TOMATOES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 244, 25 February 1944, Page 23

TOMATOES

AKE the very best of tomatoes. They are a rich source of vitamin C. Eat them raw (which is best); steam them, cut in halves and lightly sprinkled with sugar, in a tiny bit of butter; or steam them in a very little water, just enough to start the steam until the juice flows; but in either case, consume all the resultant liquor. Use them for soup, either with or without milk. Preserve them for the winter-bottle the juice or bottle them whole; make them into jam, purée, pickles or sauces. They lose hardly any of their food value in cooking. Tomato Juice (to drink) Cut tomatoes into slices or pieces and put into saucepan with hardly any water, Cook on low heat, stirring frequently till very soft and pulpy. Strain carefully, add salt and sugar to taste, and make very cold before serving. Tomato Juice (to keep) (1) Proceed as above, but, after straining, bring juice again te the boil and then fill into heated sterilised bottles. Overflow the bottles with juice and seal airtight immediately. (2) Alternatively, after straining and seasoning, fill straight into bottles and sterilise in water bath, boiling in the usual way for an hour. Then seal airtight. (3) Many people prefer to make very sure by combining the two methods, i.e., overflow the ,bottles with the strained boiling juice and then sterilise these in water-bath, at boiling point, for half an hour. Seal one by one, very carefully. Tomato Puree Boil the cut-up tomatoes till very soft with hardly any water, stirring frequently. Then press the resultant pulp through a fine sieve until only skin and seeds remain. Season with salt and sugar to taste. Puree may be bottled and sterilised for keeping. Pulping Tomatoes This is a most useful way of preserving tomatoes, including any less perfect or very ripe-but not bursting or bad ones. Simply proceed as for the puree, cutting up the tomatoes, but adding no water. Boil to pulp, strain, bottle and sterilise in water-bath at boiling point for half an hour. Seal airtight. Many people find it easier and quite as successful to just reboil the pulp after sieving, and bottle it straight from the pan, sealing immediately each bottle as it is filled to overflowing with ‘boiling pulp; thus dispensing with the waterbath. Use for soup in winter, either with water or milk. If using milk, bring it to the boil with a very slight thickening of cornflour; then stir it into the heated pulp gradually. Bottled Tomatoes (Whole) ~ Arrange tomatoes in heated bottles, keeping similar sizes together, so that they get cooked at the same time. Prick them first. Fill bottles to within an inch of top with boiling water, slightly salted, and put lid on loosely. Sterilise in very moderate oven (Reg. 1) or in water-bath

at boiling point until the tomatoes are cooked, with the skins wrinkling and cracking-about 50 minutes. Lift out one by one, and seal airtight immediately. Tomato Cocktail Three cups tomato-juice, juice of a large lemon, a little finely-grated rind, 2 teaspoons sugar, pinch of cayenne, 1 dessertspoon worcester sauce if liked. Allow to stand for % hour. Chill thoroughly, shake well, and strain. Orange juice may be substituted for lemon, or a little of both used. Tomato Sauce (for serving with fish or meat) Cook together a pound of cut-up tomatoes and a medium onion chopped finely, until soft, and rub through sieve. Melt two tablespoons of butter or dripping in saucepan, add 3 level tablespoons flour, arid stir and cook till smooth. Then add the sieved tomatoes very gradually, stirring till smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and a little brown sugar. Tomato Sauce (to keep) Six pounds ripe tomatoes, 1lb. onions, Y4lb. raisins, 1lb. apples, 1lb. peaches, about 2 tablespoons of salt (or less to taste), 5 tablespoons (or to taste) of pickling spices, 11b. light brown sugar, 4 cups vinegar. Tie the spices in muslin. Peel the onions. Cut up tomatoes, apples, peaches arid onions, and put all the ingredients into preserving pan. Bring slowly to boiling point, and continue till all is soft and pulpy, stirring often — about 114 hours. Rub through fine sieve, bring again to boiling point, and seal in well-heated bottles.