celery, etc.. 1/3 cup mix has 93 calories, 0.1 g. fat., 0.1 g fiber. Makes 1 Cup Soup.

This is what we found.

1. Mix 2 Tablespoons of the Fat Free Mix for every cup of stock in your soup. Example: If your soup calls for 4 cups of stock, use 8 T. of the mix.

2. Also, pre-mixing the Fat Free Dry Mix with cold water wasn't necessary. Remove some of the broth from your soup. Allow it to cool a little in a bowl and whip in the dry mix. We didn't have a problem with lumps....probably because of the dry milk in the mix. It might have a tendency to keep the cornstarch separated.

3. If you are making a casserole that calls for a can of condensed soup.....double the mix. Example: Calls for one can of Cream of Mushroom Soup. Make 8 oz. of stock and thicken it with 4 Tablespoons of the Dry Mix. (Make the stock, take it off the stove, add the dry mix and whip. Put it back on the stove and allow to come to a boil to thicken. Take it off the stove and use it in the casserole.

4. We found this stuff pretty fool-proof. We also made the mix with the other dry bases, such as the Mushroom and the Southwestern Base. Because the Very Low Sodium Bases are in a granular form, they worked equally well in the mix. Also, we varied the seasoning alot. We used everything from garlic granules and basil to give it a pesto flavor to our rubs like the lemon pepper which mixed well in chowders.

5. You don't need to add any of the seasoning when you first make the Fat Free Mix. We also left it with just the cornstarch and the dry milk. This gave us the option of adding any flavor as we went along in the recipe.