Can't you just see her, proudly leading the parade down Main Street, all rosy cheeks, healthy curves and shiny Breck-girl hair? (Sort of like Hilary Rhoda if she ate more.) Actually, "The Tomato Queen" was what they dubbed Tillie Lewis, whose canning factory in Stockton, California, in the 1940s, was the first to market Italian Roma tomatoes to mainstream consumers. But that's neither here nor there. What I'm writing about today is a way to use all those cherry tomatoes that are still flooding in from your garden (or local greenmarket). I posted my recipe for "tomaisins"—my own deeply clever marketing term for dried cherry tomatoes—a couple of years ago, and I'm running a similar one here because I still think it's a great, easy preserving method. I hope I'm preaching to the converted, but if you still haven't tried this, now's your chance. Of course you can add fresh cherry tomatoes to your salads, toss them raw with hot pasta, slice them with cucumbers or just pop them into your mouth for a snack but, if you're like me, you will still have a ton left cluttering up your kitchen counter (never refrigerate tomatoes). This simple recipe for a flavor-intensified condiment is the perfect solution.
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This has been a good year for tomatoes. The Brandywines are bodacious. The cherry tomatoes are sweet as candy. And the Green Zebras are running wild. Every time I turn around Mr. Green Thumb has sneaked a few more into the kitchen. Green gazpacho will be on the menu this weekend. What do you call a Bloody Mary made with green tomatoes? Don't answer that. (Shades of Linda Blair, people. If you're too young to catch that reference, consider yourself lucky.) I'm thinking green tomato sorbet, spicy green tomato jam. These are not unripe tomatoes, by the way. If you don't know Green Zebras, it's time you discovered this wonderful variety. Our local farm doesn't grow them because they can't get people to buy a green tomato. Really? These have a wonderfully clean flavor with a zingy tartness. They're no bigger than a very large plum but they pack a lot of taste. And their chartreuse color with stripes a shade darker is so very chic. Their vivid hue inspired me to make a salad with all the green things I could get my hands on, many of them from my own garden. It's art. It's health food. It's life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness on a plate.
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