I use the small cherry tomatoes and grow them especially for sun dried tomatoes and salads. . simply cut in half and dry in oven or dehydrator. (1) grind of rock salt... (2) grind of rock salt and ground black pepper (3) rock salt and dehydrator dried and processed basil or finely chopped fresh basil
The trick is to dry them till they are the texture of a raisin. . some will get to this stage sooner than others and should be removed from drying process. . store in tupperware container in the fridge for over a year...
DO NOT place them in olive oil. . ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
winnie231,
Feb 9, 8:42am
lol fisher ... I immediately thought of you& was just perusing through eware to find your method!
fisher,
Feb 9, 8:47am
Hey winnie. . not so many this year. . no rain, no water means poor return. . been making chilli and tomato relish to use up excess. . whole garden has been down on producing :{{{and yet to see what the jersey bennies and agria will return. . beetroot have been mediocre... and beans only a few meals and none to freeze :{{stinking hot every day around the 24-28 mark... just cooking all the plants. . hows it in your neck of the woods? ? ?
winnie231,
Feb 9, 9:04am
Hot as hell down this way too fisher! Golden Bay is turning very 'golden' ... could do with a good dollop of rain! Apparently we have some forecast ... hope it eventuates! ! ! Garden is looking a bit sad ... everything seems to be going to seed or curling it's toes - lol! Harvesting what I can but that's not much ... will deal to some toms tomorrow - probably relish. Hi to Kathy :)
fifie,
Feb 9, 9:13am
I do fishers recipe every year in the oven. Sometimes do larger ones which takes a bit longer, depends on the season and how hot it gets here for them to ripen. . They keep great in fridge and brilliant for using in the winter months. .
fisher,
Mar 10, 11:02pm
hi fifie. . yes can do them in the oven no problems... If a few get "overdried" dont discard them but keep them in a separate container. . when ready to use just add a bit of water to rehydrate for half an hour, chop up and throw into a green salad. . the flavour of dried tomatoes is so accentuated and tangy they are good as a healthy snack... with the addition of salt pepper and basil adding to that flavour... with the ability of long term storage, they are also great just throwing them into tomato based stews, spag bol type dishes and even chopped finely over pasta. . Yes, I also freeze the "best" looking ripe ones on a tray and then free flow into sealed labelled bags. . to add bulk and tomato flavour to dishes... Winnie came back from Raro to find everything wizened. . even tho the irrigation system was set for two times a day, morning and night... oh well, cleaning up, rotary hoeing and getting ready for winter crops before we go back to raro in June. .
naturalkiwi,
Mar 10, 11:16pm
Hi fisher, just out of curiosity, why should we not stick our dried tomatoes in olive oil? Or does it just depend on your intended end use of them?
Just picked a huge glut of toms this morning and am planning tomato sauce, but have got more than I need for it, so wondering what to do with the rest. I'm all inspired now!
fifie,
Mar 11, 12:42am
Naturalkiwi. . Heaps of tomatoes ! you can make Pasta Sauce, and soup for the freezer to. Use the search function left hand side of page recipes, pasta sauce, or tomaoes, anytime u will come up with recipes. Freeze in ziplock bags, cook pasta and Whoola a meal in a minute for lazy days. This year im going to trymaking tomato paste, i use a lot of it in recipes to enrich the flavour and its expensive here to buy so going to freeze some in ice cube trays for the winter cooking, after a good recipe if anyone has one. . Fisher Hello ! Hows things up your way? Yes i keep all the overdried ones also in the freezer, they go in everything tomato based, chopped and rehydrated even go in the savoury breads and muffins waste nothing here lol. This year our crop is pathetic, have picked about 2 kgs they just haven't ripened with the lack of sun i think, its been a poor summer here, either that or the other half has grown the wrong brew lol, had to buy some this week even struggled to find them Geez nothings easy these days is it... ...
amazing_grace,
Oct 22, 3:03pm
I cut them in half and place them cut side up in an oven on about 100C for a few hours. Or dehydrate them. They will keep for ages! ! !
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