Latest news with #EarlyGirl
Los Angeles Times
20 hours ago
- General
- Los Angeles Times
What's better than a summer tomato? Make these easy peak-of-season recipes
There comes a moment every year around mid-August when the days are noticeably shorter and the reality hits: I gotta start eating more tomatoes! For the first half of my life, tomatoes were the one food I truly could not stand. When we dined out, I looked for the weirdest thing I could find on the menu and ordered that. At home, I requested liver and onions. But a tomato? Even the memory of a slice on a sandwich, one lonely seed or a speck of the mush that encased it, made me gag. That changed in my mid-twenties when I tasted my first 'real' tomato from a farmer's market. It was, again, August, and the tomato was a big, lumpy, misshapen thing, an off-shade of red, with a thin skin, a firm, meaty texture and all the flavor I presume a tomato is supposed to have. I'm not going to sit here and try to describe the flavor of a tomato for you. It's summer in Southern California. Go buy one! The tomato that blew my mind was an heirloom, which refers to tomatoes grown from seeds that have been passed down through the generations. They're, as my mom would say, the 'real deal.' (Many heirloom tomatoes marketed as 'heirloom' in grocery stores aren't really that.) Heirlooms are the pinnacle of tomato greatness, but any good summer tomato, such as a beefsteak tomato, Early Girl or Sungold, is something to celebrate — and savor. When you see them, buy them. Like a good vintage find: My rule of thumb is buy what you love and figure out what to do with it later. For me, what to do with it often includes using the tomatoes in a quick and easy Greek-inspired salad of wedged tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes with Persian cucumber, sliced red onion, fresh parsley, mint or both, crumbled feta, olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt. To make it a meal, add a can of garbanzo beans or Garlic Croutons. BLTs, as far as I'm concerned, are a summer food. So when the first heirlooms make their way home, I make my first BLT sandwiches. I make them on sliced country bread, toasted, slathered with good mayo, meaty thick-sliced bacon (my favorite these days is Trader Joe's black forest bacon), a leaf or two of lettuce (butter lettuce is my preference) and a big slab of heirloom tomato, salted. (If it's not the best BLT you've ever had, let me know what is.) One of my favorite things to do with the giant lumpy heirlooms is to slice them, lay them on a platter, drizzle them with oil, sprinkle them with salt and, from there, any number of things can happen. I might dress a big bowl of arugula and pile it on top. Or spoon tuna salad over the tomatoes. (That could be regular ol' American style or chunks of Italian tuna mixed with sliced red onion and parsley.) I discovered the magic of shell beans on tomatoes such as simple stewed white beans or borlotti beans while doing a weeklong internship at Chez Panisse (yes, it was August) and fresh basil or Nancy Silverton's Shell Bean Salad. Nothing about Grilled Sardines With White Bean Salad And Pesto, for me, wouldn't be better on a bed of heirloom tomatoes. And instead of a traditional Caprese made of sliced tomatoes layered with sliced mozzarella (Ti amo, Italia, but can we mix it up a bit?), I add spoonfuls of fresh burrata and a sprinkling of fresh basil leaves. Any of these would make a light meal, and even better with Buttery Garlic Bread on the side. I love that former L.A. Times Food editor Russ Parsons turns that simple platter of heirlooms into a recipe, and not just a shopping list, by putting pickled shallots on top — and that he mentions my all-time favorite name for a tomato: Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter, so named, so the story goes, because selling the seeds enabled this radiator repair guy, Charlie, to pay off his mortgage. Not all heirloom tomatoes have such colorful names, but they are just as colorful — they come in a rainbow of shades of pink, yellow, orange, green and striped — and like all heirlooms, they have a story. In a world where nearly anything and everything is at your access at all time, there's something nice about a thin-skinned, lumpy, misshapen tomato that tastes as it did 100 years ago. Something that doesn't travel. Has a shelf life of a fish out of water. And that, like fresh powder or Christmas, you have to wait all year long for. Something for which there really is no substitute and that, like rainbows, cannot be recreated. That's what makes them special. You just can't get it when you can't get it. So when you can, do! As the saying goes: Carpe freaking tomato! Eating out this week? Sign up for Tasting Notes to get our restaurant experts' insights and off-the-cuff takes on where they're dining right now. American-born Florence-adopted Italian food aficionado Faith Willinger passes the tomatoes through a strainer to remove the seeds, leaving only the sweet pulp and juice for this silky, luxurious tomato salad. Serve it with toasted bread doused in olive oil and burrata or mozzarella on the side. Talk about a girl the recipe. Serves 6 to 8. Cooking time: 15 minutes. Pan con tomate is a simple Spanish delight that consists of toasted bread smeared with the insides of a (really good) tomato. This recipe suggests that the tomato is 'gently' rubbed on the toast. The way I've been taught to make it, and the way I recommend, is that you rub the tomato on the toast until all the delicious pulp is on or in the toast and the only thing left in your hand is its thin the 1 or 2. Cooking time: 10 minutes. Heirloom tomato season for me always means summer spaghetti. This recipe closely reflects how I make mine. Skip the step of skinning the tomatoes because heirloom tomatoes have thin skins. I toss the pasta in the same bowl the chopped tomatoes are in. This version is served cold. I like it the 4. Cooking time: 20 minutes. This salad from L.A.'s 'chicken chef' Josiah Citrin couldn't be simpler — and if you buy the roasted chicken instead of roasting it — which (shhh!) I would — it requires no heat. Just to go overboard with the tomatoes, I'd serve it on a bed of sliced heirlooms. And if I were looking to beef it up, I'd add some white beans — and why not double down on the basil while you're at the recipe. Serves 2. Cooking time: 25 minutes. Russ Parsons managed to turn a simple platter of sliced heirloom tomatoes into a recipe (and not just a shopping list) by putting pickled shallots on top. With goat cheese toast, it's a midsummer night's the recipe. Serves 4 to 6. Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes. If you remember Hungry Cat, the casual seafood-forward restaurant by chef David Lentz, you probably also remember its tomato and watermelon salad. Dressed with a sweet watermelon vinaigrette and topped with peppery arugula, it's summertime on a the 4. Cooking time: 40 minutes. Preserve the flavor of summer with this tomato conserva from chef Paul Bertolli's game-changing book Cooking by Hand. Spoon it into pasta sauce, risotto, soups, braises and stews. This recipe calls for 5 pounds of tomatoes, so it's the recipe if you find yourself with a farmers market haul that is quickly over-ripening, or if you've grown your own and have more than you know what to do the 1¼ cups. Cooking time: 20 minutes.
Vancouver Sun
31-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Vancouver Sun
Brian Minter: Want to grow tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers? Try these varieties
Finally, as temperatures continue to warm up, it's time to plant the three most popular fruits that can be enjoyed well into late summer. Whether grown in garden beds or in containers, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are the favourites for summer menus. There has been an explosion of plant breeding for each of these amazing edibles. It's challenging to keep on top of all the new varieties because there is always the risk of missing out on some tasty new opportunity. In both the gardening and culinary worlds, when we select a favourite variety, it tends to become entrenched, and it's hard to develop a relationship with a new introduction. In both disciplines, however, continually experimenting helps us discover even more delights. Tomatoes are, perhaps, the most challenging. As a grower, it's becoming more of an issue each year trying to decide which varieties to produce from the hundreds available. As with all edibles, it's about the flavour, the ease of growing, weather adaptability and a variety's tolerance of pests and diseases that determines the best ones to grow. Public demand, however, is the No. 1 reason to grow a particular variety. Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Westcoast Homes will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. I find it easier to break tomatoes into categories. Slicing tomatoes are still the most popular tomatoes, and yes, old heritage varieties, like Black Prince and Cherokee Purple, continue to hold the edge on flavour. However, many take 80 to 90 days to mature, and folks want to enjoy tomatoes in July, not wait until mid-August. Slicing tomatoes, that mature in 60 to 70 days from an established plant, can provide fruit as early as mid-July. Early Girl and Early Girl Plus are among the earliest to mature, but varieties like Celebrity, Bush, Champion and Super Fantastic are all great. Coming in a few days later are the larger 8-ounce size Better Boy, the 8- to 10-ounce Big Beef and the 12- to 16-ounce Beefmaster, and all have good flavour. If you want the big, tasty giants, like the 32-ounce Supersteak, the 2- to 4-pound SteakHouse or the up to 4-pound Porterhouse, you will have to wait until mid-August. As mentioned, in terms of timing, the heirloom varieties will take 80 to 90 days to harvest. The 8-12 ounce Black Krim is ready in 80 days; the 16- to 24-ounce Mortgage Lifter matures in 80 to 90 days; and the 32-ounce Pineapple will make you wait 90 days. Small fruit tomatoes rank in popularity right after the slicers simply because they produce so many bite-sized fruits so quickly. The super sweet Sugar Rush is among the earliest, producing in 50 to 55 days. Some of my favourites, like Sweet Gold and Sun Sugar, produce in 62 days; while Sungold is ready in 65 days. The traditional red Sweet 100 takes 65 days, and Sweet Million produces in 60-62 days. The very best hanging basket or container varieties are Tumbler at 45 days, followed by Tumbling Tom Red and Tumbling Tom Yellow, both at 65 days. Because they are so prolific and produce continuously, these varieties are usually the earliest tomatoes you will enjoy each year and among the last of the season. There are so many tomato novelties, like grape tomatoes, paste tomatoes, varieties with unique colours, such as Chocolate Sprinkles, tomatoes shaped like pears and dipping varieties. We almost have too many varieties, but it keeps gardening fun, and discovering new flavours is always exciting. Peppers have become very much a part of our summer gardens and year-round cuisine. Their flavouring, and spicy heat make them incredibly versatile. In order to connect them in groupings for culinary uses, the Ball Horticultural Corporation, one of the world's largest, has classified peppers in simpler terms such as sweet bell, sweet non-bell, Anaheim, ancho/poblano, chili, cubanelle, ethnic hot, habanero, jalapeño, serrano and specialty hot pepper. The nice feature of sweet bell peppers is their wonderful, fresh garden flavour, as well as their stunning range of colours. From orange, green, red and lime to chocolate, purple, yellow and now candy stripe, they truly create a potpourri of colour. Sweet, non-bells excel in colour, flavour and unique shapes. In terms of spicy heat, the runaway favourites are the jalapeño varieties. Anaheims, ancho/poblanos and serranos have a comfortable heat with which to work. They rank in the range of 1 and 2 in Scoville heat units. Today's young gardeners and foodies love hot peppers and know their limits with the super hots. When experimenting with peppers, proceed gradually up the Scoville scale. Some very hot varieties, like Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Scorpion and Bhut Jolokia (Ghost), can cause serious burns, so be cautious. Cucumbers are some of the easiest vegetables to grow, and they are among the most productive, especially planted in containers. Seedless or burpless varieties are becoming today's favourites because they are sweet, easy to digest and bitter free. If you love the long, straight 12- to 14-inch varieties, then Burpless Supreme and Tasty Green are two of the varieties you may wish to try. If you insist on the super long varieties, then English Telegraph, stretching up to 18 inches long, is the variety to look for. The trend, however, is to go shorter. One of the popular varieties today is a short burpless, called Perseus, which grows only 5-6 inches long, making it easy to finish up at one sitting. The new superstars are the miniature burpless cucumbers. Mini-Me and Quick Snack are great container varieties and, when trellised, are very productive, producing an amazing number of 2-3.5-inch deliciously sweet, bite-size fruits all summer. Pickling cucumbers are hugely popular for summer preserves, and new varieties, like Gherking, are bitter free and ideal for fresh eating or pickles. The beauty of growing cucumbers is their short growing time, anywhere from 45 to 60 days, and they love the heat of summer. Even though summer is still a little way off, having tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers growing in your garden or on your patio will mean the promise of some great summer flavours to look forward to.
