How to keep sweet summer tomatoes all year, plus cooking with ginger

The summer is coming to close, but that doesn’t mean we let go of the flavors.|

When I lived in a small town in Iowa, people would actually lock their cars during this season. This was the time of the year when everyone’s zucchini plants got out of control and this vegetable grew larger and larger. They were so hard to get rid of that friends would sometimes see your car parked somewhere and leave a bag of zucchinis in it, anonymously if possible.

But that never seemed to happen with tomatoes, because so many people there actually did canning. However, since I have been living in Petaluma, I have developed a coterie of friends who, I suspect, would do the same thing. They are always dropping by with bags of ripe tomatoes for me.

If tomatoes are too abundant in your kitchen, here are a few ideas of what to do with them if canning isn’t your thing. The easiest is to simply take the stem off and put them in your super blender (this does take a really strong blender like a VitaMix) - something strong enough to make a great smoothie.

Blend the tomatoes starting on low and gradually going all the way up to high - skin, seeds and all - until you achieve a very smooth consistency, which will take a few minutes. Then you can just put them in plastic or glass containers and freeze them, or you can pour them into a big stainless steel pot, add a touch of garlic if you like, and cook them at a good boil for about 30 minutes. Then you can freeze that mixture as ready-made sauce.

You can certainly process them to can as you would any other tomato product. But the freezing method is far easier than the old “peel, pack and can” option, and let’s face it, the majority of our uses for canned tomatoes wind up in some kind of sauce, anyway. Then you get that fabulous taste of summer tomatoes all winter long.

If you have a dehydrator, you can simply cut them in half if they are small, or quarters if they are large, add a pinch of salt and dehydrate the fruit till it feels like leather. I usually use Roma style tomatoes for this, but really any tomato will work. If your tomatoes have a lot of seeds and the surrounding gel, squeeze that out first before dehydrating. When using Romas, I find that step unnecessary.

I like to cut these up and use them on top of a ricotta-slathered piece of sourdough toast. Sprinkled with a bit of chopped fresh basil leaves, and drizzled with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and you have a caprese-style tartine that is a sumptuous treat.

Ginger

This is not something that you will likely find in a farmers market in this area because it is so susceptible to frost. It is difficult to grow even in Southern California. However, because I like using it so much in cooking, I thought I would share some ideas with you about how to purchase, store and cook with fresh ginger.

When shopping for this lovely and unique rhizome, choose ginger that is shiny, with smooth bright skin. Pick ones that seem heavy for their size. When you get it home, there are several ways to keep it ready to use, and stop it from getting moldy in the bottom of your produce bin.

Some people like to wrap it in foil and freeze it, and then just grate off as much as they need. That works, but I like to peel and slice it, and then put the slices in a glass jar with a plastic lid. I fill the jar with straight sherry or dry sherry to cover the ginger. Then store the jar in the refrigerator, where the ginger will last for a year or longer.

Storing it like this means you can easily take out just the amount you need, and you can slice, julienne, or mince it however you would like. If you routinely use grated ginger, don’t slice it before storing in the sherry, but do peel it and cut it into walnut-sized pieces.

Another favorite use for ginger is in a shrub. This makes a delicious drink, very much like ginger beer or ginger ale. As a side product, you can also use the same ginger to then make candied or crystallized ginger.

Ginger Shrub

4 ounces of fresh, peeled and sliced ginger

4 ounces of cane sugar

4 ounces cider vinegar

8 ounces of water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook until a light syrup forms, about 30 minutes or so. Strain and reserve the ginger. Use the shrub as the base of a non-alcoholic drink as follows: Put 2 tablespoons of the shrub syrup in the bottom of a large drinking glass. Add club soda, stirring as you do. Finish with ice cubes, stirring to chill the drink thoroughly. You can adjust the amount of syrup to your taste.

Candied Ginger

Leave the reserved ginger in the same pot. Add 6 ounces of water and 6 ounces of sugar. Cook, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Then continue cooking over low heat until very thick syrup is formed (almost evaporated). Watch carefully towards the end so it doesn’t burn. Have ready a sheet pan covered with a good amount of sugar. Pour the ginger onto the sugar. Turn as it cools to coat all the sides with sugar and allow the candied ginger to crystalize. Store in a glass jar surrounded by the sugar. You can also use that storage sugar to sweeten things like iced or hot tea when you are done with the crystalized ginger.

Elderberries

If you are lucky enough to know of some elderberry bushes/trees in the area, now is the time to gather these wonderful berries in. These are not berries you can eat raw, but they are perfect when cooked into a pie, syrup, jelly, a shrub or even fruit leather. Get out there and gather while you can. If you don’t have time to process the berries right now, they are actually easier to work with if you wash, drain to dry and freeze them right on the stem. Once frozen the berries can be plucked right off the stems, ready for cooking. You will be healthier for it this winter, since elderberries have so many anti-oxidants.

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