# Green tomatoes left from the garden



## letscook (Sep 24, 2011)

Its the end of the garden and I have about 5 lbs of green Roma tomatoes that are not going to ripen as the cool weather has hit.

What can I do with them ?


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## Andy M. (Sep 24, 2011)

Fried green tomatoes

Green tomato pickles

Green tomato relish

Green tomato oatmeal bars.


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## Aunt Bea (Sep 24, 2011)

Green Tomato Mincemeat


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## Katie H (Sep 24, 2011)

We probably have that many green tomatoes sitting in a basket on our kitchen counter.  They've been there for the better part of a week and I'd say about a third of them have turned ruby red and the rest are on their way.  I've been using them in salads and such as they ripen.  Kinda nice not to have to rush to eat ripe tomatoes.  These ripen slowly enough for us to enjoy them.


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## Uncle Bob (Sep 24, 2011)

What Katie said....plus some people have had luck placing them in a paper bag to aid in the ripening process....I've done so with somewhat limited success however.....


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## merstar (Sep 24, 2011)

Green tomato salsa.


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## merstar (Sep 24, 2011)

These are from my to-try list:

FRIED GREEN TOMATO SANDWICHES
Fried Green Tomato Sandwiches - Recipes - Food Network Canada

FRIED GREEN TOMATO PARMESAN
Closet Cooking: Fried Green Tomato Parmesan


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## letscook (Sep 24, 2011)

thanks all for the suggestions,  
since these are romas don't think ill fry them too small to deal with. but Think I will try Katies suggestion and let them sit for a while see if rippen. if not salsa will be next.


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## Dawgluver (Sep 24, 2011)

I have a big bowl of cherry toms that are ripening as we speak.  I pick them daily when they're pinkish, bring them inside,  and let them do their thing.

Where the heck did summer go?


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## Josie1945 (Sep 25, 2011)

Green Tomato Gravy.


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## Aunt Bea (Sep 25, 2011)

I was thinking about this and remembered an old Italian guy who used to pull the vines and hang them in his garage with the green tomatoes still attached.  They would continue to ripen and as they turned red he would pick them off and use them.  If you have the space it might be worth a shot.


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## letscook (Sep 25, 2011)

Interesting Aunt Bea, I going to remember that for next year since I took them all off the vines already and cleeaned the garden.


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## Timothy (Sep 25, 2011)

Great thread, LetsCook!

I've only eaten Fried Green Tomatoes one time. I don't know how they were cooked, but the resulting dish was extremely tangy to the point where I didn't care for it.

Are fried Green Tomatoes themselves tangy or was that the result of the cooking process/ingredients?


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## joesfolk (Sep 25, 2011)

letscook said:


> thanks all for the suggestions,
> since these are romas don't think ill fry them too small to deal with. but Think I will try Katies suggestion and let them sit for a while see if rippen. if not salsa will be next.


 Just a little warning...I put some green tomatoes on my windowsill to ripen.  Now the sill is stained yellow, and I just painted it a couple of months ago.


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## buckytom (Sep 25, 2011)

there are three options that i use towards the end of the season for red tomatoes.

first, pull the plant up partly out of the ground, then water and push back down and tamp the soil lightly with your foot. this hastens ripening on the vine. somehow, the plant thinks it needs to rush ripening.

second, break off whole branches that are fruited with tomatoes, and hang until ripening. it's not just for old italian guys.  if a frost is coming, pull and hang the the whole plant upside down, removing any leaves or unnecessary stems.

finally, put them in a paper bag or cardboard box with a ripe banana. both tomatoes and bananas give off ethylene gas that speeds ripening of adjacent fruit. so adding an ol banana that normally woulda been chucked helps out the green tomatoes.


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## Katie H (Sep 26, 2011)

joesfolk said:


> Just a little warning...I put some green tomatoes on my windowsill to ripen.  Now the sill is stained yellow, and I just painted it a couple of months ago.



That's interesting.  Our sill is snow white and we've had no staining at all and we've put tomatoes there two seasons to ripen.


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## Katie H (Sep 26, 2011)

Timothy said:


> Great thread, LetsCook!
> 
> I've only eaten Fried Green Tomatoes one time. I don't know how they were cooked, but the resulting dish was extremely tangy to the point where I didn't care for it.
> 
> Are fried Green Tomatoes themselves tangy or was that the result of the cooking process/ingredients?



All the green tomatoes I've tasted and/or cooked didn't really come off as tangy to me.  I found the flavor to be crisp and fresh.

When I make my fried green tomatoes, I dip them in beaten egg, then in Italian/seasoned bread crumbs and fry until crisp.  Salt as they come out of the pan and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.


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## Timothy (Sep 26, 2011)

Katie H said:


> All the green tomatoes I've tasted and/or cooked didn't really come off as tangy to me. I found the flavor to be crisp and fresh.
> 
> When I make my fried green tomatoes, I dip them in beaten egg, then in Italian/seasoned bread crumbs and fry until crisp. Salt as they come out of the pan and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.


 
Thanks for that description, Katie! I think perhaps the way they were cooked might have been with lots of vinegar somehow. They were very, very tangy.

I'll have to try the way you suggest. I'd love to find a new food to eat!


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## justplainbill (Oct 26, 2011)

*Will this work?*

PICKLED GREEN TOMATOES (2 PINTS)
  Eight 1 1/4 to 1 1/2" freshly picked green tomatoes some whole and some halved to fit in jar.

Brine:
2 1/2  cups water
1 1/4  cup vinegar
4      tbs salt
2      Tientsin peppers

2    cloves garlic
2    allspice berries
2    black pepper corns
1/2  tsp dried dill weed
1/2  tsp red pepper flakes
1    bay leaf  
Bring brine to boil.
Insert 1/2 of garlic & dry ingredients in each wide mouthed pint.
Pack tomatoes & tientsin peppers into jars
Pour boiling brine to 1/8" of top of jar.
Cover and let sit on counter for 24 hours.
Refrigerate for minimum of 2 weeks.


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## CWS4322 (Oct 26, 2011)

buckytom said:


> there are three options that i use towards the end of the season for red tomatoes.
> 
> first, pull the plant up partly out of the ground, then water and push back down and tamp the soil lightly with your foot. this hastens ripening on the vine. somehow, the plant thinks it needs to rush ripening.
> 
> ...


 
My mother used to wrap hers in newspaper (she kept peach crates that had the "egg carton" bottoms for this), stem side down, and stored in a cool, dark place. We would eat tomatoes until Christmas. We pulled vines this year, they are hanging in the basement. I have to go down every day--as they ripen, they sometimes fall off. I also took the Romas and placed them on trays between sheets of newspaper, checked daily. I'm almost done with those.


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## Al Pine (Oct 26, 2011)

Katie H said:


> When I make my fried green tomatoes, I dip them in beaten egg, then in Italian/seasoned bread crumbs and fry until crisp.  Salt as they come out of the pan and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.



Sometimes the tomatoes can be somewhat moist; so I dredge
them in some seasoned flour first so the egg wash will stick to
the tomato  slices better....then into the bread crumbs.

Or make a Beef Stew and dice up the tomatoes to put in the
stew...it's more work that using canned tomato sauce; but I like
it better than all the salt, and chemicals they put in the canned
foods.


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## chocotuile (Oct 26, 2011)

I'm a huge fan of fried green tomatoes. I actually deliberately cut the tomatoes off the vine before they ripen just for this purpose (is that a crime?). Dip in flour, then beaten egg whites, then a parmesan bread crumb mixture and fry. Pair with truffle aioli. Heaven.


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## Claire (Oct 27, 2011)

One year someone in my family turned up a recipe for picallily.  We used an old meat grinder.  We cried buckets (from the onions) but turned out a good relish.


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## Dawgluver (Oct 30, 2011)

I had a couple handfuls of frost-bitten green cherry toms, and found this:

http://lipsmackinggoodness.blogspot.com/2008/09/green-tomato-jam-part-ii.html

I cut the ingredients down and used half a lime as I didn't have a lemon.  After boiling and simmering the first time, the mix is in the fridge, awaiting a second boil.  Not enough to can, so I'll keep it in the fridge.

So far, it's pretty tasty!  DH had low expectations, and was pleasantly surprised.


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