Finally! Homegrown tomatoes. Long awaited and eagerly anticipated, they’re here at last. It’s been close to excruciating, folks, to say the very least. And believe it or not, incredible as it may sound, I’ve been trying to write this particular column for almost two years.
Tomato lovers woefully remember our last (non) summer when hopes of biting into those expected, mouthwatering “love apples” (as the French call them) were dashed due to cloudy days and cooler nights. That weather resulted in one of the poorest and most meager crops of homegrown tomatoes I can recall. And sadly, even those few we did manage to harvest had skins as tough as leather and were just about as tasteless as the ubiquitous hot house varieties we grudgingly suffer throughout most of the year.
But take heart! I’m sure you’ve noticed that this is one heck of a hot summer. The homegrowns are great, fresh off the vine and bursting with flavor. And I can get on with my column.
Generally speaking, I’m apt to have my first taste of homegrown tomatoes simply out of hand, accompanied only by a shaker of salt and eaten as I would an apple: lovingly devoured, but decidedly more voraciously.
Of course, they’re great in salads with mixed greens, or as a salad in their own right, sliced and served with sweet onions and chopped parsley, or better yet with slices of fresh mozzarella or various other types of crumbled blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola or Roquefort. Either way, be sure to drizzle them with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of coarsely ground fresh black pepper.
Hands down, however, my absolute favorite way to enjoy the first of the season “apples of paradise” (as the Germans call them) is to have them thickly sliced and cooked for the briefest time allowable, until they just begin to soften and give up their wonderful tasting juices. I ladle (copiously) the result over slabs of (generously) buttered toast. Here’s how.
Serves four
5 large tomatoes (about 2 pounds) washed and cored
cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
Salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 to 8 slices of white bread
Toast the bread.
Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet.
Slice the tomatoes into 1-inch slices and lay them in the melted butter.
Add the salt and sugar.
Simmer the tomatoes (gently) for about 1 to 2 minutes.
Turn the tomatoes with a spatula and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes more.
Place tomato slices over the toast and ladle some of the deliciqua tomato-butter sauce on top.
You can peel the tomatoes beforehand by placing them in boiling water for 10 to 20 seconds, but it isn’t really necessary as the skin easily slips off the tomato slices.
If you’re in a pinch and need to peel a tomato in a hurry, stick a fork into the stem end of the tomato and rotate it over the open flame on top of the stove just until the tomato begins to blister. Run the tomato under cold water and the peel will come right off.
Deliciqua, incidentally, is a made-up French word my parents used to describe great tasting food. Deliciqua!