I have never claimed to be much of a gardener nor have I ever possessed a green thumb, but when presented with a couple of baby tomato plants I figured why not! At least it will be fun to watch them grow with Jackson this summer. And did they ever grow! Those two little seedlings sprouted into this huge overgrown bush that I just couldn't keep contained. We tried tomato cages but they busted out of those. Then we tried tying them up and back but the bush was mightier than the string. So I just surrendered to the wild and we went 'au naturale'.
Given that we let the tomatoes 'win', we were rewarded with a bounty of flowers which in turn mean tons of fruit. Unfortunately, as mentioned previously, I am not agriculturally inclined so our tomatoes are not in a prime sun seeking location and with all the 'free growth' there is a lot of shading so we have a multitude of big luscious Green tomatoes. Ah yes, I have tried picking them and placing them on a warm sunny windowsill but so far only two have started to turn red after over a week in the sun. I have too many tomatoes to deal with and not enough windowsills and daylight hours. So another solution needed to be found. When in doubt, cook 'em up! Off to the internet for some green tomato recipes. Here's what I found besides your standard 'Fried Green Tomatoes' that initially come to mind (of which I am not overly passionate)...
There are so many more recipes out there but these are the ones that caught my eye. So to the kitchen to lighten our bushel of greenies. The first recipe to be tested was the Spice Loaf. I figured that you can't go too wrong with a quick bread similar to zucchini or carrot loaf.
Very yummy! Loved the spice mix and moistness of the cake. I only had pecans in the house for nuts but will try raisins next time. And when Scott was offered a warm slice slathered in butter he didn't even detect that he was eating tomatoes. I actually had to tell him a few times that he was indeed munching on tomato loaf as he was in disbelief. This recipe will definitely be added to my recipe keeper for next year's harvest if needed.
Then came a more experimental trip on the gastronomy wild side...
Green Tomato Jelly.
It is a very simple recipe and there are some good comments about this particular version as well as other very similar variations so here goes nothing...
As I was chopping up the tomatoes and adding the sugar to the pot, I thought to myself that this seemed like a very unusual concoction I was mixing up. But the smell was actually not too bad especially once the jello flavoring was added to give it a more familiar appearance. I have not tasted it yet as it hasn't quite set. But Scott says it looks like jam and smell likes jam and this is from a guy that rarely eats the stuff so I am hopeful and keeping my fingers crossed for success or at least it being edible.
There are still more fruit on the vines waiting to be picked so I may be attempting a few more recipes until the harvest is fully consumed. Here's wishing me luck on the next batch...
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