Tomatoes

[SanJoaquinSooner]

I am a tomato guy.

But the tomatoes in my garden don't ripen until after July 4th here in the northern end of the San Joaquin Valley. So I have to seek good alternatives until then.

In the latest issue of Bon Appetit, what is being served in Jimmy Kimmel's house is the back page celebrity feature. He shows a drawing of ....

http://biancodinapoli.com/img/bianco-dinapoli.jpg

and says, "The Best! I even drink them (as bloody marys)!

He also says he loves grilled jumbo shrimp w/ kosher salt and butter, and don't forget to brine. I've never brined shrimp. Have to try it.

But anyway, I search for these Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes at three stores, including two upscale markets, but they don't carry this brand.

So I try another high-priced can:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4510754197_423ba479bd_z.jpg

It's $5.50 per can. They are sooooo gooooood. I chilled a can and started eating and could not stop until it was gone. Each tomato has perfect firmness with good acidity/sweetness balance. High quality control on this, no doubt.

[A Sooner in Texas]

I love tomatoes and hate the tasteless ones the groceries sell in the produce section. I'll have to find these to tide me over. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Flagstaffsooner]

You can pick lettuce in the mean time.;)

[delhalew]

I love tomatoes and hate the tasteless ones the groceries sell in the produce section. I'll have to find these to tide me over. Thanks for the suggestion.

Even the cheap canned tomatoes are better than the crap in the produce section. If you find a good can of Italian maters like Juan did...you are in for a treat. They use perfectly ripe tomatoes.

[Collier11]

I have to admit, im a bit of a tomato snob...For instance, if I go to Subway and the Tomatoes arent bright red I wont touch them, they taste worse

[delhalew]

I have to admit, im a bit of a tomato snob...For instance, if I go to Subway and the Tomatoes arent bright red I wont touch them, they taste worse

If it ain't ripe it's crap.

[SactoSooner]

If a tomato is uncooked and red, my throat swells up. Fresh yellow and orange heirloom tomatoes are much better. Support your local farmer's markets!

[SanJoaquinSooner]

You can pick lettuce in the mean time.;)

No lettuce in San Joaquin County. That's over near the coast, in Salinas Valley.

We're in the middle of cherry season.

[SactoSooner]

Mmm...lots of cherry amaretto jam in my freezer.

[King Crimson]

"beefsteak" toms are too pumped full of water (to decrease growing time and increase vine production) to have any taste. romas are a better bet, they actually have flesh and aren't all liquid. in the produce aisle.

as far as canned goes, i find most canned toms to be acceptable unless they have yellowing around the stem ends. not a big fan of Cento as a company. products are OK and nothing special but overpriced. if you want to get spendy, go to local specialty store and look for canned italian san marzano plum toms. even the muir glen organic ones are worth it sometimes....but, they still have a strangely high sodium content if that's an issue. check your labels.

conventional stuff. i think S&W is a quality brand. i use their crushed toms to make quick sauces and a spinach/garlic/tom soup i make a lot.

[StoopTroup]

I don't even buy those Jesus candles in the Mexican food section unless they say "MADE IN THE USA" on them.

http://www.appbite.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/jesus-candle-iphone-app-review-200x300.jpg

[Turd_Ferguson]

"beefsteak" toms are too pumped full of water (to decrease growing time and increase vine production) to have any taste. romas are a better bet, they actually have flesh and aren't all liquid. in the produce aisle.

as far as canned goes, i find most canned toms to be acceptable unless they have yellowing around the stem ends. not a big fan of Cento as a company. products are OK and nothing special but overpriced. if you want to get spendy, go to local specialty store and look for canned italian san marzano plum toms. even the muir glen organic ones are worth it sometimes....but, they still have a strangely high sodium content if that's an issue. check your labels.

conventional stuff. i think S&W is a quality brand. i use their crushed toms to make quick sauces and a spinach/garlic/tom soup i make a lot.Concur with the Roma's...My redneck *** just discovered them a few years ago...I been get'n them at the Walmarlart and they is goooood.

[StoopTroup]

Roma's can save the day if you can't get to the fruit stand in Bixby. :D

http://roycereport.com/Tulsa/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Bixby-Oklahoma.jpg

[mgsooner]

http://static-resources.goodguide.net/images/entities/large/292120.jpg

[C&CDean]

I haven't eaten a canned tomato in years, and don't plan on it. I'd rather go without. Also, to me the romas taste like unripe regular tomatoes. We used to grow them but side-by-side next to pretty much any other "regular" tomato they can't match up. They are better than store-bought though.

Momma has some of the lemon boys (yellow tomatoes) that are fixin' to ripen up in a few days. These tomatos are allsome and have less acid than reds. She also has several Jetstars, Celebrities, Sweet Millions (cherry tomatoes), and Big Boys that have tomatoes starting on them. The bell peppers and jalapenos are all flowered out, and the habaneros look to be doing well. This year she also planted 2 tomatillo plants. Those suckers have taken off and have grown a foot in the past couple weeks. Flowers all over them as well.

I can't wait for ripe tomatos from the garden.

[StoopTroup]

Way to many Squirrels and raccoons in our area to grow anything. Damn Racoons come up from the gutters at night and will kill everything in the garden unless you build a fortress in the backyard. By the time I go to the trouble of building the fortress....It's cheaper to go to Bixby.

[StoopTroup]

The Cops here get really crazy if you go Coon Hunting in the City.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

I don't even buy those Jesus candles in the Mexican food section unless they say "MADE IN THE USA" on them.

http://www.appbite.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/jesus-candle-iphone-app-review-200x300.jpghttp://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af80/sanjoaquinsooner/thumb.jpg

[SanJoaquinSooner]

I haven't eaten a canned tomato in years, and don't plan on it. I'd rather go without. Also, to me the romas taste like unripe regular tomatoes. We used to grow them but side-by-side next to pretty much any other "regular" tomato they can't match up. They are better than store-bought though.

Momma has some of the lemon boys (yellow tomatoes) that are fixin' to ripen up in a few days. These tomatos are allsome and have less acid than reds. She also has several Jetstars, Celebrities, Sweet Millions (cherry tomatoes), and Big Boys that have tomatoes starting on them. The bell peppers and jalapenos are all flowered out, and the habaneros look to be doing well. This year she also planted 2 tomatillo plants. Those suckers have taken off and have grown a foot in the past couple weeks. Flowers all over them as well.

I can't wait for ripe tomatos from the garden.

Almost all of mine are celebrities. They seem to be the most prolific of everything I've ever tried.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

"beefsteak" toms are too pumped full of water (to decrease growing time and increase vine production) to have any taste. romas are a better bet, they actually have flesh and aren't all liquid. in the produce aisle.

as far as canned goes, i find most canned toms to be acceptable unless they have yellowing around the stem ends. not a big fan of Cento as a company. products are OK and nothing special but overpriced. if you want to get spendy, go to local specialty store and look for canned italian san marzano plum toms. even the muir glen organic ones are worth it sometimes....but, they still have a strangely high sodium content if that's an issue. check your labels.

conventional stuff. i think S&W is a quality brand. i use their crushed toms to make quick sauces and a spinach/garlic/tom soup i make a lot.

You may be right about many Cento products, I don't know, but they sell the italian san marzano plums (see pic in OP). That's what I found to be so damned good. Each tomato is perfect. No yellowing around the stem ends, yet as firm as young Lolita's breasts. And almost as flavorful.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

And KC, I agree on S&W. I use the petite cut or the petite cut w/ jalapenos for cooking.

[Sooner_Tuf]

Tomatoes are evil unless Heinz has performed their magic upon them.

[Collier11]

The Cops here get really crazy if you go Coon Hunting in the City.

Thats Racist!

[A Sooner in Texas]

Tomatoes are evil unless Heinz has performed their magic upon them.

Ketchup is Satan's spawn.

[StoopTroup]

Ketchup is Satan's spawn.

John Kerry is sad in his pants....:pop: :D ;)

[delhalew]

John Kerry is sad in his pants....:pop: :D ;)

And just plain sad...in general...always...regardless of pants.

[Sooner_Tuf]

Ketchup is Satan's spawn.

Just think where we would be today if Eve had tempted Adam with a bottle of Heinz Special Reserve King's Edition.

[delhalew]

Just think where we would be today if Eve had tempted Adam with a bottle of Heinz Special Reserve King's Edition.

Butt nekkid in paradise?

[soonerchk]

So ready for real tomatoes!! The best part of summer as far as I'm concerned.

[C&CDean]

So ready for real tomatoes!! The best part of summer as far as I'm concerned.

Yes. Nothing like a BLT made with bacon off a hog you raised, tomatoes and spinach (yes I use spinach instead of lettuce) fresh outta the garden, homemade wheat bread toasted nicely, and mayo. Of course I'm not a mayonnaise snob like some here, so IDGAS if it's mayo or miracle whip. Either one is fine by me.

[A Sooner in Texas]

John Kerry is sad in his pants....:pop: :D ;)

John Kerry has plenty of Heinz money to take care of any sadness whether it's in his pants or somewhere else.

[A Sooner in Texas]

Yes. Nothing like a BLT made with bacon off a hog you raised, tomatoes and spinach (yes I use spinach instead of lettuce) fresh outta the garden, homemade wheat bread toasted nicely, and mayo. Of course I'm not a mayonnaise snob like some here, so IDGAS if it's mayo or miracle whip. Either one is fine by me.

And thanks for making my stomach rumble. :D

[Mongo]

I was going to say women in bikinis were the best thing about summer, but I think I will take a BLT or a fresh sliced mater with salt and pepper now

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Yes. Nothing like a BLT made with bacon off a hog you raised, tomatoes and spinach (yes I use spinach instead of lettuce) fresh outta the garden, homemade wheat bread toasted nicely, and mayo. Of course I'm not a mayonnaise snob like some here, so IDGAS if it's mayo or miracle whip. Either one is fine by me.

That's funny. I honor the first tomato picked each year by served it in a bacon and tomato sandwich. Homemade wheat bread, though, I'm impressed.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Just think where we would be today if Eve had tempted Adam with a bottle of Heinz Special Reserve King's Edition.

Extinct?

[OutlandTrophy]

Yes. Nothing like a BLT made with bacon off a hog you raised, tomatoes and spinach (yes I use spinach instead of lettuce) fresh outta the garden, homemade wheat bread toasted nicely, and mayo. Of course I'm not a mayonnaise snob like some here, so IDGAS if it's mayo or miracle whip. Either one is fine by me.

you raise hogs?

[King Crimson]

Of course I'm not a mayonnaise snob like some here, so IDGAS if it's mayo or miracle whip. Either one is fine by me.

no surprise here. ;) :texan:

[StoopTroup]

John Kerry has plenty of Heinz money to take care of any sadness whether it's in his pants or somewhere else.

No? They have money? Who knew. SOAB!

[StoopTroup]

Yes. Nothing like a BLT made with bacon off a hog you raised, tomatoes and spinach (yes I use spinach instead of lettuce) fresh outta the garden, homemade wheat bread toasted nicely, and mayo. Of course I'm not a mayonnaise snob like some here, so IDGAS if it's mayo or miracle whip. Either one is fine by me.

I had a double BLT Thursday from Fellini's Sammie shop on Harvard.

http://www.feliniscookies.com/

I know folks like to brag on these new places around Tulsey....but these folks have been making sammies for a long long time and they RMFO!

"The Hammer" sammie they make is awesome IMO.

[Sooner_Tuf]

Extinct?

We wouldn't have to endure the never ending asking of the question if we would like fries with that. Because everyone knows the only real reason fries are popular. They are a great vehicle to get satan's spawn from the plate to your mouth.

[C&CDean]

you raise hogs?

Oh **** no. My neighbors do. They call every couple months going "ya'll need some pork?" When we do I go "yup." Pretty much that simple.

[StoopTroup]

Oh **** no. My neighbors do. They call every couple months going "ya'll need some pork?" When we do I go "yup." Pretty much that simple.

That's :hot: