I am awash (well, more accurately, a-stalk) with green tomatoes. I have tons of the things, looking beautiful and healthy and weighing down the surprisingly robust plants. They smell incredible and look luscious, but they are steadfastly, stubbornly green, and I think they’re now going to stay that way.
It seems, from my researching, that I may have simply missed the ‘window’ of ripening due to time I originally planted and amount of useful sun in my garden. I read that tomatoes need a good 6 hours or so of afternoon sun and no wind (if so, easy to see why they’re not northern clime natives!) to ripen on the vine.
The no wind bit is about the ethylene gas naturally produced by the tomatoes which stimulates and even speeds up the ripening process – some chance of no wind in the UK – but my garden is reasonably sheltered.
Forced ripening?
Green tomato chutney that's actually brown
I’ve also taken on board masses of tomato ripening tips such as picking and placing in paper bags inside (seems off the vine they no longer need sunlight to ripen); or alongside an apple or banana in a basket or a bowl or a cardboard box because these fruits exude the ethylene elixir too; and I’ve also filled my compost with a serious amount of leaves I’ve lopped off in an effort to encourage all the plant energy into the growing (but not ripening) fruits.
So, forever optimistic AND resourceful and not short of a bit of impatience, I’ve decided to embrace my green tomatoes and make the best of them.
Already I’ve produced 8 pots of green tomato chutney – a Delia recipe from her first complete cookery course book. Wonderfully spicy and can’t wait until Christmas to eat. Scrummy scrummy.
Help please…
But I don’t think I need any more than 8 jars of chutney. I need suggestions please. I have an idea that fried green tomatoes a la the ‘Whistle Stop Cafe’ may be good. They kind of sound good, but I’ve never tasted them. Any advice, experience and / or recipes? I’d love to try them.
Can they be pickled? Like the sound of that too, especially if some of the green colour can be preserved. A friend mentioned something about green tomato jam. Is that real? Did I imagine? And I wondered if they could be made into a green tomato sauce, like a Napolitano sauce, except with green, not red tomatoes.
So please, please help. I reckon I have about 10 kilos waiting to be converted to something delicious. I promise to share the results… I just need some really good inspiration right now.
Who could forget…
…the enchanting movie, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. One for your collection? >> Always a bargain at Amazon
A real cookery bible
If you just have one basic cookery bible in your collection – most especially if you’re learning – you could do an awful lot worse than Delia’s Complete Illustrated Cookery Course… the original and the best. >> Great prices new and used from Amazon
Posted by SusanG on August 29, 2009 at 5:29pm
I've got a recipe for pickled green tomatoes. I haven't tried it myslef but it looks delicious in the picture! Apparently it's crisp and fresh and lovely with cheese. 50g root ginger, 600ml white wine vinegar, 100g sugar, 6 garlic cloves skinned and sliced, 900g green toms, sliced into segments. Bruise the ginger by tapping with a meat hammer or rolling pin. Put vinegar, sugar, garlic and gingr into an aluminium preserving pan. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pack tomato segments into warm clean jars. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over them to cover, Seal. This makes 1.4 kilos (3lbs) Hope you enjoy it!