You Say Tomato...

As you all know the tomatoes are coming in very nicely! One of our members, Frances, your fellow CSA member sent me a recipe that is so delicious, I thought it would be a great time to include lots of the Roma and salad tomatoes in your share. The Roma tomato is the larger, pear shaped one, the Juliette is the small pear shape tomato and the Golden Rave is a baby Roma. We'll put some Sweet Cluster heirlooms in the bag as well and you can cook, make salads and enjoy tomato snacks all week! I'll get a date for the canning and freezing class soon. The tomatoes, squash, and peppers will be around for a long time, so you'll have plenty of time to put the class to use and enjoy the taste of summer all winter long! Your recipe calls for Roma tomatoes, but the Juliettes will do nicely as well.

Roma Tomato is a plum tomato, very meaty. Because it has few seeds, it is a good canning and sauce tomato.

Juliette Tomatoes- are in my opinion, even better. They are just the right size to can or freeze without cutting or removing a core. They're not an heirloom, but its qualities are like heirlooms; Great taste, aroma and a fairly high acid tomato in a small package. In size and acidity it's an old-fashioned cherry tomato, in shape and fleshiness it's a plum tomato, but the texture and quality of the taste is all its own. Use them in salads, omelettes, or stirred into cooked pasta. Set them out for a healthy snack!

Tomato consumption is believed to benefit the heart among other things. Lycopene, one of nature's most powerful antioxidants, is present in tomatoes, and, especially when tomatoes are cooked, has been found beneficial in preventing prostate cancer.

The Juliet tomato hangs like grapes on the plant. Kate always said they were a "scared" tomato, because when you reach out to pick them, they just give up and fall right into your hands! Scared or not, when you're harvesting and the rows of tomatoes are so long that you can't even see the end, you'd like all of them to just jump into the basket!

Golden Rave is a baby Roma with great flavor. It has a sweet flavor for fresh eating or cooking.

Sweet Cluster is the small round tomato, perfect for quartering or slicing in a salad.

Your Share Will Contain:

Tomatoes 4 lbs---All above mentioned tomatoes, as well as Big Beef slicing tomatoes
Corn
Summer Squash
Zucchini
Zephry
Cucumbers
Green Beans
Cabbage
Peppers
Purple Peppers
Eggplant Japanese variety Orient Charm
Italian Eggplant

Recipes Below

Tomato, Onion and Goat Cheese Tart
Frances Edwards

1 (9 inch) prepared pie dough, thawed if frozen (not pie shells)
3 tablespoons of olive oil (we use 1-2)
1 to 3 large onions, sliced very thin (it is your preference as to the onions. Sort of depends on your taste!)
6 oz. of crumbled goat cheese (1 1/3 cups or more)
1 lb of plum tomatoes or any kind of fresh ones. I think we use 5-7 to cover the top well.
Garnish with fresh Basil leaves.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F
   
2. Roll out pie dough to fit 11-inch round and fit it into part pan. Trim off excess dough, leaving 1/2 inch overhang, then fold overhang inward and press against side of pan to reinforce edge. Lightly prick bottom and sides with a fork.
3. Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake in middle of oven until pastry is pale golden around the rim, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove weights and foil and bake until golden all over, 8 to 10 minutes more. Cool in pan on a rack.
4. While the tart shell is baking, heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, then cook onion with salt and black pepper to taste, stirring frequently, until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
5. Preheat broiler
6. Spread onion over bottom of tart shell and top with 1 rounded cup goat cheese. Arrange tomatoes, slightly overlapping in concentric circles over the cheese. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil. ( I do not do this).
7. Put foil over the edge of crust to prevent over browning (I do not do this).
8. Put tart pan on a baking sheet and broil tart about 7 inches from heat until cheese starts to brown slightly, 3-4 minutes.

This is from Gourmet, August 2002 issue.

Thank you Frances for your thoughtfulness and a great recipe!