Help! Tomatoes taste flat. I have several very, very old family recipes. I have made them

[patricia92243]

exactly as I have done for 50 years - with the difference that I am using tomatoes from my garden. Several of the original recipes call for ketchup or tomato sauce, etc - but no tomatoes. I think if I add tomatoes and still use the ketchup it would make things too runny.

I want to use my tomatoes which I thought would make my recipes taste BETTER.


Any suggestions?

By the way the various recipes call for garlic, onion, and the other things that are usual.

[Purveyor]

1. You didn't refrigerate your tomatoes did you? That'll make them go flat in a hurry. eom

[patricia92243]

4. I cooked and then froze them. They are from this past summer's garden. n/t

[Purveyor]

6. Freezing them will cause the sugar to break down and you loose the sweetness. We put up

spaghetti sauce every year using our garden tomatoes, canning some and freezing some. The frozen batch always needs additional sugar added to it to bring it back to how it tasted before we froze it.

[patricia92243]

8. A spoonful of sugar makes EVERTHING taste a little better. :) Have to use Splenda for diabetic

hubby.

[NJCher]

14. try blue agave

It's way better than those drummed up chemical sweeteners.


Cher

[elleng]

2. ALL tomatoes taste flat these days, imo.

Those from your garden shouldn't IF the seeds are old/heirloom, I think, but new commercial seeds result in flat toms.

As to recipes, solution depends on what they're for. Check ingredients on ketchup + t. sauces to get ideas.

[patricia92243]

5. I had several types of tomatoes. The Lincon's were by far the best - unfortunately, I did not

label them, so don't know which tomatoes are which. Will plant all Lincons this year.

[Warpy]

3. Peel and seed your backyard tomatoes

and use a lot more of them than you think you need.

Most of the people I know who use tomatoes in fresh pasta sauces and soups also add a spoonful or so of tomato paste to boost the flavor, especially if they're using bland Roma tomatoes.

Now you've got me hungry for fresh tomato salsa, something I won't get for another six months, not until Mexican tomatoes start to show up around here.

[patricia92243]

7. Tomato Paste! Great idea. I understand I can buy a tube - like toothpaste - and use just the

amount I need. Will definitely try it. Thanks for the tip!

[Cracklin Charlie]

10. Definitely use tomato paste.

I even use the canned, no salt added paste and freeze it into lumps of about a tablespoon, wrapped in plastic wrap. Then, whenever I make soup, chili, or marinara (any dish tomato based), I just plop in a lump of frozen tomato paste. I find some of the tomato paste in a tube to be rather salty.

It gives a real depth of flavor, and may be what you are missing from your recipes. You will be amazed.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Buy the tube now

and next summer make your own with garden tomatoes (peeled, seeded, and cooked slowly on low heat until they reach a paste consistency. I've done this in the oven and top of the stove.

eta: and after it cooled off, I scooped it into an ice cube and froze it. All winter if I wanted that oomph of paste, I'd just grab one of the cubes from the freezer.

[Little Star]

9. How to Grow the Tomato and 115 Ways to Prepare it for the Table...

How to Grow the Tomato and
115 Ways to Prepare it for the Table


Second Edition, August 1936

By GEORGE W. CARVER, M. S. in AGR., Director

Scanned by Wilbur Watje, Master Gardener, Bexar County
Edited by Deanie Putnam, TAEX Secretary, Bexar County

EXPERIMENTAL STATION, TUSKEGEE NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE
Tuskegee Institute, Alabama
Tuskegee Institute Press, 1936, BULLETIN N0. 36
revised from the original publication of APRIL, 1918

How to Grow the Tomato and
115 Ways to Prepare it for the Table

Second Edition, August 1936

By GEORGE W. CARVER, M. S. in AGR., Director

Scanned by Wilbur Watje, Master Gardener, Bexar County
Edited by Deanie Putnam, TAEX Secretary, Bexar County

EXPERIMENTAL STATION, TUSKEGEE NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE
Tuskegee Institute, Alabama
Tuskegee Institute Press, 1936, BULLETIN N0. 36
revised from the original publication of APRIL, 1918

http://www.plantanswers.com/Recipes/carvertomato.html

I love this old essay. Maybe you'll see something useful in it, if not it's still fun to read.

[patricia92243]

12. Bookmarked for use this summer. The tomato and eggs sounds great. Thanks for posting this. :)

[applegrove]

13. I am watching the Sopranos. Last night

Tony and Carmella were talking about going into the witness protection program to which Tony said they'd probably end up in a place like Utah where the tomatoes tasted awful. Could be that your local tomatoes are not real authentic italian breeds.

[patricia92243]

15. I just googled "Italian tomatoes" and it listed some. I don't know if I could get them to

grow in my garden or even find the plants so that I could at least try. I will look in the spring at my local Southern States Store.

Also, I will check at my local farmer's Market to see if they carry any Italian tomatoes. My town is rather small and I have found I do not have access to a lot of things.

Thanks for the tip. I shall at least try!!

[dem in texas]

16. Using Fresh Tomatoes

you get an entirely different taste if you use fresh tomatoes rather than canned tomatoes, Both are good as far as I am concerned. Fresh tomatoes do not seem to have as acid taste as canned. I don't care for sugar in my tomatoes and if I buy a can at the store, I always read the ingredients to make sure there is no sugar in them. I used to raise tomatoes every year. My best garden was when we lived in Tennessee. I had fresh tomatoes for months. When the plants were bearing,we ate sliced tomatoes with almost every meal and when I got enough to fill some jars, I would can a batch. I canned so many tomatoes, I ran out of jars and was begging jars from my friends and neighbors. I thought we'd never use them all, but we did. On those cold winter nights, it was like opening a jar of sunshine when I used my tomatoes. In some of them, I would put a little chopped green pepper, fresh basil and oregano right before I put the lids on to put them in the canner.

We live in Texas now and you can grow some good tomatoes until it gets hot, then the tomatoes stop making fruit except for the little cherry type tomatoes. My best producer here was the Mortgage Lifter, I raised the plants from seed. Also grew a French tomato from seed one year, I think it was named Donna, it produced well. I have grown the fall tomatoes, they are good, but are more like commercial tomato. I used to raise all my plants from seed, but the nurseries are offering a better variety and a lot heirloom types now.

This makes me want to go out and turn the soil over in my barren garden!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

17. I think salt does amazing things to fresh tomatoes. They can be too acidic, past their

primes, shitty grocery store ones, and if you cut and sprinkle with a good sea salt - voila !

[sir pball]

18. Second that, salt.

Anytime anybody ever taps me professionally asking for a fix for "flat" food the first word out of my mouth is "salt". It's literally what they teach in culinary school - undersalted food tastes flat, and the cure for flat food is almost invariably salt. With tomatoes, a spritz of acid can help too; vinegar or lemon juice, or sour salt if you don't want any additional flavor.