Tomatoes

Summer’s tomatoes taste even better in September as the last of the crop spends extra time growing sweet on the vine.

By Stefanie Gans & Katerina Patin

READ:

can do

Think about canning extra tomatoes. Kim O’Donnel, founder of Canning Across America and author of “The Meat Lover’s Meatless Celebrations” (October), recommends Marisa McClellan’s “Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round,” featuring recipes for chutneys, jams and pickled green tomatoes.

 USE:

6” knife

Author of the college cooking guide, “Kitchenability 101” (October), Chef Nisa Burns suggests two different knives to handle a variety of tomato tasks. “The six-inch knife (Rachael Ray’s Furi Gusto Santoku knife) is perfect for grip and for cutting tomatoes in longer slices for sandwiches or casseroles and a knife as small as the 3 ½-inch (Dexter paring knife) is perfect for dicing, and smaller slices for salads or salsas.”

EAT:

with watermelon

Summer’s ruby-hued buddies—the tomato and watermelon—combine for a sweet summer salad at Shirlington’s Extra Virgin. Chef Scott Jenkins uses heirloom tomatoes (“You can almost taste the sunshine”) with the crunchy melon, adding a “little sweet without the sugar punch.”

COOK:

tweet-cipe

@riayoub tomatoes/cucumber/onion/fresh garlic/mint diced small – fresh squeezed lemon/salt/olive oil – mix & serve

@khjulian Hollow out roasted tomato, fill with couscous, pine nuts & feta. Drizzle with balsamic and EVOO. #YUM

@Macheesmo Peel tomatoes, blend ‘em, strain out seeds. Add salt, pepper, horseradish, Sriracha, lemon and vodka. Drink. Repeat.

branch out

For over 30 years, Chip and Susan Planck of Wheatland Vegetable Farms in Purcellville have been perfecting tomato growing by providing macro and micro nutrients to their plants for better tasting and healthier crops. Susan picks the best from the multi-breed tomato:

Lady Luck “best tasting red”

Cherokee Purple “stunning bruise-y colored exterior and interior”

Lemon Boy “full red tomato flavor… dark lemon-yellow exterior, lighter yellow interior”

Sun Gold “best tasting cherry tomato”

(September 2012)