TOMATOES ARE PLENTIFUL

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 41, 5 April 1940, Page 44

TOMATOES ARE PLENTIFUL

OMATOES are now cheap, and everybody is making the most of themeating as many as possible raw, which is really the best way; and also preserving them in many different ways. Here are some suggestions which may be useful:

Tomato Juice In America, where the people are what is called "food conscious" (meaning that they try to eat the right foods and in the proper proportion to supply everything necessary for perfect health), tomato’ juice is a regular part of the day’s "intake" (so to speak). Though it is generally bought in tins, there are cities where it is delivered daily in bottles, like milk! It can be made simply at home-just slice up tomatoes, add a very little water, boil for ten minutes, and then strain. If to be consumed at once, just keep it in the refrigerator. If to keep, boil it up again after straining and fill hot sterilised bottles to overflowing, sealing down at once. Some folks adda little salt and sugar; and some prefer ‘to put it straight into bottles after straining, and sterilise it for half an hour in a vessel of water, or in the oven, like bottles of fruit; afterwards overflowing with a little extra boiling juice, and screwing down at once. Tomato Cocktail Here is the standard recipe for this favourite: ~ To one quart of tomato juice, add a good teacup of orange juice, half a teacup of lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of sugar, salt’ to taste, and also a little Worcester sauce if liked, and as a variation. This cocktail really needs a refrigerator to chill it properly. Cold Tomato Aperatif This was sent to me by "Old Bachelor,’ New Lynn, whose sudden death a few months ago shocked all the Daisy Chain. He had been for years such a consistent "Link" and had sent us so many recipes and hints from his great store, for he had been quite a noted chef in his day. He was a Dane, who had travelled all..over Europe collecting traditional recipes in many old villages; and his kindly humorous personality made him a favourite everywhere. Cut up 2 lbs. of ripe tomatoes with an onion (or if liked, a clove of garlic). Sprinkle with salt, and pour over it 14% pints of boiling water. Set aside to infuse for a couple of hours; then pass it through a very fine sieve and flavour with pepper, salt, celery salt, sugar, lemon juice, and just 2 drops of essence of almond. Bottle and put on ice. A little hock may be added if desired. Serve as a cocktail with crushed ice. Should the mixture be too thick, add a littlé iced soda water, p te is a most refreshing drink. } Cauliflower and: Tomato This is another. -.of the " Old Bachelor’s" recipes: :

One fairly large cauliflower is boiled in lightly salted water, and is then passed through a sieve. One pound of tomatoes and a large onion are cut up and simmered in butter until tender, after which they in turn are passed through the sieve. Now the two purées are mixed together, and seasoned with salt and pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Two quarts of stock, or vegetable water, are stirred in, and the soup is kept boiling steadily without a lid, until a smooth velvety consistency is arrived at. It should be quite smooth, and the colour coral pink. Just before serving, add some cream. If you have no cream, a tin of condensed milk would do. Mimosa Tomatoes Select good looking tomatoes and cut off the tops. Scoop out the insides and mix with a couple of spoonfuls of mayonnaise. Add a few cooked green peas and a little grated cooked carrot. Fill the tomatoes with the mixture and replace the "lids," endeavouring ‘to: make them look as. much like natural tomatoes as possible. Place on a lettuce leaf, and sprinkle over with a hard-boiled egg yolk pressed through a fine sieve. Dust lightly with curry powder, and serve iced if possible. Some additional mayonnaise may be served if wished. Eggs in Tomatoes With Fish This is a really good luncheon dish, and is also from the "Q]d Bachelor": Select some nice large tomatdes. Skin them in the usual manner, and cut the tops off. Scoop out the insides, and sprinkle with a little salt and a little sugar. Put a’ dessertspoon of grated cheese in each, and place them in a minutes. Then break an .egg into each tomato, dot with; butter, and return to the oven until the white has set. Serve them on well-buttered toast cut in rounds, and put a nice ‘fish fricassee and slices of cucumber ‘round. Green Tomato and Bean Pickle One pound of French beans, 3 Ibs. of onions, 2 Ibs. of green tomatoes, 1% Ib. of mustard, 1 Ib. of brown sugar, 14 oz, of chillies; 1 oz. of allspice, 3d worth of turmeric or 1 tablespoon . of .curry powder, and 2 quarts of vinegar. Slice. the vegetables, sprinkle over, with ,salt, (about half a pound); leave, all night , and drain well. Tie the spices in a. bag and boil. in the vinegar. Then add this to the vegetables, and boil until they are tender. ‘Mix the mustard and the curry ‘powder with a little of the vinegar which was kept back for the purpose. tir it.in, and: if liked, add a little flour ‘thicken,"™>...

Sweet Picallili Pickle This is sent by a Wellington "Link" who says she has been making it successfully for twenty years; it keeps beautifully and is a great favourite with men: Two pounds of green tomatoes, 2lbs. of green beans; half a dozen small cucumbers, 2 cups of sugar, 4 tablespoons of mustard, 2 Ibs. of onions, 1 medium cauliflower, 5 pints of vinegar, 1 cup of flour, and 1 tablespoon of turmeric. Wipe the vegetables and cut them up neatly. Save the cauliflower leaves; cut up the white parts and the stalks and put with the rest of the vegetables. Put all in a brine of 1 cup of salt to 4 cups of water, cover the vegetables, and leave for forty-eight

hours. Bring to scalding point in the brine;. strain carefully. Pour on four pints of the vinegar, and bring to the boil. In the meantime mix up the flour, sugar, and mustard with the remaining pint of vinegar, and add this. Cook for ten minutes more. Special Tomato Sauce Twelve pounds of tomatoes, 4 lbs. of white sugar, 4% Ib. of salt, % teaspoon of cayenne; in a muslin bag 2 ozs. of peppercorns, 1 oz. of cloves, and 1 oz. of whole spice; 5 large onions peeled | and put in whole, and three pints of vinegar, Put the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or two to skin them, cut them into quarters, and put in the preserving pan. Put the spices in the. bag, and all the ingredients in the pan.. Boil for three hours and then lift out, the onions and the bag of spices. The. sauce may now be bottled. Then onions are beautiful to’ eat: while ‘hot,’ and make a good tea dish,