Joe picked them all and brought them in the house in a 5 gal. bucket. I carefully washed them and picked them over. We had fried green tomatoes and then I took the rest downstairs to our cool basement and laid them out on top of newspaper sheets. Then I covered them with another light layer.
When I checked them yesterday...this is what I found. Like magic...they are ripening. They say to only use tomatoes that have some pinkish color on them, but I used them all...even those little, hard, green ones. Now we will have tomatoes on our plates again.
If we can't eat them fast enough I will roast some of them. Simply toss them with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and a splash of balsamic vinegar, spread them on a heavy duty rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper... and roast at 450° for 30 or 40 minutes, or until you like how they look.This is a high temp. so keep an eye on them.There are so many methods for ripening in the house. In paper bags, with a banana, cardboard boxes, kitchen drawers what ever you choose...they need darkness and a cool place. Tomatoes give off ethylene gas witch stimulates ripening.Keeping them in a closed place, in the dark, keeps the gas from escaping and encourages the tomato to ripen faster.We only had a few tomato plants, so there aren't many left over, but this will save me from having to buy them from the store for a time. I'm going to try to roast some of the store bought ones...to see if they will have more flavor.Back in the day, I canned them and made a delicious chili sauce that made the whole house smell wonderful.Spicy chili sauce sitting on the plate next to a slice of wonderful beef roast...now that's eating!
If you'd like my Mom's recipe for Chili Sauce...just ask..
Balisha
