Heirloom Tomatoes...

[Katy]

I picked up an heirloom tomato yesterday at the farmer's market and I was wondering what to *do* with it. I think I'm just supossed to slice it and drizzle with olive oil. :confused:

Anyone have any ideas?

[Katy]

shoot. No one knows what to do with them? The farmer lady suggested I get some goat cheese and eat them with that, but that still sounds a bit off - like it's mising something. And what sort of "meal" do I make it with? Burgers? Grilled chicken? Come on ladies, help a gal out...

[maple]

Here's a salsa recipe:

Heirloom Tomato Salsa from Sara Foster's Fresh Every Day

2 pounds mixed heirloom tomatoes (4-5 medium), cored and diced
1 small red onion, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, cored, seeded and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the tomatoes, onion, jalapeno peppers, garlic, red pepper, lime zest, and lime juice in a large bowl as you prepare them. Drizzle with the olive oil and vinegar, sprinkle with the sugar, cilantro, salt, and pepper, and toss gently to combine. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or pepper if desired. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to marry the flavors before serving the salsa. It will keep for up to 1 weeks; the tomatoes will release some juices, but the flavor is just delicious.

Notes ~ from other thread:
This is from Sarah Foster's Fresh Every Day . It is soooo delicious!!! I couldn't find heirloom tomatoes and just used tomatoes from our farmer's market. I brought it to our 4th of July picnic and it was devoured.... The lime, red pepper flakes and cilantro combine so nicely - we used lime flavored tortilla chips with this.

I just wanted to bump this up to give it another good review. I made this for part of tonight's dinner, and it was excellent. I used tomatoes on the vine and cut down the cilantro a bit, but otherwise, followed the recipe. It is very fresh tasting and delicious.

[maple]

Another recipe... Italian bread salad

TBL Panzanella (Alton Brown)

4 cups French bread cut into 1-inch cubes and dried overnight
6 slices bacon, cooked, chopped, drippings reserved
2 cups halved grape tomatoes
2 tablespoons oil, for searing
2 cups halved yellow pear tomatoes or roughly chopped heirloom tomatoes
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chiffonade mint
1 tablespoon chiffonade basil

Toss bread cubes in the bacon drippings. Sear the halved grape tomatoes in 2 tablespoons of oil, cut side down, until caramelized about 5 minutes, set aside.

Combine red wine vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl, slowly whisk in olive oil in a thin stream until emulsified.

Combine all tomatoes, bread, bacon, and lettuce and dress with vinaigrette, toss well, garnish with mint and basil and serve.

[Katy]

thanks ladies. That salad sounds a lot like a salad I usually make. I think next time I make it, I'm going to add the lime and see if it's better (or just different).

I don't know why, but I always thought that heirloom tomatoes were something special (don't believe the hype, I know). These are both things I'd normally do with tomatoes. Maybe they're just as "normal" as every day tomatoes and I shouldn't worry about it then.

[larslobster]

One of our neighbors grew heirlooms last year and gave us a bunch - they were the best tomatoes I've ever had! Sooooo good.

I ate them with slices of fresh mozzarella, basil and little olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled over them and I was bummed when the plants stopped producing for the year. :(

[Rose]

I just eat them with basil, and fresh mozzerella or if I am not watching my carbs I put it on ciabatte bread. I've had them before marinated, and they were very good but I don't know what they were marinated in. It was something light and low calorie.

[KitKat]

Of course heirlooms are special, especially the truly organic variety. They have so much more flavor than a majority of tomatoes out there.

I will always buy them when they are in season, they are wonderful! They can be used anywhere you would use a fresh, uncooked tomato -- where you can taste the true flavor. You can also make sauces with them if you had them in abundance.

My fave for the large red variety is tomato/fresh mozzarella/basil with the best quality olive oil you can find, topped with fresh cracked pepper & ground natural salt. THey also make fabulous bruschetta.

[polarama]

I agree with KitKat, I think their true flavors really come out when you use them uncooked.

I tend to make a lot of BLT salads--kind of like the recipe posted above, but even simpler--I just cook some turkey bacon, chop up the tomato, and crumble the bacon on top of the tomatoes and eat that over lettuce or spinach. This may sound gross but trust me, it's good---instead of dressing, I get a small dish of mayo and I dip my fork in the mayo and take a bite of salad. Yum.

[Rose]

A tomato and blue cheese salad w/ red onion is good too.

[Katy]

yummy! I'll be making a nice salad tomorrow for dinner. Thanks for the awesome sounding recipes. This Italian Bread Salad (http://salad.allrecipes.com/az/MidSummerItalianBreadSalad.asp) sounds quite yummy too :D

* 1 clove garlic
* 1 (1 pound) loaf Italian bread
* 1 cup chopped tomatoes
* 1 cup cucumber - peeled, seeded and chopped
* 1 cup chopped red onion
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 2 cups chopped fresh basil
* 1/8 cup chopped fresh thyme
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Rub a peeled clove of garlic around a wooden salad bowl.
2. Pull apart or chop the bread into bite-size pieces.
3. In the prepared salad bowl, combine the bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, garlic, basil and thyme. Add enough olive oil and vinegar to lightly coat, toss and serve.

[justHB]

Of course heirlooms are special, especially the truly organic variety. They have so much more flavor than a majority of tomatoes out there.

I will always buy them when they are in season, they are wonderful! They can be used anywhere you would use a fresh, uncooked tomato -- where you can taste the true flavor. You can also make sauces with them if you had them in abundance.

My fave for the large red variety is tomato/fresh mozzarella/basil with the best quality olive oil you can find, topped with fresh cracked pepper & ground natural salt. THey also make fabulous bruschetta. Yes, yes, and yes! We picked one up today at the local farmer's market and it was soooo good. I can't wait until we have a yard and I can grow them myself.

[katmg]

I haven't had heirloom tomatoes, but if they're anything like home-grown tomatoes, I'd just eat them plain, uncooked.

Caprese Salad
BLTs
Bruchetta

[irish74]

Oooo, I love heirloom tomatoes, they taste like a tomato! :D Just use them like any other tomato, but I usually try not to do too much to them so that you can enjoy their taste. Like, I wouldn't use them to make sauce because you can use regular old cheap tomatoes for that, of course if a big box of them showed up like magic, it would probably make awesome sauce. :)